The SIA's removal of BIIAB as a licence-linked awarding body is now in effect. Per the SIA, on 14 July 2026 it gave notice to terminate BIIAB's recognition agreement, meaning with immediate effect BIIAB should not register any new learners for its SIA licence-linked training, and BIIAB must not issue any new licence-linked qualifications at all with effect from 10 August 2026. The SIA now has recognition agreements in place with five other awarding organisations, down from six.
The framework this touches is large. The SIA says 158,000 licence-linked security qualifications were issued from all six awarding organisations in the 2025 to 2026 financial year, delivered by 650 independent training providers across the UK. BIIAB's approved qualifications covered front-line roles including door supervision, security officer and CCTV operator.
Qualifications BIIAB already awarded are not void. Per the SIA's guidance, updated 12 August 2026, it will still accept a BIIAB qualification for a licence application where it is less than three years since you gained it for a first application, or less than three years since your previous licence was active for a reapplication. If you have booked a course but not yet completed it, the SIA says to check with your training provider that it is still going ahead, and that the provider has moved to one of the five remaining recognised bodies, or an application can stall on a qualification the regulator no longer accepts. The removal sits within Operation RESOLUTE, the SIA's push against training-centre malpractice, under which it carried out 24 unannounced inspections at training centres across England in the month to mid-July 2026. The signal for operators and buyers is that the regulator is actively policing the training layer.
