There is a fair bit of confusion about which first aid qualification you need before you can train in close protection. Most of it comes down to one word, Level 3, that gets repeated everywhere and does not quite tell the whole story.
The reassuring part is that you are unlikely to come unstuck, because most training providers check you hold the right qualification when you register, and if something is not right they will tell you. So the simplest advice of all is to talk to the people you want to train with before you book anything.
But it helps to walk in already knowing what you need. So here is the breakdown, in plain terms.
Why first aid, and why before the course?
First things first. You need to hold a first aid qualification before you start the close protection training, not alongside it. It also needs to be valid for at least another twelve months when you begin.
It sits at the front for a reason. In this work the medical skill is not an add-on. The person standing closest when something goes wrong is you, and the minutes before an ambulance arrives are the ones that matter most.
Why "Level 3" does not tell the whole story
Here is the part that causes the confusion, and it is easy to see why.
The one-day Emergency First Aid at Work course, EFAW, is a Level 3 qualification. So when you hear that close protection needs Level 3 first aid, you can look at an EFAW certificate, see Level 3 on it, and reasonably think you are covered.
Level 3 is only part of it.
Both the one-day EFAW and the fuller First Aid at Work sit at Level 3. What separates them is the length and the depth, and close protection asks for the fuller course.
What close protection actually needs
For close protection the entry requirement is a valid Level 3, three-day, full first aid qualification.
All three of those words matter, and the one-day EFAW only meets the first.
In practice the two you will see most are First Aid at Work, which runs over three days, or FREC, First Response Emergency Care, which goes further still.
To be clear, the one-day EFAW is a perfectly good qualification, and it is the right first aid for a door supervisor qualification. It is simply not the one close protection asks for.
FAW or FREC, which one?
First Aid at Work meets the entry requirement, and it meets it properly. If your aim is simply to hold the ticket that gets you onto the close protection course, it does the job.
FREC goes further. It is the more advanced, trauma-focused course, and it is the one that earns its place on the ground when something actually happens. It is also becoming the standard a lot of employers expect. We have seen more and more job adverts lately listing FREC3 as the minimum first aid requirement for the role, not First Aid at Work.
So the honest steer. First Aid at Work will get you onto the course. But the work itself is increasingly asking for FREC3, so if you are looking past the course to the jobs, it is worth considering from the start.
Renewing? This applies to you too
Worth a quick word for anyone renewing rather than starting out.
From April 2026, renewing your CP licence means completing refresher training, and you will need a valid first aid qualification of the same standard to register for it. So if yours has lapsed, or you only ever held the one-day EFAW, it is worth sorting in good time. Nothing to panic about, just something to check well before you come to renew, rather than the week of.
The simple version
None of this is complicated once you know it.
Hold a valid Level 3, three-day, full first aid qualification, First Aid at Work or FREC, before you book your close protection course.
Do not go by the level on the certificate. Ask the provider one question: does this qualify me for the close protection course?
A good provider will give you a straight answer and check it for you when you register.
Not sure which first aid ticket you need, or whether the one you hold still qualifies? Ask us, or ask whoever you plan to train with. We would rather point you to the right course, ours or someone else's, than see you book the wrong one.
