New mandatory refresher training available from today for security guards

Door supervisors and security guards can enrol in safety-critical refresher training courses from today (1 October 2024) to help keep the public safe.

The training will be compulsory for door supervisors and security guards wishing to renew a licence after 1 April 2025.

The qualifications update safety-critical skills door supervisors and security guards use to keep the public safe. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) encourages affected licence holders to take the training as soon as possible.

The courses are available from today to allow individual licence holders sufficient time to plan and book onto courses before the qualifications become mandatory on 1 April 2025. The training is available nationally from approved training providers.

Tony Holyland, Head of Individual Standards for the SIA, said:

Protecting the public is at the heart of what we do, and professional security operatives undergo training to give them the skills they need to keep people safe.  

We know that skills can fade over time, which is why the training being rolled out today is so important. This is about raising the standards in private security and refreshing those fundamental skills to help security operatives deal with the ever-changing threats of the modern world.

This follows the announcement last month that the SIA introduced mandatory refresher training to help door supervisors and security guards refresh their skills and learn up-to-date content on topics including spiking and terror threat awareness.

Alongside the requirement to present an up-to-date Emergency First Aid certificate, the following will be included in the refresher training:

For door supervisors: 

• conducting searches 

• physical intervention 

• protecting people in vulnerable situations, including content on spiking 

• terror threat awareness – ACT/You can ACT certificate 

For security guards: 

• conducting searches 

• terror threat awareness – ACT/You can ACT certificate 

• protecting people in vulnerable situations

Individuals holding a door supervisor licence can choose one of the following options: 

• take the door supervisor refresher training and renew their door supervisor licence 

• take the security guard refresher training and switch to a security guard licence

The SIA works with the private security industry to set standards and with awarding organisations to ensure the qualifications are offered via approved training providers.   

Accredited ‘top-up' awards were introduced for door supervisors and security guards in October 2021 as a requirement for renewing licences. Awarding organisations will continue to offer  the ‘top-up' qualifications until the end of January 2025. This means that any licence holders who have yet to complete these qualifications can do so.

Notes to editors 

As the regulator of the private security industry the SIA's role is to set the standard for what someone wanting to apply for a licence must know or be capable of doing. The SIA does not run training courses or receive any money from the fees people pay to their training provider.    

Read more about refresher training. 

Read our answers to commonly asked questions about refresher training.

Further information

The Security Industry Authority is the regulator of the UK's private security industry. Our purpose is to protect the public through effective regulation of the private security industry and working with partners to raise standards across the sector. We are responsible for licensing people who do certain jobs in the private security industry and for approving private security companies who wish to be part of our voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme.

The SIA is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Home Office. For more information, visit: www.gov.uk/sia.