How To Apply For Your SIA Licence
SIA Licence Frequently Asked Questions
Welcome To GSS Limiteds guide on how to apply for your SIA Licence. Everything you need to know to ensure you avoid all the pitfalls and your application goes smoothly.
Obtaining your SIA licence is a simple 3 stage process. Follow the steps below and you will be fully qualified and SIA approved before you know it.
Step 1 – Get Trained
Get your SIA approved training from renowned training provider GSS Limited. You can book now by clicking the button to the top of the page or view our courses here.
Step 2 – Get Certified
Once you have completed your training you are required to sit an exam.
Assessment methods
Each unit is assessed by a separate multiple choice test which is externally set and marked by one of the approved awarding bodies, for example City & Guilds.
Upon completion and submission of your completed exam papers you have successfully completed Step 1 and Step 2.
Grading Criteria
Each unit is achieved by meeting the assessment criteria outlined in the unit specification. All of the criteria must be met for the units offered; i.e. you must pass all units. Certification is awarded to candidates who pass all the mandatory units. There are no differing levels of pass i.e. A, B, C or Distinctions because the certificate is not graded.
Step 3 – Applying To The SIA For Licence
It is a criminal offence to undertake the licensable activities without an SIA licence.
Cost of an SIA Licence
The licence application fee is £245 for a three year licence. The fee is to cover the cost of processing your application and is not refundable. Following your successful completion of your Course GSS Ltd offer an complete SIA Application and Checking service. This service helps you complete the form in the required manner, to provide all the required information and documents to the SIA ensuring your application is correct and there are no issues or delays is obtaining your licence.
If you pay your own licence fee you will be able to claim tax relief against your taxable income. For example, if you pay the basic rate of tax the relief is worth £53.90. (Employers paying the licence fee on behalf of an employee will incur tax or National Insurance liability).
50% discount: Some people may need more than one licence; in such cases the second licence will be discounted by 50%.
What If You Have A Criminal Record?
If you have a criminal record, it does not necessarily mean that you will not get a licence. However, if you do have any convictions, warnings, cautions, absolute/conditional discharges, admonishments or charges awaiting trial for offences the SIA will make their decision according to:
- Whether the offences are included in the lists of refusable offences
- The classification of seriousness of the offences
- The actual sentence or disposal given to you for the offence; and
- How recent the offences were
(The recency of an offence is measured against the date the SIA make the decision to grant or refuse your licence. The date used for the calculation is the date on which the SIA make the decision, not the date you originally submitted your application)
You will not get a licence:
- Unless you have been free of the sentence restrictions for a conviction, for at least 12 months before your licence application or for up to five years where we consider the offence to be serious and where you received a custodial sentence.
- “Free of sentence restrictions” for a conviction which resulted in a custodial sentence, SIA mean that they will start counting the time elapsed from the end of the sentence – not from the date when you were sentenced or when the offence or offences were committed.
- The SIA will pay special attention to offences involving violence, dishonesty, terrorism, weapons, drugs, criminal damage and sexual offences.
- They do consider the effects of rehabilitation on assessing your eligibility for a licence, and in some circumstances, will treat cautions, warnings, absolute/conditional discharges and admonishments on record more leniently than convictions.
Example of how treat the SIA the “free from conviction” period: If you have been convicted of an offence and spent time in custody, the date for deciding whether the offence is still relevant for licensing purposes is the date after the sentence would have ended. Note; even if you were released early, the offence will be regarded as relevant up until and including the final date when the sentence restrictions would have ended had the full term been served.
The SIA will always write to you if they refuse your licence application.
Charges Awaiting Trial
When applying for your SIA licence, the SIA will wait until the courts have determined the outcome of the charges before making a decision.
Ex-juvenile Offenders
Offences which you committed as a juvenile will be taken into account in a similar way to adult offences. Criminal records gained between the ages of 10 and 12 are considered spent unless they relate to offence(s) that were originally considered serious by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. Any serious offences on record between the ages of 12 and 15 will be subject to our assessment grid, as will all relevant offence(s) on record for those aged 16 and over.
How To Apply For Your SIA Licence – Required Qualification
SIA-endorsed qualifications are valid for SIA licensing requirements regardless of which UK qualifications regulatory authority approved them. However:
- If you will be working mainly in England, Wales or Northern Ireland then the most appropriate qualifications are those focused on England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- If you will be working mainly in Scotland then the qualifications most pertinent to you are those focused on Scotland.
If you intend to work in Scotland but your training focused on England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we recommend that you undertake additional, location-specific training before you start work.
Does My SIA Licence Expire
Yes your licence will expire after 3 years and you will need to renew. Please ensure you apply before your current licence expires. The SIA will accept renewal applications up to 4 months in advance of your current licence expiring, once your current licence expires your new 3 year licence commences. However if you apply prior to this 4 month deadline your application will be treated “as new” and will commence from the date of award.
There are currently no requirements to take refresher training if you currently have a licence and you are looking to renew it.
The Home Office is currently considering a proposal that licensed individuals take top-up training when renewing their licence. However, this has not yet been approved and, if it is,
How Long Will My Application Take To Be Assessed?
- The application form will need supporting documentation (for example, proof of identity), a personal photograph and the application fee. All documentation will be returned to you but please don’t send anything you might need in the near future.
- Your application will be assessed against various licensing criteria; before applying for an SIA licence, it is your responsibility to ensure that you satisfy all of these criteria – you will not be granted a licence unless you do so. (GSS have a service that checks all this criteria for you, Call 0871 78977680)
- The SIA will not be liable for any costs (for example, the cost of training) incurred during the application process.
Time Scales:
- SIA usually process 80% of all applications within 40 working days (average 4-6 weeks).
- For EEA nationals the target is to process 80% of licence applications within 33 working days.
- This time starts from the day your application is entered onto their system and ends on the day they make their decision.
- The clock is stopped if your application fails validation – (of for any reason it is not completed correctly, not provided the required supporting evidence documentation. The clock is reset when you send your application back to us)
- Complex applications (for example, applications subject to additional criminality or qualification enquiries and those requiring overseas criminality checks) may take longer than 40 working days.
Important Application Check list
1) Qualification in SIA Approved Course:
2) Correctly Completed Application Form:
- Free of spelling mistakes
- Name and Address must be exact
3) Correct Identity Documentation
4) Correct Photograph
Your photograph must:
- Be colour passport style and size (45mm x 35mm).
- Be in sharp focus and clear.
- Be a true likeness of you.
- Be signed and dated on the back by your counter-signatory in blue or black ink (this confirms that it is a true and recent likeness).
- Show your application unique reference number, or (if you do not have one) your name and date of birth on the back.
You should attach your photograph in the space provided by following the instructions on the form. Please make sure that you send a good-quality colour photograph – if your application is successful this photo will be used in your SIA licence.
SIA will not accept the following:
- Black and white photographs
- Photographs in which you are too close to the camera
- Photographs in which you are too far away (e.g.: showing the subject from the waist up)
- Photographs of you wearing headgear, unless you wear a head covering due to your religious beliefs or ethnic background
- Photographs of you wearing head equipment such as mobile phone ‘hands free’ or radio earphones
- Photographs of you wearing sunglasses or darkened lenses (you can wear clear everyday glasses)
- Over-exposed photographs in which your face is too light
- Under-exposed photographs in which your face is too dark or your facial features are unclear
- Photographs with a dark, curtained or coloured background
- Photographs in which your face is obscured by shadow
Examples of acceptable photographs:
5) Counter-signatory
- Your photograph should be counter-signed and dated on the back in blue or black ink by a UK passport holder.
- Details of the person signing the photograph will need to be provided in section C of the application form.
- By signing and dating the photograph the counter-signatory is agreeing that the photograph is of you. Please note: your counter-signatory should not be a relative or member of your family.
If the photograph is not signed and dated by the counter-signatory, or their full name and address, UK passport number and telephone number is not given, your application form will be returned.
