SIA Door Supervisor Course Cost Breakdown 2026: What You’ll Really Pay

You’ve found a course, you’ve checked the price, and it looks reasonable. Then the invoice arrives with a first aid add-on, a licence fee you hadn’t budgeted for, and a photo requirement nobody mentioned. This is the moment most new door supervisors realise the advertised course fee was never the whole story.

It’s an easy mistake to make, and an expensive one. The training price you see on a provider’s website is usually just one of three separate costs you’ll need to cover before you can legally work the door. Miss one, and you could end up £150–£200 short of what you actually need.

This guide breaks down every cost involved in getting your Door Supervisor licence in 2026, line by line, with real prices from real providers so you can budget properly before you book anything.

Getting licensed as a door supervisor means paying for three distinct things, and no single provider controls all three:

1. The training course itself typically costs £200–£400
2. A first aid qualification typically costs £60–£150
3. The SIA licence application currently costs £204, paid directly to the regulator

Add them together, and most people spend somewhere between £450 and £650, though location and provider choice push that figure in either direction. Here’s what each part actually involves.

The core qualification is the Level 2 Award for Door Supervisors in the Private Security Industry, delivered over roughly six to seven days (a minimum of 54 guided learning hours). You’ll cover four mandatory units: working in the private security industry, working specifically as a door supervisor, conflict management, and physical intervention.

Pricing tends to track geography fairly closely. Providers outside London commonly charge £200–£300, while London-based and premium providers sit closer to £300–£462. To give you a sense of the current market: one Lincoln-based provider lists its course, including materials and certification, at £290; a premium package including first aid runs at just under £310; and a London classroom course listed on a major job board comes in at £462 including VAT. These are illustrative examples rather than a guarantee of what you’ll be quoted, since providers revise pricing regularly.

Most course fees include instructor-led training, materials, assessments, and registration with the awarding body, but always get this confirmed in writing rather than assuming.

Since 1 April 2021, the SIA has required every learner to hold a valid Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) qualification, or an accepted equivalent, before they can even start their full SIA door supervisor training. You won’t be allowed to register without it.

A standalone one-day EFAW course usually costs £60–£150, with many providers pricing it around £100. If your role calls for something more comprehensive, the three-day First Aid at Work Course (3 Days) is the next step up, typically starting from around £200.

Here’s where the confusion tends to happen: some providers bundle first aid into the headline course price, others charge it as an extra, and a fair number simply don’t make it clear either way until you’re at the payment page. If you’re comparing quotes, ask this one question before anything else: Is first aid included, or is it separate?

This is the one people most often forget to budget for, largely because it isn’t paid to your training provider at all; it goes directly to the SIA once you’ve passed your course.

The fee itself hasn’t actually changed since April 2023. What changed is that a temporary £20 rebate, funded from the SIA’s historical reserves, kept the effective cost at £184 for several years. According to GOV.UK, those reserves were exhausted by early 2026, so the rebate ended on 31 March 2026 and the fee reverted to its statutory level of £204, a figure that applies equally to first-time applications and renewals.

We’ll admit this trips up even experienced training coordinators: it’s easy to assume a jump from £184 to £204 means the SIA raised its prices. It didn’t. The £204 figure has been the actual statutory fee for three years; the rebate was simply a temporary discount that ran its course.

If you’re applying for a second licence type alongside your Door Supervisor badge, CCTV operation, for instance, via the SIA CCTV operator course, a 50% discount can still bring that additional application down to £102. But the rules tightened on 1 June 2026: the discount now only applies if you submit both applications on the same day, on the same application form. Apply for the second licence separately, even a week later, and you’ll pay full price for it. If you know you want more than one licence type, it’s worth planning both applications together from the start.

Beyond the three core costs, a handful of smaller expenses catch people out:

None of these is large individually, but stacked together they can add £30–£100 to your total, enough to matter if you’re working to a tight budget.

Think of your total cost less as a single number and more like a currency exchange rate; it depends entirely on where and when you’re buying. Here’s how it typically plays out:

Budget route: A £225 course plus a bundled or low-cost first aid element, plus the £204 licence fee, lands you around £429–£489 in total.

Mid-range route: A £290–£325 course, £60–£100 for first aid if it isn’t included, and the £204 licence fee brings you to roughly £554–£629.

London/premium route: A £350–£462 course, £100–£150 for first aid, and the £204 licence fee puts you closer to £654–£816.

There are a few simple tips that can have a positive impact on your bills. Combined courses and first aid are more cost-effective than separate first-aid and course bookings. When it comes to fees, if you have more than one provider to choose from and you’re not in the same room, checking across the board can show that there’s a real difference of £50-100, depending on the provider, for roughly the same qualification. Before hiring, inquire about the availability of a payment plan, and if your employer gives reimbursements after completing your training, ask if they are available for you as well; this is one way security companies keep their employees. The one habit that avoids most conflicts is to get it in writing before you pay, just what’s being included.

A good provider will be able to answer these questions with a clear “yes”: Does first aid come included? Is there a resit policy, and will it cost extra? What if I want to cancel or rebook? Has the cost of VAT already been included in the quotation? Do you provide any assistance with the SIA application for a licence?

If the provider is not clear on any of these, it is a red flag to keep looking. If you are able to get answers to simple pricing questions, it’s the same providers who have murky refund policies later.

The cost of becoming a licensed door supervisor comes down to three areas: training (£200-400), first aid (£60-150) and the SIA licence fee (£204). Adding in all three and a little extra for photos, travel or resit gives a realistic picture, not an unpleasant surprise after booking! Shop around, ask the right questions in writing, and you will know exactly what you’re paying for from the get-go.