SIA Licence Cost Breakdown for 2026: What You’ll Really Pay for Training, Application, and Renewal

If you’re weighing up a career in UK security, the question you’ll ask first isn’t “what’s the job like?” It’s “what’s this going to cost me before I earn a penny?” Fair question, and the honest answer is that no single number covers it; you’re looking at a statutory fee, a training course, and a first aid qualification, each coming from a different place.

We’ve watched applicants budget for the £204 SIA fee, forget about first aid, and then scramble for another £80 they hadn’t planned on. It’s an easy mistake, and common enough that it’s worth laying out every cost in one place, including the change to your SIA licence cost that landed on 1 April 2026.

From 1 April 2026, applying for any SIA licence Door Supervisor, Security Guard, CCTV Operator, or Close Protection costs £204. That figure applies whether you’re a first-time applicant or renewing.

It’s worth being precise here, because the headlines have been a little misleading. The SIA’s statutory fee has sat at £204 since April 2023, when it was trimmed down from £210. Between April 2020 and March 2026, the regulator subsidised applicants by £20 from historical reserves, bringing the real-world cost down to £184. Those reserves have now run out. So the discount has simply ended; the underlying fee hasn’t moved. Think of it less as a price rise and more as a temporary discount reaching its expiry date.

For context, a licence cost £190 back in 2004, when the regime began. Adjusted for inflation, that’s roughly £347 today. So at £204, you’re still paying comfortably less in real terms than the first applicants did.

One point that catches people out: the fee is non-refundable. If your application doesn’t succeed, that money doesn’t come back, which is exactly why getting your paperwork and training right the first time matters more than it might seem.

If you need licences in two different sectors, you can apply for both at once and get 50% off the second one, £102 instead of £204. That’s a genuine saving if you’re planning, say, a Door Supervisor and CCTV Operator licence together.

The condition tightened this year, though: since 1 June 2026, the discount only applies if both applications are submitted on the same day, on the same form. Apply for the second licence even a week later, and you’ll pay full price. Your existing licence also needs a reasonable amount of time left to run before it qualifies. If you know you’ll want more than one licence type, it genuinely pays to plan the applications together from day one rather than staggering them.

The £204 goes straight to the regulator and covers processing, identity checks, and criminal record checks. It buys no training; that’s a separate cost, paid to an approved provider like us.

Door Supervisor training typically runs £250–£350 for the course itself, plus £60–£100 for an Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) certificate, which has been a mandatory prerequisite since 2021; you can’t start the licence-linked course without it. All told, budget £310–£450 for training alone. Our Full SIA Door Supervisor course bundles both elements together, which tends to work out cheaper than booking them separately.

Security Guard training is a lighter course, usually £180–£250, plus the same £50–£100 EFAW requirement, so £230–£350 in training costs. Our Security Guarding Course follows the same combined-package approach.

CCTV Operator training is the most affordable route at £180–£250, and first aid isn’t always a requirement here, depending on your employer. Our SIA CCTV Operator Course covers the licence-linked content in full.

If you’re already thinking beyond the minimum requirement, say, for a supervisory or higher-risk role, a fuller First Aid at Work Course (3 Days) goes well beyond EFAW and is worth considering, though it’s not what the SIA mandates for a standard licence.

Your licence lasts three years. When it’s time to renew, you’ll pay the £204 fee again in full there’s no loyalty discount for returning applicants.

Since 1 April 2025, Door Supervisors and Security Guards also need to complete mandatory refresher training before they can renew, typically a one-day course costing £70–£180. That brings a realistic renewal total to somewhere between £274 and £384. Our SIA Door Supervisor Refresher + First Aid course is built specifically around this requirement, combining the top-up training with any first aid renewal you might need in one sitting.

Add in the smaller costs that don’t show up on any price list: passport-style photos if you need them, travel to a training venue, and four to six days away from work or other commitments. None of these is dramatic on their own, but together they’re the difference between what you expected to spend and what you actually spend.

The SIA is a self-funding regulator, so your fee isn’t profit for anyone; it covers the cost of running the licensing system. In 2024–25, roughly half went on salaries and staff, a quarter on direct licensing operations, and the rest across financial costs, IT, office costs, and a small consultancy spend. Not thrilling, but it explains why the fee sits where it does.

• April 2020: A £20 rebate brought the effective fee down to £184.
• April 2023: The statutory fee itself dropped from £210 to £204.
• 1 April 2025: Refresher training became mandatory before renewal.
• 31 March 2026: Last date to apply at the rebated £184 fee.
• 1 April 2026: The rebate ended; the fee reverted to £204.
• 1 June 2026: The additional-licence discount rule tightened to same-day, same-form applications only.

Regulatory detail like this shifts more often than people expect, so always cross-check the current fee and conditions on GOV.UK before you book training or submit an application; we’d rather send you there than have you work from a figure that’s quietly gone out of date.