SIA Licence Types Explained: Front Line, Non-Front Line and the Sectors

"SIA licence" is not one thing. The SIA issues licences across eight sectors, and which one an operative needs depends on what they actually do on site, not their job title. Getting the wrong one, or letting the right one lapse, is a criminal offence under the Private Security Industry Act 2001, not a paperwork slip. Here is what each covers, what separates front line from non-front line, and the current fees and licence length, verified against gov.uk.

Front Line vs Non-Front Line

A front line licence covers anyone actually carrying out a licensable activity: standing on a door, patrolling a site, monitoring CCTV, providing close protection, or moving cash. To get one, an applicant must be 18 or over, pass an identity check and a criminal record check, hold the right SIA-recognised licence-linked qualification for that sector, and have the right to work in the UK.

A non-front line licence is for people who manage, supervise or employ others doing licensable work, without carrying out front line activity themselves; think directors, controllers and supervisors. It requires the identity and criminal record checks but no licence-linked training course. A non-front line licence also covers key holding activity.

Key holding on its own is the other exception: no licence-linked qualification is required to get a key holding licence, though the identity and criminal record checks still apply.

The distinction matters for who you send where. A controller who only dispatches guards from an office does not need a front line licence, but the moment that same person covers a shift on the door, they need the door supervision qualification for that day, not just the non-front line paperwork they already hold.

Source: gov.uk, apply for an SIA licence.

The Eight Sectors

• Door supervision. Guarding licensed premises (pubs, clubs, venues) against damage, theft, unauthorised access or disorder. Front line, licence-linked training required.
• Security guarding. General guarding of property against damage or theft, static or mobile. Front line, licence-linked training required.
• Public space surveillance (CCTV). Operating CCTV to watch or identify members of the public and guard against disorder. Front line, licence-linked training required.
• Close protection. Protecting a named individual from physical assault or injury. Front line, licence-linked training required, and by far the longest course of the group.
• Cash and valuables in transit (CVIT). Guarding property against theft while transporting it in a vehicle built for the job. Front line, licence-linked training required.
• Key holding. Holding, or being entrusted with, keys to premises as a commercial service. No licence-linked training required.
• Vehicle immobilisation. Now licensable in Northern Ireland only; wheel-clamping licensing in England, Wales and Scotland was abolished under separate legislation some years ago. Where it still applies, the licence lasts one year rather than three.
• Non-front line. Managing, supervising or employing people who carry out licensable activity, without doing the front line work yourself.

Source: gov.uk, apply for an SIA licence.

Licence Length and Fees

All SIA licences run for three years, with the single exception of the Northern Ireland vehicle immobiliser licence, which runs for one year. There is no part-year discount for renewing early or a grace period for renewing late: once a licence expires, the individual cannot legally carry out that licensable activity until a new one is granted.

The current application fee is £204 for one licence (effective from 1 April 2026, following the end of a rebate that had held the fee at £190 since 2020). If you apply for more than one licence at the same time, each additional licence costs £102, a 50% discount on the standard fee, which is worth planning for if an operative needs, say, both a door supervision and a CCTV licence.

Source: gov.uk, apply for an SIA licence.

Training Hours by Sector

Licence-linked qualifications are delivered by approved training providers and the hours vary by how much of the course is self-study versus classroom time. As published by gov.uk:

• Door supervision: 44 hours over 6 days (with self-study) or 52 hours over 7 days (without).
• Security guarding: 30 hours over 4 days (with self-study) or 38 hours over 5 days (without).
• Public space surveillance (CCTV): 22 hours over 3 days (with self-study) or 30 hours over 4 days (without).
• Cash and valuables in transit: 24 hours over 3 days (with self-study) or 27 hours over 4 days (without).
• Close protection: 194 hours over 18 days, by far the longest of the licence-linked courses.

Source: gov.uk, changes to SIA licence-linked training.

Applying and Renewing

Applications for front line sectors go in once the licence-linked qualification is complete; the SIA will not process a front line application without evidence of the relevant training. Non-front line and key holding applications skip that step and go straight to the identity and criminal record checks. Processing times vary, so most training providers and the SIA itself advise applying well before a licence is due to expire rather than waiting for the renewal window to open.

Once granted, a front line licence holder has a legal duty to wear it where it can be seen at all times while carrying out licensable activity, not just carry it. The only exceptions are covert work, or where the licence has been lost, stolen or is with the SIA, in which case the holder must still be able to produce it on request.

Keeping Track of a Mixed Team

Most security companies run a mix: door supervisors on one contract, guarding staff on another, a CVIT team, maybe a non-front line controller in the office. Each sector has its own renewal date and its own qualification to check, and a licence that lapses on any one of them is the same offence as never having applied.

Renewals are worth planning for rather than reacting to. A three-year cycle feels distant right up until a dozen licences across different sectors all fall due within the same quarter, and a guard who only qualified in one sector cannot simply be moved onto a shift that needs another without the matching licence.

TacDesk re-checks your guards' licences against the SIA public register automatically, working through the list every day, and sends expiry reminders to the guard and their manager from 90 days out, stepping up in the final 30. See SIA licence tracking.

Related reading: How to verify a security guard's SIA licence using the public register and SIA licence management: staying compliant as your security company grows.

Start free on TacFree, or book a demo to see licence tracking running across your own team.