Refresher training became mandatory for door supervisor licence renewals on 1 April 2025, replacing the top-up course that had covered renewals since October 2021. The two qualifications are separate. A top-up certificate no longer satisfies the SIA at renewal, and applications submitted on the strength of one get rejected.
Anyone renewing a door supervisor badge in 2026 needs the refresher. No exceptions for length of service.
The three-stage history, briefly
October 2021 brought top-up training in as a renewal requirement, following the April 2021 rule that made a first aid qualification a prerequisite for licence-linked training. April 2025 then replaced top-up with the refresher qualification for door supervisors and security guards. Close protection joined the refresher requirement on 1 April 2026.
Each change tightened the same thing: the gap between what officers learned three years ago and what the job now demands.
What the refresher covers
Door supervisor refresher training runs 1.5 to 2.5 days in person and covers four areas: updated legislation affecting licensed premises, counter-terrorism awareness, conflict management, and physical intervention skills.
Physical intervention is the reason the course cannot run online. Disengagement and escorting techniques are assessed practically, with a partner, in front of an assessor. Officers who have spent their three-year licence period on static retail or corporate sites tend to find this the sharpest part of the two days, because the techniques have shifted since the last specification and unused skills fade.
Counter-terrorism sits alongside it as the fastest-changing element. The ACT Awareness and ACT Security e-learning modules, both free through ProtectUK and both required within the previous 12 months of your renewal, feed directly into this content.
The first aid rule that blocks bookings
You cannot start refresher training without an Emergency First Aid at Work certificate holding at least 12 months of validity from the first day of the course. Training providers are barred from registering you otherwise, and this catches a large share of renewing officers.
The reason is arithmetic. EFAW certificates last three years. Take one alongside your original licence-linked training and it expires roughly when your licence does, which leaves nowhere near 12 months on the clock at refresher time. Officers renewing their first badge almost always need fresh first aid before booking.
Check the expiry date on your EFAW certificate before you book anything else. My Badge schedules its refresher dates with EFAW available alongside, so learners in this position complete both in one booking rather than losing three weeks to a separate first aid course.
Timing the refresher against your renewal
The SIA accepts renewal applications up to four months before your licence expires, and refresher training can be completed at any point before you submit. There is no minimum gap and no requirement to leave it late.
Take a licence expiring in December 2026. Refresher training in August or September works fine, the renewal window opens in August, and submitting in September leaves clear room for the 25 working day processing time. Any unused months on your current licence carry over to the new one, so early renewal costs nothing.
Submitting before expiry also lets you keep working in the same role while the SIA processes the application, even if the decision lands after your card date. That protection ends the moment the licence expires unsubmitted.
Common reasons a renewal stalls
- Booking a top-up course instead of the refresher
- Holding an EFAW certificate with under 12 months remaining at course start
- Missing one of the two ACT e-learning certificates
- Applying before results reach the SIA from the awarding body
- Name or address mismatches between the training certificate and ID documents
Number one has become the most common in 2026, largely because older provider pages still advertise top-up courses and the search results have not caught up. Check the qualification title on the booking page, not the marketing headline.
Booking locally
Refresher availability tightens through autumn as expiry dates cluster. Course dates for the south coast are listed at https://www.my-badge.co.uk/, delivered from a Mount Pleasant Road centre in Southampton, which keeps travel out of the equation for officers working across Hampshire.
Book the refresher, complete the ACT modules, then apply. In that order, a renewal is a fortnight of admin rather than a month off work.
