Alcohol licensing training courses

You can sit the examination before you are 18, but you must be at least 18 years old to hold a Personal Licence.

If an applicant for a Personal Licence has unspent ‘relevant offences‘ or ‘foreign offences‘, the licensing authority can grant the licence only after having consulted the local police. If the police then object on the grounds that the ‘Crime Reduction‘ objective of the Licensing Act would be undermined by granting the application, then the application must be refused. The applicant can appeal the refusal and this will require a hearing. In practical terms, if an applicant has an unspent offence the police will object and in most cases the licence will end up not being granted. An offence is ‘spent‘ after a period of time – 5, 7 or 10 years depending on seriousness. Offences which are never ‘spent‘ are those where the offender was sentenced to 32 months in prison or more.

Being under 18; not having an accredited qualification such as the Award for Personal Licence Holders (APLH) -England and Wales or the Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (SCPLH) -Scotland; having an unspent criminal offence or forfeiting a licence (having it revoked) in the past 5 years.

A drink driving offence is a ‘relevant offence‘ and the police will object to an application from any person with an unspent drink driving conviction.

Any person aged 18 or above who holds an accredited qualification, doesn't have any unspent criminal offences and hasn't forfeited a licence in the past 5 years.

There's no such thing as a ‘pub licence‘ anymore. However, any premises, including pubs, whose owners want to engage in licensable activities from those premises, such as selling alcohol, providing most forms of entertainment or providing late night refreshment, need a Premises Licence. Applications for Premises Licences must be made to the local council in whose area the premises is situated.

Any person in a position where they are expected to authorise alcohol sales – such as managers, assistant managers or Designated Premises Supervisors. It isn't necessary for every bar person to be a Personal Licence holder.

The local licensing authority in England and Wales or licensing board in Scotland. Usually these authorities are local councils.

There is no such thing as an ‘alcohol licence‘ as such. To sell alcohol from a premises the premises must have a Premises Licence and sales must be authorised by a Personal Licence holder. Both of these licences are granted by the licensing authority or board of the local council.

Any person in Scotland in a position where they are expected to authorise alcohol sales, such as managers, assistant managers or Designated Premises Supervisors. It isn't necessary for every bar person to be a Personal Licence holder.

Discover our Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders course.

Personal Licence Holders are responsible to the licensing authority that granted the licence.

A Basic Disclosure which may be obtained from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

You can obtain a copy of your Personal License from the licensing authority or licensing board that originally granted it.

To the licensing authority or board to whom you are making your personal licence application.

You don't. You must display a summary of your Premises Licence in a prominent place but keep a copy of your personal licence for examination by police or licensing authority officials.

You can sit your APLH or SCPLH exam at any of CPL’s training venues located across the UK.

The local licensing authority in England and Wales or licensing board in Scotland. Usually these authorities are local councils.

A personal licence is granted to an individual, enabling that person to authorise alcohol sales from licensed premises.

A premises licence allows licensable activities, including the sale of alcohol, to take place from a particular premises. Find out more about our Premise Licence application service.

In England and Wales the terms ‘occasional licence has been replaced by the term ‘temporary event notice'. In Scotland the term occasional licence has been retained. They both basically mean the same thing: a permission to sell alcohol, or provide entertainment or late night refreshment from a premises that doesn't have a permanent premises licence, or outside the terms of that licence if it does.

Apply for a Basic Level DBS check online and then submit a personal licence application to your local licensing authority or board.

In England and Wales the hours within in which you can sell alcohol are not prescribed by statute law, regardless of whether we're talking about Christmas Day or any other day. The hours a premises can open or sell alcohol are set down in the premises licence. You apply for the hours you want and in the absence of any objections those hours will be granted. The same applies in Scotland with the following exceptions: there is a presumption against the grant of 24 hour licences in Scotland and off-sales premises are restricted to 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on any day.

On 6th April 2015 the need to renew your Personal Licence in England & Wales was abolished.

In Scotland, Personal Licence Holders must complete accredited refresher training and renew their Personal Licence every 5 years.

Dependant on the workload at your local Licensing Authority then it can take approximately 6 – 8 weeks from the time you receive your Qualification Certificate with London Borough Councils taking the longest.

As of 6th April 2017, applicants for a personal licence must demonstrate that they have the right to work in the UK and are not subject to a condition preventing them from doing work relating to the carrying on of a licensing activity. For CPL to be able to process your application, you will need to provide copies or scanned copies of the following documents which can be found here:

*The European Economic Area (or EEA) is defined here: https://www.gov.uk/eu-eea.