Contents
Scotland only, and your Board’s letter counts
This guide covers personal licences under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. England and Wales have no refresher requirement and are covered in our personal licence guide. Boards run their own processes, so we quote several and say where they differ. Your own Board’s page and letter are the ones to follow. This is not legal advice.
The short version
- Once in each 5-year period you must pass the Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (Refresher) at SCQF Level 6.
- The training must fall inside the 5 years. You then have up to 3 months after the period ends to give the Board your certificate.
- If you do not, the Board must revoke your licence. The Act gives it no discretion.
- The Scottish Government says there is no fee for sending your certificate to the Board. You pay the training provider separately.
When it is due
Section 87 of the Act says you must produce evidence of training to your Board no later than 3 months after the end of the 5 years beginning with the date your licence was issued, and after each later 5-year period while the licence has effect. The evidence must show you complied with the training requirements “during that period”. Regulation 2 of the Personal Licence (Training) (Scotland) Regulations 2013 sets the requirement: an accredited course within each 5-year period.
So there are two deadlines. Perth and Kinross and West Lothian both explain them this way, and say you can find the first by counting back 5 years from the expiry date printed on your licence.
| Step | Date | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Licence issued | 1 September 2018 | The first 5-year period starts |
| First deadline | 31 August 2023 | You must have passed the course by now |
| Second deadline | 30 November 2023 | The Board must have your certificate by now |
The Boards disagree by a day. Perth and Kinross gives 1 September 2023 as the first deadline in one place and 31 August in another, and both 30 November and 1 December as the second. Do not plan to the last day. Finish months early and work from the dates in your Board’s letter.
The Act also requires the Board to write to you no later than 3 months before each period ends. Perth and Kinross and West Lothian say they do. Section 87 puts the duty on you, and we found nothing in it that excuses a missed deadline because a letter did not arrive. If you have moved, tell the Board: section 88 requires you to notify a change of name or address within one month.
Training after the first deadline does not count
This is the trap. Perth and Kinross and West Lothian say that if you pass the refresher after the first deadline and send the certificate before the second, the licence is still revoked. Perth and Kinross says the certificate is “worthless” by law. That follows the wording of section 87: the training must be done during the period. The Scottish Government’s page says the same, that you can submit evidence up to 3 months after the end of the 5-year period “during which they undertook the training”.
What counts as the refresher
- The qualification is the Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (Refresher) at SCQF Level 6, accredited by Scottish Ministers in a document dated December 2022.
- It is a different course from the one you took to get the licence. Perth and Kinross says you must sit the course and the exam, and that attending alone is not enough.
- Qualifications Scotland lists it as 3 hours of training and a 1-hour exam of 40 multiple-choice questions. The Scottish Government calls it a half-day course.
How to give the Board your evidence
The 2013 Regulations require the original or a copy of the certificate, with your full name, address, date of birth and licence number. Electronic submission is allowed. Beyond that the Boards differ:
- Perth and Kinross: email a copy with its refresher form. If you hold an original laminated licence, post it back; licences emailed since 2020 are not returned.
- West Lothian: it needs your original licence. If you email only the certificate, it gives you 14 days to produce the licence.
- Argyll and Bute: no standard form. Send a copy by email or post and keep proof of sending. It issues an updated licence at no charge.
- Aberdeenshire: it has its own completion form.
If you post the certificate, get proof of posting. Perth and Kinross suggests this.
If you miss it
Section 87(3) says the Board must revoke the licence. Perth and Kinross and West Lothian say the Board has no discretion, and Aberdeenshire says there are “no exceptions or appeals”. We checked the list of appealable decisions in Schedule 5 to the Act. It covers refusals of personal licence applications and orders under sections 83, 84 and 86, and a revocation under section 87(3) is not on it. That is our reading, not a Board statement, and it does not tell you whether any other legal challenge is open. A licensing solicitor can advise.
What revocation means in practice, according to Perth and Kinross and West Lothian: you can no longer authorise alcohol sales or run the mandatory staff training. If you are the designated premises manager, the premises cannot sell alcohol until another qualified personal licence holder takes over. Argyll and Bute says the same and describes time limits for naming a replacement.
Starting again. You must make a new application and hold a licensing qualification. The 5-year bar on applying after a revocation does not apply to revocations under section 87(3): section 74(3)(c) excludes them. The Scottish Government’s accreditation document lists only the SCQF Level 6 Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders for new applications. If you first qualified on an older version, ask your Board whether it will accept it.
Refresher and renewal are separate
Every 10 years you must also renew. The renewal window is the 9 months beginning 12 months before expiry, and the Board must write at least 9 months before expiry. The renewal fee is £50. The second 5-year period ends on the same day the licence expires, so the two overlap. A Scottish Government communications document from 31 July 2018 recommended dealing with both at once, by sitting a refresher course and sending the certificate with the renewal application. City of Edinburgh Council says that guidance recommends completing the refresher before applying to renew, and that its Board encourages this. The accreditation document accepts a refresher certificate gained in the 5 years before expiry for renewal.
Costs
No national price exists. The Scottish Government says commercial trainers offer the half-day course “at a reasonable cost”. Qualifications Scotland’s page for centres lists “SCPLH (Refresher): £30 thereafter and £8 for the candidate handbook”. We read those as the awarding body’s fees to the training centre, not a price to candidates, and the centre sets its own charge. Other awarding bodies offer the same qualification, so fees can differ. We could not find a current published price for the refresher from any Board or training centre, so ask providers for a quote. We found no Board that charges for receiving the certificate.
Practice before the exam
Our free SCPLH practice quiz and the paid SCPLH question bank are written for the full personal licence exam, not the refresher paper. They will help if your licence was revoked and you must qualify again.
Frequently asked questions
How often is refresher training due?
Once in each 5-year period from the date your licence was issued. The certificate must reach the Board within 3 months after the period ends.
Can I do the training in the 3 months after the 5 years?
No. Section 87, the 2013 Regulations and the Scottish Government’s page all tie the training to the 5-year period, and Perth and Kinross and West Lothian treat late training as worthless. The 3 months is only for sending the evidence. If you are close to the deadline, ask your Board or a licensing solicitor.
Is there a fee for sending the certificate?
The Scottish Government says there is no fee. The training itself is paid to your provider.
What if I miss the deadline?
The Board must revoke the licence. You would have to apply again.
Sources
Last checked 26 October 2026. Dates in brackets are when each page says it was last updated.
- Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, sections 74, 77, 78, 87 and 88 and Schedule 5, legislation.gov.uk (current version, checked 26 October 2026; the site showed section 87 as up to date to 25 October 2026 and the others to 26 October 2026)
- Personal Licence (Training) (Scotland) Regulations 2013, legislation.gov.uk (in force 8 October 2013)
- Alcohol licensing guidance: personal licence holders, Scottish Government (26 January 2023)
- Liquor personal licence holder: training accreditation, Scottish Government (December 2022)
- Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005: communications for personal licence holders, Scottish Government (31 July 2018): the recommendation to combine refresher and renewal
- Personal licence refresher training, Perth and Kinross Council (24 February 2026)
- Personal Licence Refresher Training, West Lothian Council
- Personal Licences and Training, Argyll and Bute Council
- Personal licence to sell alcohol, Aberdeenshire Council
- Personal licence, City of Edinburgh Council
- Alcohol licensing information for centres, SQA and Qualifications Scotland
Changes to this guide
- 26 October 2026: Draft written and checked against the legislation and the Scottish Government and Board pages.
This guide is general information written from the official sources listed above and checked on 26 October 2026. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and Plainfiles is not endorsed by any government body. Rules change, so check the linked official pages for your own situation. Written and designed by Plainfiles with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, then checked against the official legislation and guidance listed in the sources. How we write and check our guides.