{"id":6255,"date":"2019-01-11T12:47:32","date_gmt":"2019-01-11T12:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.get-licensed.co.uk\/get-daily\/?p=6255"},"modified":"2026-03-11T08:07:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T08:07:35","slug":"how-long-does-a-personal-license-last-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.get-licensed.co.uk\/get-daily\/how-long-does-a-personal-license-last-for\/","title":{"rendered":"How Long Does A Personal Licence Last For?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you&#8217;re wondering how long a personal alcohol licence lasts, or whether you need to renew it, the answer is straightforward. In England and Wales, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.get-licensed.co.uk\/licence\/personal-licence\">personal licence<\/a> has no expiry date. It remains valid indefinitely from the date it was issued and is portable throughout England and Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words, no renewal is required. Personal licence holders can continue to authorise alcohol sales for life. However, that wasn&#8217;t always the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>England &amp; Wales<\/strong>: Your personal licence is valid indefinitely. It does not expire and never needs renewal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Scotland<\/strong>: Your personal licence is only valid for 10 years and must be renewed. You must also complete mandatory refresher training every 5 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Legal duty<\/strong>: Even in England and Wales, you have a legal duty to notify the issuing council of any change of name or address to keep your licence valid.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Not permanent<\/strong>: An indefinite licence can still be suspended or revoked if you are convicted of a relevant offence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-personal-licence-once-had-to-be-renewed\">A Personal Licence Once Had to be Renewed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There used to be a time when licence holders had to renew their personal licences after 10 years and also had to complete additional personal licence retraining. But as a result of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.uk\/ukpga\/2015\/20\/section\/69\">Deregulation Act 2015<\/a>, the Government decided to remove the requirement to renew personal licences, and this was implemented on 1 April 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a great advantage for anyone looking or thinking of applying for a personal licence, as this means there is no need to pay for additional retraining or renewal of the licence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Recommended Reading: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.get-licensed.co.uk\/get-daily\/what-is-a-personal-license\/\">What Is a Personal Licence?<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You Must Keep Your Details Up to Date<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>During the lifetime of your licence, you have a legal duty to notify the Licensing Authority of any change to your name or address. Failure to do so is an offence under the Licensing Act 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-can-you-ever-lose-your-personal-licence\">Can You Ever Lose Your Personal Licence?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes. While the licence doesn&#8217;t expire, it can still be taken away. Under the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.uk\/ukpga\/2003\/17\/section\/129\">Licensing Act 2003<\/a>, a personal licence can be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Surrendered<\/strong> \u2014 if you voluntarily give it up<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Suspended<\/strong> \u2014 by a court for up to 6 months, or by the licensing authority<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Forfeited or revoked<\/strong> \u2014 by a court upon conviction for a relevant offence, or by the licensing authority<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Relevant offences include crimes involving violence, dishonesty, drugs, firearms, and offences under the Licensing Act itself. If you&#8217;re convicted of a relevant offence, you must notify the court that you hold a Personal Licence. Failure to do so is itself a criminal offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What About Personal Licence Renewal in Scotland?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The rules are different in Scotland. If you hold a Scottish Personal Licence, you do need to renew it. Under the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.uk\/asp\/2005\/16\/contents\">Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.scot\/publications\/licensing-scotland-act-2005-personal-licence-holder-communications-document\/\">Scottish Personal Licence<\/a> is valid for 10 years and must be renewed<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Licence holders must complete refresher training every 5 years<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Failure to complete refresher training results in automatic revocation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you work in Scotland, make sure you&#8217;re aware of your renewal and training deadlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1313\" height=\"524\" src=\"https:\/\/www.get-licensed.co.uk\/get-daily\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/FINAL-GL-banners-1313-524-20.jpg\" alt=\"alcoholic beverages at a bar\" class=\"wp-image-44741\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-get-a-personal-licence\">Get a Personal Licence <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A personal licence allows you to authorise the sale of alcohol at licensed premises. To get one in England or Wales, you&#8217;ll need to pass the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.get-licensed.co.uk\/aplh\">APLH (Award for Personal Licence Holders) course<\/a> first. This personal alcohol licence course teaches you about licensing law and your responsibilities. Once you&#8217;ve passed, you can apply to your local council. If you&#8217;d rather skip the paperwork, our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.get-licensed.co.uk\/personal-licence-application\/\">Easy Apply service<\/a> handles the entire application for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll also need a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.get-licensed.co.uk\/get-daily\/do-you-need-a-dbs-check-for-a-personal-licence\/\">basic DBS check<\/a> as part of your application. For a full breakdown of the process, see our guide on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.get-licensed.co.uk\/get-daily\/how-to-apply-for-a-personal-licence\/\">how to apply for a personal licence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ready to get started? Book your APLH course today and access <a href=\"https:\/\/www.get-licensed.co.uk\/free-online-personal-licence-training-course\">free e-learning<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;re wondering how long a personal alcohol licence lasts, or whether you need to renew it, the answer is straightforward. In England and Wales, a personal licence has no expiry date. It remains valid indefinitely from the date it was issued and is portable throughout England and Wales. In other words, no renewal is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":44738,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[552],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-licence"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.5 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Long Does a Personal Licence Last For?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how long a personal licence lasts and the importance of its indefinite validity for alcohol sales in England and Wales.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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