Autumn Arrives

Today is the Autumn Equinox – the time of year where the day is as long as the night, and the nights start to draw in that little bit quicker. Autumn is well and truly on its way with so many beautiful colours appearing in the trees, which means woolly jumpers, hot chocolate, and pumpkin spice soon make their way back into our everyday lives!

In a month that has seen GlobeUs scale the heights of Go Ape (see our picture below – the Moors Valley Country Park will never be the same again!), we’ve also been very busy scaling up our Personal Licence offer, launching courses in Birmingham and Manchester. It’s been an absolutely pleasure to work with so many customers throughout our time so far, so launching in two brand new areas is incredibly exciting for us! We have also brought out our brand new Premises Licence Consultation and Application services, which we hope will support anyone wishing to launch a new business. More about this next time.

With so much going on, we thought we’d take this opportunity to welcome new and revisiting individuals to the GlobeUs website and just run over the most common FAQs around Personal Licences.

What is a Personal Licence? A Personal Licence is required for anyone wishing to sell and/or distribute alcohol; it is personal to the individual and goes with them wherever they may work in England and Wales – the licence is also now valid for life.

How do I get a Personal Licence? In order to apply for a licence, you first need to quality in an Accredited award, such as the Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders. You can do this by attending a Personal Licence course with GlobeUs; our course is £109+VAT and includes everything from registration to certification.

Who is Your Awarding Body? Our qualification is Accredited by Highfield ABC.

Where can I do a Course? We come to Bristol, Birmingham, Brighton, Bournemouth, Southampton, London, Plymouth, and Manchester regularly, so have a look at the page on our website to find out more: https://www.globeustraining.co.uk/courses/personal-licence/personal-licence-course-aplh-level-2-uk/. You can also complete the course online, but will need to arrange your examination with us in order for your certificate to be accredited by our Awarding Body.

How do I Book? You can book directly via our website, or contact us any time to book over the phone. Once you have booked, a confirmation email is sent to you with full details of the venue and timings, alongside a PDF version of the course handbook for any pre-reading the candidate wishes to do.

What happens on the Day? The course starts at 9.30am and the morning session is dedicated to tuition with one of our highly experienced course tutors; each candidate is given a physical version of the handbook to work with. After the lunch break, candidates are invited to complete a mock examination; the candidates then sit the formal Personal Licence exam paper.

When do I get the Results? The exam papers are sent to Highfield on the day of the exam; Highfield then release the results back to us 7-10 working days following receipt of the papers. Results are then emailed to candidates as soon as the results come in.

What Happens if I Fail? We have a 95% pass rate for the examination; however, if the worst happens, we offer all candidates a free resit of the exam.

When will I Receive the Certificate? The certificates are posted to us as soon as the results are released; we then receive them the following working day. They are then posted out to each candidate.

What do I do Next? To apply for your Personal Licence, you need to submit evidence documents to your local authority, usually your local council. To find who your local council is, you can go to the Government website: https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council. There are 2 documents to complete: the Application for a Personal Licence, and the Disclosure of Convictions Declaration. You will also need a DBS check, and this can be done via Disclosure Scotland and costs £25. Once these have been completed, you need to send the original documents, along with your certificate and 2 passport photographs to your local authority. The Personal Licence Application fee costs £37.

Can you do this for me? Yes! If you opt to use our Personal Licence Application Service, we can take care of all of this for you. You will be sent a list of everything we need, and then we will take it from there. The service costs £120+VAT in addition to the course costs, and can be completed at any time once your have qualified in an accredited qualification – even if it wasn’t via a GlobeUs APLH course. The service includes the DBS check an all licence application fees, and we will endorse your passport photographs.

How Long Does it Take? The DBS takes up to 2 weeks to come back; we usually apply for this when your exam result comes through, so that the DBS and certificate come to us roughly at the same time. The licence is then processed, and the local council can take up to 6 weeks to return this to us. The licence is then forwarded to the candidate First Class Signed for immediately.

How Long is the Licence Valid For? The Licence is now valid for life and goes with you throughout England and Wales. There is no renewal required. If you change home address/ details, or lost your card, you will need to inform your local authority. There may be fees charged for this.

So, now you know!

If you have any further questions please contact us below at any time and we will be more than happy to help.

A final note to close this month’s blog: congratulations to everyone who has achieved either their Functional Skills this month, or their full Apprenticeship award! We could not be prouder of the number of achievements this month, and wish you all the very best in your next endeavours. Check out some of the pictures below.