UK Student ATCO Licence: Third-Country & Military Applicants
Guidance to holders of an ATCO Licence issued by a third country or a UK Military Certificate of Competence on obtaining a UK Student ATCO Licence.
Statutory Instrument (SI) 2025 No.1203 was introduced into law in the UK on the 10 December 2025.
This SI allowed the CAA to develop a pathway for holders of an ATCO licence issued outside the UK and UK military personnel holding a Certificate of Competence to be in a position to apply for a UK issued Student ATCO Licence.
That pathway takes into consideration the knowledge and skills of the applicant such that training credits may be established to modify the required scope of initial training.
How do I apply
The initial application is made on form SRG 1411C. This application is the enable the CAA to verify the authenticity of your ATCO licence or Certificate of Competence.
The application will require a certified Identification document (ID). For holders of an ATCO licence issued outside the UK the certified ID must be a certified copy of your passport as shown in Supporting documentation for air traffic licensing applications | UK Civil Aviation Authority under Proof of identity and the heading ‘Providing a certified copy of your photo ID’.
Holders of a UK Military Certificate of Competence may use either of the Proof of identity methods described in the link above.
How much does it cost
The cost of the verification of an Air Traffic Controller (ATCO) licence or Certificate of Competence is detailed in the Official Record Series ORS 5 - Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Scheme of Charges (Personnel Licensing), under ‘Verification of licensing details.’ Note: this charge is also applicable for the verification of a Certificates of Competence.
What happens next
Once your ATCO licence or Certificate of Competence has been successfully verified you will receive an email from the CAA confirming this.
You will then need to contact one of the certified UK Initial Training Organisations (ITO) and request that you undergo an evaluation of your knowledge and skills to enable the ITO to establish which training credits, if any, would be applicable.
To commence this process the ITO will require to see the CAA document verifying your licence or certificate of competence.
Where the ITO has identified any training credits these will be provided to the CAA for acceptance on form SRG 1411G.
Once any training credits are accepted and agreed by the CAA, any further initial training, as identified by the ITO can be undertaken. This will consist of modified training which aims to result in a level of competence equivalent to the completion of unmodified initial training.
It should be noted that if the evaluation indicates that no training credits can be identified it will be necessary to successfully complete the full unmodified initial training before making application for Student ATCO licence.
On successful completion of the training, application for a Student ATCO licence is to be made on form SRG1421.
It should be noted that the costs of the evaluation of your knowledge and skills and the modified or unmodified initial training course will be determined by the ITO. Such costs are the responsibility of the applicant.