SIA licences suspended over alleged training malpractice

More than 200 licences have been suspended by the SIA following alleged malpractice at London-based training centre Tristar.

The licence holders all had Door Supervision qualifications from Leyton-based centre Tristar. A specified qualification must be passed before the SIA licence can be applied for.

Awarding body Edexcel withdrew the ‘Level 2 BTEC Award in Door Supervision’ certificates issued by Tristar, and removed it as an accredited centre.

Because their qualifications have been withdrawn, 211 licence holders no longer meet SIA licensing criteria, which states that a specified qualification must be passed. The SIA has therefore suspended these licences.

The suspensions will be reviewed in 90 days and if the individuals do not have a valid qualification by this time their licence will be revoked. Any person found to have been complicit in malpractice will have their licence revoked.

Director of Strategy and Corporate Services Hazel Russell said: “We take allegations of training malpractice very seriously, and in this case have taken prompt action to suspend licences after receiving information from Edexcel.

“The training is an essential part of the licensing process, ensuring that all those working in the security industry are properly equipped to carry out their role. Reassuringly, we have relatively few reports of misconduct, and we work closely with the awarding bodies to ascertain that licence-linked qualifications meet the necessary standards.”

An Edexcel spokesperson said:

“Edexcel takes any abuse of our qualifications very seriously. We received allegations of malpractice within Tristar and carried out a thorough investigation, including forensic analysis of test papers. We found substantiated evidence of malpractice and consequently we withdrew over 200 Level 2 BTEC Awards in Door Supervision and removed the centre’s accreditation.

“BTECs are rigorous qualifications and we will always take action, where necessary, to protect their value.”