how to regiester for 2025/26 - OFFICIALS

The new season is nearly here

For information on how to sign up for the 2025/26 season, please look at the sections below.

You may receive information on purchasing your membership in the coming months directly from any clubs/leagues you are associated with.

All Officials Membership Fees: Adult £32, U18 £20

As of the 2025/26 season, there is no differentiation in the price between a Regional and a National official regardless of which competition you officiate in.

All officials pay one price based on their age.

As of this season, there has been a change to how officials are classified. All officials that officiate in NBL, including Jnr. NBL, must use the NBL registration link detailed further down this page.

What do I need to do?

You must be a BE member before you officiate.

In order to become a member for 2025/26, you need to have ticked off the following criteria:

Purchased a membership for the 2025/26 season
Have a valid ID verified on your portal
Hold a qualification in the discipline you are registering in
For those 16 years and above, have a clear enhanced DBS dated within the last three years
Have completed the Basketball England safeguarding training within the last three years (other safeguarding certificates are still valid if already validated on your profile)

To meet these criteria, please look at the sections below.

1) Purchase a Membership

To register, click on either the NBL or Local League registration link for the region you live in.

Click the NBL link if you officiate any games in the Senior NBL or Jnr. NBL.

Click the Local League link if you officiate in any local league competitions, including BUCS, colleges and schools games.

If you officiate in any mix of the two, please register using both links one after the other. You will only be charged once.

If you need any help on how to register, or the steps required, please click the button below.

Guide - How to register

2) Provide valid ID

This will be done as part of step one, and is a stage of the registration process within PlayHQ.

3) Get qualified

You need to be suitably qualified to officiate at any level. Your existing qualifications should be listed as part of your member profile.

If your qualifications aren't showing on your profile, please use the button below to contact us and we'll look into this for you.

If you need to get qualified, click here.

4) dbs

If you are 16 years old and above, you are required to have an enhanced DBS check every three years.

Basketball England must be able to check your DBS status every three years, which means you need to re-apply for an enhanced DBS certificate when you have held your certificate for 2.5 years, unless you have already subscribed to the update service.

We recommend you apply through Basketball England for the check. You can apply for a new certificate when you apply for a license by emailing [email protected] or registering your details with a local DBS verifier.

Basketball England is committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and adults at risk in basketball. Our Safeguarding Policy, Adults at Risk Policy & Regulations set out the key principles that our organisation adheres to as well as providing best practice guidance. We also have guidance for our clubs, parents, players, staff and welfare officers.

As such, it is a requirement that all officials and associated workforce complete safeguarding training, a safeguarding self-declaration and complete a criminal records check in order to become licensed and active in their role.

There will no longer be any overrides for those that are awaiting their DBS to be returned.

Further details about DBS checks can be found here.

DBS Check - Volunteer
£10.80 (3 Years)

DBS Check - Non Volunteers
£50.80 (3 Years)

To qualify for a volunteer check, the applicant must not:

benefit financially from the position for which the application is being submitted
receive any payment (except for travel and other approved out-of-pocket expenses)

There are a few ways to register for a new DBS.

Each club and league should have a welfare officer who is also a DBS verifier, who can register you on the system so you can receive an activation email. If you are an official, some Official's Coordinators are also registered as verifiers.

Another option is to contact the safeguarding team. You need to send us your full name, email address, role in basketball and confirm whether you are a volunteer or non-volunteer. To qualify for a volunteer check, the you must not: benefit financially from the position for which the application is being submitted or receive any payment (except for travel and other approved out-of-pocket expenses)

Basketball England currently uses Know Your People to process our DBS Checks.

DBS through Know Your People can take up to 60 days, or sometimes longer, but this varies due to the police force who provide the background checks.

N.B. Basketball England only uses this system to manage DBS checks, it cannot influence any checks or speed up the process.

Safeguarding FAQs, including a section on DBS checks, can be found by clicking HERE.

5) safeguarding training

The Whyte Review was very clear about the sport sector needing specific training that allows volunteers and non-volunteers to operate with a clear understanding of the role within the sport sector that they operate.

Basketball England has its own safeguarding course can be completed online. This is the only course that we accept in order to verify your officiating license.

The course costs £20 (member discounted price). This course is valid for three years once completed and Basketball England will update your membership profile upon successful completion of the course.

Officials that are 17 years old and below do not need to complete a safeguarding course. When you pay for a license Basketball England's membership team will override the requirement of having to obtain this on your license.

Basketball England's safeguarding training is a discounted £20 for BE members.

You can sign up for the BE safeguarding course HERE.

Members with in-date safeguarding training already attached to their membership profile will be asked to undertake the Basketball England training at the point their existing training expires.

Safeguarding FAQs, including a section on safeguarding courses, can be found by clicking HERE.

License Requirements for non-nationals

Non-nationals that wish to officiate in England must ensure they have the ‘right to work’ in a self-employed capacity.

During the registration process you are required to submit proof that they have the ‘Right to work’ in the UK in a ‘self-employed’ manner. Proof of this is required at time of making a licence application by uploading a VISA or Residency Permit.

"Right to Work" - The Right To Work is a legal requirement for anyone looking to work in the UK.

"Self Employed" - working for oneself as a freelance or the owner of a business rather than for an employer. Self-employed workers aren’t paid through PAYE, and they don’t have the employment rights and responsibilities of their employee and are responsible to pay their own PAYE.

To prove your 'Right to work' please use this GOV.UK page to provide your immigration status. You will need to upload a screenshot to your eligibility page in the profile.

Transfer your qualification from outside the UK

Do you already hold a qualification or have experience as an official in another country which you want to transfer to the UK? If this is the case please follow this process below.

To transfer your basketball Officiating or Coaching Qualification you are required to complete the Foreign Qualification Transfer Form. Subject to the evidence provided, we will transfer your qualification over to a Basketball England Level 2 Award in the first instance. Anyone who holds a FIBA qualification will remain as FIBA.

Once we have transferred your qualification, you will be required to register yourself as a member with Basketball England using the steps listed above.

To tell us about your qualifications, please click the button below.

Foreign Qualifications Transfer Form