Apply for licensing

All Licenced Bodies must be members of the Science Council. If your organisation is not yet a member, first ensure you qualify for membership and start the application process to apply for licensing.

Criteria for becoming a Licenced Professional Body

  • If applying for a Chartered Scientist licence, you must have at least one membership standard at graduate level.
  • A minimum of 5 years experience administering that standard, or if not then your application is being made in association with a licenced member.
  • Members holding the above standard are bound by a Code of Professional Conduct.
  • A disciplinary procedure written and upheld.
  • A monitoring process for the professional development of a qualified group of its members.

If your Professional Body meets all the above requirements, you will need to complete a Licensing Application Form.

Our team is available to help talk you through any aspects of the licensing process – get in touch here.

Become Licensed with the Science Council

Development Licence

The Development Licence is an introductory licence available to new member organisations for the first 2 years.

It has been created to make licensing more accessible and to support organisations to administer applications and CPD.  The Licenced Body will have access to our online application system where the Science Council will administer applications for professional registration on your behalf.  The Science Council will also help you with your annual CPD audit.

After 2 years, the Licenced Body would progress to a full licence where they will still be able to access our online application system.  They will also be able to opt into our Joint Monitoring Process for CPD (if they have less than 100 registrants).  Alternatively, at the 2-year mark, if the Licenced Body would like to start processing their own applications and CPD in house they can do so provided that this is approved by our Registration Authority (RA).   The full licence fees can be found below:

Full Licence

There is a £495 fee for any new licence applications to cover internal administrative costs during the application process. This fee is non-refundable in the event of an application withdrawal, however it will be taken from your annual licence fee in year one if your licence application is complete.

The fees from January 2024 are:

  • £2,827 for 1 licence
  • £3,959 or 2/3 licences
  • £5,090 for 4 licences
  • £1,107 for the Development Licence

The upcoming fees for January 2025 are:

  • £3,127 for 1 licence
  • £4,118 or 2/3 licences
  • £5,090 for 4 licences
  • £1,564 for the Development Licence

License fees are invoiced in January. If a Licenced Body joins the Science Council part way through the year, fees will be collected pro rata.