PSA study plan

Map the PSA regulatory framework from memory: outline the Act's structure, the role of the regulator, and how licensing, enforcement and appeals fit together, writing a one-page diagram without notes.

Define each licence and permit category for contractors and for employees, and state the conditions attached to each in your own words.

List the grounds on which a licence application can be refused, suspended or revoked, and explain the procedural fairness steps that must precede each outcome.

Draft a checklist a contractor would use to assemble a compliant licence application, including fit-and-proper criteria and supporting documents.

Explain to a study partner why an unlicensed operator commits an offence and what penalties flow from supplying security services without a licence.

Compare contractor obligations with employee obligations under the licensing regime and tabulate who must hold what, and when.

Trace the lifecycle of a licence from application through renewal, variation and surrender, noting deadlines and record-keeping duties at each stage.

Identify the offences and sanctions in the regulatory framework, and match each to the conduct that triggers it.

Apply the licensing rules to three short scenarios (a subcontracted guard, a supervisor moving employer, a lapsed renewal) and justify each conclusion with the rule relied on.

Summarise the standards and codes of practice that govern security service delivery, and state the practical behaviour each standard demands of a front-line officer.

Explain the legal basis for arrest and detention by a private security operative, distinguishing powers that exist at common law or statute from powers the operative does not have.

Break down the use-of-force test into its components and apply it to three escalating scenarios, stating at each step whether force was lawful and why.

Describe what a lawful detention looks like end to end: grounds, communication, duration, handover to police, and documentation.

List the consequences of unlawful arrest, detention or excessive force for the individual, the employer and the licence holder.

Rehearse the standards and codes in operational language: write the exact words an officer uses when informing a person they are being detained and why.

Compare proportionate, necessary and reasonable force using concrete examples, and identify the point at which each scenario crosses into excess.

Analyse the interaction between codes of practice and legal powers when a customer instruction conflicts with the law, and state the correct course of action.

Explain the duty to intervene and report when a colleague uses force unlawfully.

Classify the criminal offences most relevant to security work (theft, assault, criminal damage, public order, fraud, handling, obstruction) and state the elements of each.

Distinguish criminal liability from civil liability and from disciplinary breach for the same act, using two worked examples.

Design a record-keeping and evidence-handling procedure covering continuity, storage, retention and disclosure, and justify each control.

Draft a witness statement and an incident report for the same event, noting what each document must and must not contain.

Explain how poor records undermine a prosecution and expose the officer and employer to challenge.

Outline the employer's and the employee's duties for health, safety and welfare at work, and map them onto a security officer's daily tasks.

Conduct a written risk assessment for a typical security post, identifying hazards, who is affected, existing controls and residual risk.

Describe fire safety fundamentals: fire classes, detection and alarm, evacuation strategy, assembly points and the officer's specific role.

Sequence the actions an officer takes on discovering a fire or receiving a bomb threat, and explain why the order matters.

Identify the welfare factors (fatigue, lone working, shift patterns, violence at work) that most affect security staff and state the controls for each.

Practise de-escalation scripts for three difficult encounters (refusal of entry, suspected theft, aggressive customer) and record what you actually said.

Explain equality and human rights duties as they apply to stop, search, exclusion and use of force decisions, and identify the protected characteristics.

Recognise and correct discriminatory profiling or language in written scenarios, stating the lawful alternative each time.

Draft a short professional conduct standard for front-line staff covering tone, boundaries, gifts, conflicts of interest and social media.

Sit two full-length timed mock exams under exam conditions and record the score per domain.

Re-teach the two weakest domains from memory on a blank page, then verify against notes and correct gaps.

Recite the highest-risk facts (licence categories, force test, arrest grounds, reporting deadlines) in a five-minute spoken run-through.

Review every previously wrong answer and confirm you can state the correct rule and the reason you got it wrong.