All Coaches and Technical Officials working under the British Weight Lifting banner are required to maintain a valid licence. This includes anyone who coaches at a British Weight Lifting affiliated club or officiates at a BWL licensed competition or event.

The BWL Coach and Technical Official Licences, allows us to regulate the standards of coaching and officiating, maintaining a high level of coaching and officiating within our sport. Coaches and Technical Officials can also benefit from liability insurance.

Start your application today

Licences cost just £40 and are valid for 24 months. You can apply for your licence online using the Sport 80 system – it takes just a few minutes.

Please allow enough time for your coach license to be processed. A DBS check, which is a requirement of the application process, can take up to 90 days.

Before you apply for your licence online...

Please ensure you have the following:

• A valid British Weight Lifting membership
• Proof of your BWL-recognised coaching or officiating qualifications
• A current passport photo

Follow these simple steps to apply for your licence

• Log in to your Sport 80 account by clicking here. 
• Once logged in, make sure that your BWL membership is valid by clicking on the ‘Memberships’ tab.

If you don’t have a valid membership, make sure you purchase this through Sport 80 before going any further. Simply click the ‘Add Membership’ button while in the membership tab and follow the instructions.

• Now select on the ‘Licences’ tab from your profile and click the ‘Add Licence’ button on the right side of the page
• Complete the form, remembering to fill out all the fields marked with a red asterisk

• Within this form you will need to upload evidence of your coaching/officiating certificate and a recent passport-style image as a minimum.

• Finally, tick the box to agree to the Code of Conduct and then click the ‘Add’ button

Your licence will have been added to your profile and appear in a ‘Pending Approval’ status. Our team will review your application and you will be notified by email once it has been approved.

DBS Certificate

All coaches must have an active Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, this establishes if the person is considered suitable to work with children and vulnerable adults.

To apply for a British Weight Lifting enhanced DBS certificate, you must first apply for a Coach and/or Technical Official licence through your BWL account as details above.

PLEASE NOTE: Government guidelines for DBS checks are currently stating that they can take up to 90 days to be completed.

Enhanced DBS checks are valid for two years from date of issue or the date of an online service update check by British Weight Lifting. All adults who wish to continue to work in a role which requires a DBS check must renew their application prior to its expiry after two years.

BWL will access your license application and if required, will set up an enhanced DBS application through online checking company, First Advantage. You will be required to 1) complete the online application through First Advantage and 2) submit ID documents to BWL for verification - the DBS will not be processed until both steps have been completed. An enhanced DBS check costs £15.30 which is First Advantage's admin fee.

BWL accepts existing DBS checks provided they are 1) of an enhanced level and 2) are registered on the online update service. You will be required to submit a copy of your DBS certificate to authorise BWL to check your existing DBS on the update service.

For those living in Northern Ireland, DBS checks will be processed by Access NI and have an admin fee of £10.00.

Receiving your Licence

Approval of coach licenses can take up to two weeks from when the DBS check has been confirmed.

Once your licence has been approved you will receive a notification email that includes the details of your licence, as well as a link to download an e-licence to the Wallet App on your Apple or Android smartphone. 

If you have any questions, then get in touch. Click here to contact a member of our team to talk about your licence.