ACT Awareness has been refreshed: Guide Shelter Report explained for security staff

Published 5 November 2026

If you work on a door or in a venue, two pieces of counter-terrorism guidance have changed this year. ProtectUK has refreshed its free ACT Awareness e-learning, and the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) has launched Guide Shelter Report (GSR), new advice written for staff at work.

What’s new in ACT Awareness?

On 8 June 2026, ProtectUK and NaCTSO released an updated version of the ACT Awareness e-learning course. According to ProtectUK, the refreshed course:

• has been redesigned to meet higher accessibility standards
• includes new filmed exercises based on real-world scenarios
• offers optional add-on modules for people who want to go further
• has been updated to reflect the latest national guidance

It’s still free through ProtectUK, and it covers topics like spotting suspicious activity and security vulnerabilities.

Guide Shelter Report vs Run Hide Tell

Most people know Run Hide Tell. That’s advice for members of the public caught up in an attack, and it still applies when you’re off duty.

Guide Shelter Report is for businesses and their staff. NaCTSO says Run Hide Tell was never meant to be a business’s incident plan, because staff have duty of care responsibilities to the people around them. In an attack at work, GSR says staff should:

• Guide people away from danger, for example towards exits, into a safe area inside, or behind locked doors
• Shelter people to keep them safe, such as away from windows and external walls, or inside a locked building
• Report to police by calling 999, but only once you’re not in immediate danger

For door supervisors this matters, because you’re often the person the public looks to first. ProtectUK is also clear that it isn’t enough for a venue to simply tell staff about GSR. It needs proper procedures, training and practice.

Do licence holders need to retake ACT Awareness?

There’s no separate SIA rule saying you must redo ACT Awareness just because it has been refreshed. What the rules do say is this: when you book refresher training to renew a door supervisor or security guard licence, you need to show your trainer certificates for ACT Awareness and ACT Security, both completed within the last year.

So if you’re renewing in the next few months, you’ll be doing the refreshed version anyway. If you’re not renewing soon, taking the new course is still a free, worthwhile way to keep up to date, and it’s a good fit alongside GSR.

Training in Bootle, north Liverpool

Our training centre is at St Mary’s Complex, Waverley Street, Bootle L20 4AP, in north Liverpool. By train, take a Merseyrail Northern Line train towards Southport to Bootle New Strand, about an 8-minute walk from us, or Bootle Oriel Road, about a 12-minute walk. There’s free on-site parking if you drive. We run the Door Supervisor refresher, the full Door Supervisor course and Emergency First Aid at Work. Bring your ACT certificates when you book and we’ll check everything is in order.

Sources

• ProtectUK: New refreshed ACT Awareness e-Learning course launched (8 June 2026)
• ProtectUK: Guide Shelter Report guidance
• ProtectUK: Guide Shelter Report: new NaCTSO guidance and supporting campaign launch
• GOV.UK: Changes to SIA licence-linked training: your questions answered