MCA short course approvals
Source: gov.uk (2025-09-22)

Information on how to find MCA approved courses, how to become a MCA approved training provider, common queries and the types of complaints we can investigate.

Introduction

The MCA approves and monitors training providers (such as nautical colleges and small private enterprises) to run STCW short courses. Short courses are an essential element of safety training required for the issuance of a UK seafarer Certificate of Competency (CoC) or for a seafarer to take up employment onboard a ship. On successful completion of the course, a seafarer is issued with a certificate that demonstrates they have met the required standard.

How to find MCA approved courses

Please check our online listings (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mca-approved-training-providers-atp). We aim to update these every 2 weeks.

Training provider is not listed

1). Does the training provider state the course is MCA approved?

If not, it is unlikely to be approved by the MCA. You should instead find out which administration approved this (by checking the course web page or by contacting the training provider) and check whether we can accept/recognise the course (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mca-approved-training-providers-atp#other-maritime-administrations).

2). Could the company you found be acting as an intermediary?

The company advertising MCA approved courses may not be the provider delivering the training but are instead acting as a commercial partner. In most cases, the course web page will tell you who the actual training provider is.

3). If the advice above does not resolve your query, please email xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)

How to become a MCA approved training provider

Guidance

Full details of the approval and monitoring process can be found in Annex F of MSN 1865, as amended (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/msn-1865-m-amendment-1-uk-requirements-for-emergency-occupational-safety-security-medical-care-and-survival-functions).

You must ensure that you’re able to meet the quality management system (QMS) conditions as detailed in sections A-J of the MSN.

Further information is available in MIN 643 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/min-643-m-maritime-and-coastguard-agency-mca-short-course-approval-process-guidance).

Course criteria

Training centres must meet the course criteria requirements developed by the Merchant Navy Training Board (MNTB) in conjunction with the MCA. These are contained in a series of booklets, relevant copies of which must be purchased from the MNTB prior to application: https://shop.witherbys.com/shipping-bodies/mntb/

A few syllabuses are published by the MCA (on gov.uk) which can be found on our syllabus page (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/seafarer-training-certification-examinations-and-careers#short-course-certification-information).

Boatmasters’ Licence (BML) syllabuses can be found at Annex 7 of MSN 1853, as amended (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/msn-1853-m-boatmasters-qualifications-crew-and-hours-of-work).

Cyber security syllabus is available on request, please email xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)

Audit fees

In line with HM Treasury’s ‘Managing Public Money’ guidelines (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money), we operate on a cost recovery basis. The audit fee is currently £147 per hour and is set by legislation (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/1104/contents).

For overseas audits, the hourly rate also applies to the time spent travelling and there are other costs such as flights, hotels and daily subsistence to factor in.

For a rough guide as to how long an audit might take: add 4 hours (for our Examiner to review your desktop submission) to the total training duration of the course(s). If we go ahead with your request, we will be able to provide you with an estimated cost.

Additionally, there are ongoing costs in maintaining approvals, for example, being reaudited every 5 years (‘reapproval’) and for overseas providers, we also carry out a ‘midterm’ (halfway) audit. These subsequent audits are not as extensive as the initial approval audit.

We do not charge for Boatmasters’ Licence (BML) course approvals, however, we must be able to justify an audit.

Request MCA short course approval

Due to the demand for new course approvals and the ongoing need to audit existing training providers, we will assess your request against our current priorities. If your request is rejected, we will provide the reason(s) behind our decision.

Please do not incur any costs such as buying equipment or hiring premises unless we give the go-ahead.

If you do not hold any MCA course approvals, please complete our online request form:

Start now (https://submit.forms.service.gov.uk/form/4634/request-mca-short-course-approval)

Common approval queries

The MCA does not approve Crowd Management or Passenger Spaces given these must be ship specific (as per section 17 of MSN 1866, as amended (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/msn-1866-m-amendment-1-training-requirements-for-seafarers-on-tankers-igf-code-ships-ships-that-operate-in-polar-waters-and-passenger-ships)).

Shipboard Safety Officer is not mandatory so does not need to be MCA approved, however, MCA approved (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mca-approved-training-providers-atp#training-centres-for-other-training) may make more sense for working on board UK flagged vessels given it covers UK health and safety legislation.

Raising a complaint against a MCA training provider

Our role

Training providers must have a complaints process in place as part of their Quality Management System (which we check). Training providers must also keep records of complaints which we check during an audit.

Additionally, we consider complaints which allege:

poor standards of training

serious health & safety issues

course(s) being delivered at location(s) or by person(s) not approved by us

fraud or illegal activity

If your complaint falls within our remit, please outline your complaint by email to xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx) and attach any supporting evidence.

Complaints about other matters should be raised with the training provider directly. We are also not responsible for pricing; our role is to oversee the standards of training.