Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) FAQ's
How long is the course?
Half Day (4 - 4.5 hours). The multiple choice examination takes place on the day of the course. .
Where and when are the courses run?
We run courses for our corporate clients throughout the UK, either at our clients own workplace or at one of our established Training Centres. Where we are training at our clients premises, we are required to register the training facility with the BIIAB in order to meet our quality assurance standards. We perform this process on behalf of our clients at no additional cost to them.
Courses are run at the convenience of our clients, including weekends where required. Please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact US for more details.
How do I book?
Complete and return the ARAR Booking Form or call us on 0845 602 55 95 to book over the phone.
- ARAR Individual Booking Form (MS Word version / pdf version)
- ARAR Group Booking Form (MS Word version / pdf version)
For more details on how to book, please visit the 'Booking & Fees' section of our website.
How much does it cost?
£65.00 + vat (all inclusive of course handbook, course materials, tuition & certification) per candidate.
Discounts may be available for corporate clients. Please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us for more details.
What is the BIIAB Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR)?
The Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing covers the knowledge required by front-line employees working in the licensed retail sector who are authorised by the Personal Licence Holder or Designated Premises Supervisor to sell alcohol. The qualification acts as the starting point for further and more advanced qualifications as employees progress and become more valuable to the business in which they work.
The course examines the nature of alcohol, its effects and the potential consequences of excessive consumption; the fundamentals of the Licensing Act 2003; the licensing objectives; and the law in relation to the Responsible Retailing of Alcohol. This industry standard, nationally recognised level 1 qualification provides employees with the knowledge to perform in their role responsibly, while affording more protection to employers and their premises licence through their documented due diligence approach.
Who should attend this course?
The Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing is the qualification which we recommend to employers for all their 'front-line' employees who are authorised by the Personal Licence Holder or Designated Supervisor to sell alcohol.
Front-line employees who should complete this qualification include; bar staff • waiting staff • off-license / licensed shop cashiers • supermarket cashiers • event staff • supervisors • hotel employees •
What does the course cover?
What is alcohol and how does it affect us? • licensing law • protection of children • your social responsibilities • recognising drunkenness and your duty not to serve • dealing with alcohol-related crime and conflict •
We have made a sample Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing - Learning Programme (pdf document) available to download. This demonstrates how we put our courses together for individual clients following a Training Needs Analysis (pdf document).
What is the outcome of the course?
Candidates will be able to identify their responsibilities when selling alcohol on licensed premises and gain an understanding of their part in promoting the licensing objectives.
On successfully completing the Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing and passing the associated examination, candidates will receive a certificate from the BIIAB. The course will provide them not only with a nationally recognised qualification but also with the skills and knowledge to work more effectively, professionally and responsibly in their workplace.
How is the course assessed?
The course is assessed via a short 30 minute multiple choice examination; candidates must pass the examinations and attend all sessions of the training in order to be awarded their certificate.
The examination consists of 25 questions of which 3 mandatory questions are based on the core aspects of the Licensing Act 2003. Candidates must answer all 3 mandatory questions correctly and correctly answer 14 out of the remaining 22 questions in order to pass the examination.
Once completed, examination papers are returned to the BIIAB to be marked. The BIIAB allow themselves five working days to communicate the results to us; although to date the longest notification time has been 48 hours. We aim to inform candidates of their results by phone or by email the same day.
Certificates are sent to us from the BIIAB within 10 working days of the results notification and we aim to forward these by first class post to our clients, within 48 hours of them being received by us.
Who accredits the course?
The course is accredited by the BIIAB. Beyond The Blue are approved to administer training and examinations by the BIIAB.
The BIIAB Level 1 Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing is endorsed by the government and is accredited by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) as a level 1 qualification. Level 1 means it is a qualification which supports employment progression.
The qualification counts towards other BIIAB qualification schemes. Candidates who complete the Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing and the Customer and Drinks Service (CDS) qualification are awarded the Professional Barperson's Qualification (PBQ)
Why choose Beyond The Blue as your training provider?
At Beyond The Blue we employ only specialist instructors to run our courses; all our instructors have extensive experience in the relevant fields. They train with the objective of helping candidates not just complete the course, but of gaining the skills and knowledge to succeed and be more effective in their workplace.
The experience of our instructors brings the subject they are teaching to life. Our training is based on a variety of training methods and comprises open learning, classroom based learning, scenario based learning, group work and interactive discussion; this approach allows us to meet the preferred learning styles of all candidates.
Beyond The Blue is a ‘BIIAB Grade 1’ Training Centre (The BIIAB describe Grade 1 as ‘demonstrating outstanding quality procedures’); we have exceptionally high pass rates for all our BIIAB accredited courses. In 2008 across the whole portfolio of BIIAB courses, only 3 candidates failed their examinations after attending training with Beyond The Blue.
Our success is measured in the success of those people we train, we are focussed on providing excellence in customer service both pre and post training.
For more good reasons why you should choose Beyond The Blue as your training provider, please visit the 'Why Choose Us?' page.
Additional information
The BIIAB Level 1 Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing acts as a safeguard for the premises licence, as it strengthens the defence of due diligence where prosecutions may affect a company's continued operations. This is because the examination contains 3 mandatory questions that demonstrate every candidate fully understands the relevant legislation concerning underage sales, serving people who are drunk and the licensing objectives.
A comprehensive course handbook is provided to each candidate when they register on the course to enable them to complete 'open learning' prior to training. 'Open learning' consists of candidates reading through the course handbook prior to attending the course. Our courses are designed to be interactive and to take a full part in the course candidates should be familiar with the content of the course handbook; this also results in better examination results as exams are based on this content.
To complement our professional training and the course handbook, we provide candidates attending our courses with a selection of comprehensive course hand-outs. These come together to form a training folder candidates can refer back to, in order to refresh their skills and knowledge.
Candidates are required to provide a form(s) of identity in order to sit the examination. For a full list of acceptable forms of identity please download Examination Identity Requirements (pdf document).
Some of our clients have chosen to expand on the Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing by requesting additional sessions after the examination, to turn this half day course into a full day. These clients have realised a specific training need within their team and we have provided bespoke training to meet these needs. These additional sessions have recently included;
- An introduction to Drugs Awareness - to provide key information on drug use, drug litter, recognising the signs of drug use and drug dealing. We use learning tools such as our Drugs Box to provide a realistic visual approach to illegal drugs.
- An introduction to Weights & Measures - was developed specifically for candidates who were new to the UK licensed retail sector.
- An introduction to Effective Communication - specifically in conflict resolution; but this session had the added benefit of improving general service standards.
We can provide bespoke courses on any subject where our clients feel their candidates can benefit from the additional knowledge and use this information to be more effective in their workplace. When we provide additional sessions in this way, candidates not only receive the BIIAB Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing certificate, but also an individually numbered certificate of attendance from Beyond The Blue for the additional sessions we provide.
We provide a number of different Training Solutions to help our clients working in the licensed retail sector meet their statutory requirements, up-skill their workforce and develop their business. Our training solutions include;
- National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH)
- National Certificate for Designated Premises Supervisors (NCDPS)
- National Certificate for Licensees - Drugs Awareness (NCLDA)
- Professional Bar Persons Qualification (PBQ)
- Award in Customer Service Excellence – Licensed Premises* (ACSE-LP)
- Certificate in Alcohol Awareness* (CAA)
- Award in Assessment of Licensed Premises – Social Responsibility* (AALP-SR)
- In-House Licensed Retail Sector Induction* (IHLRSI)
- Award in Conflict Management (ACM)
- National Certificate for Door Supervisors (NCDS)
*For more details on these courses please Contact Us
For candidates attending the NCPLH we provide a Personal Licence Application Service (pdf document) on request, which takes the hassle out of the application process and avoids any delays in the processing of the personal licence application.
We also help our clients to succeed through our Consultancy Service - The Licensed Retail Sector.
For more details on our Course Dates and Fees please visit the Bookings & Fees section of our website, Contact Us or call us on 0845 602 55 95 to book your place.
Please also visit our National Press Archive and MD Blog for relevant industry news, our comment and advice or join us on Facebook.
Other useful pages in this section of our website include:
• Licensed Retail Sector (Home Page) • Training • Frequently Asked Questions • Useful Information • Responsible Alcohol Retailing • The BIIAB • Incentives & Discounts • Download a Leaflet •
