Refusals log template (Challenge 25): free and printable

Print this sheet, keep it behind the bar, and fill in a line every time someone is refused. Use your browser's Print button, or press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on a Mac): only the sheet prints.

Do you need a refusals log?

Start with your own premises licence. Read the conditions in the annex (the licence holder must keep the licence or a certified copy at the premises, so it should be easy to find). If a condition mentions a refusals book, refusals register, refusals log or "incident and refusals book", it's a legal requirement for your venue, and the wording of that condition is what you follow.

If there's no such condition, you still have a duty that applies to every premises licence in England and Wales that allows alcohol sales: an age verification policy. The licence holder must make sure one is adopted, and the DPS must make sure alcohol is sold in line with it. The policy must require anyone who looks under 18 (or an older age you set, which is where Challenge 25 comes in) to show photo ID before being served.

A refusals log is the simplest way to prove that policy is working. A licensing officer, the police or trading standards can see at a glance that staff ask for ID, that they refuse when they should, and that someone in charge is keeping an eye on it.

What is Challenge 25?

Challenge 25 is an age verification policy, not a law in England and Wales. Staff ask anyone who looks under 25 for ID before serving alcohol. The higher age gives a margin, because judging whether someone is 17 or 19 by sight is hard. It's widely used in pubs and bars, and many licences name it in a condition along with signs at the bar. In Scotland the rule is written into law: every premises licence has an age verification policy that applies to anyone who looks under 25.

What to record for each refusal

Council conditions vary, but they tend to ask for the same handful of details. One council's condition, for example, lists the date and time of the refused sale, a description of the person, why they were refused (no ID, fake ID) and the name of the member of staff. The sheet above covers all of those.

Keep descriptions factual and short. Write what you saw ("about 17, grey hoodie, with two others"), not opinions, and don't record names or ID numbers unless the person gave them and there's a reason to keep them. The log is about the sale, not a file on the customer.

Weekly sign-off by the DPS

Many licence conditions require the designated premises supervisor to check and sign the log. One example says the record "shall be checked by the Designated Premises Supervisor at least once a week". Others set different intervals, so follow yours. A good weekly review takes five minutes:

1. Count the refusals for the week and compare with last week. A sudden drop to zero on a busy weekend is a warning sign, not good news.
2. Check every line is complete: name, time, reason. Chase gaps while people still remember.
3. Look for patterns: the same staff member never refusing, the same group coming back, proxy purchases at the same time of night.
4. Coach, don't blame. Thank staff who refused correctly, especially young or new team members who find it hardest.
5. Sign and date the review box, and note any action you're taking.

Our DPS duties checklist shows where this fits in the rest of the DPS routine.

How long to keep a refusals log

Keep it for as long as your licence condition says. Twelve months is common: one council's standard condition requires an incident and refusals book to be kept at the premises "for a period of not less than 12 months" and made available to police and licensing officers. If you have no condition, keeping a year's worth is a sensible default.

Store finished sheets in a folder at the premises, not in someone's car or at head office, so you can hand them over when asked.

The law behind a refusal

Staff refuse more confidently when they know why it matters. These are the main offences under the Licensing Act 2003 in England and Wales:

There's a defence to selling to someone under 18 if the seller believed the customer was 18 or over and either took all reasonable steps to check their age, or nobody could reasonably have suspected from their appearance that they were under 18. The Act treats asking for evidence of age that would convince a reasonable person as taking all reasonable steps. That is exactly what Challenge 25 and a refusals log show.

One exception staff should know: 16 and 17-year-olds can drink beer, wine or cider with a table meal if an adult aged 18 or over is with them and buys it. They still can't buy it themselves.

Training staff on Challenge 25

The log is only as good as the team filling it in. Cover these points at induction and refresh them regularly (some licences set a timetable, such as every six months, and require training records to be signed and kept):

• When to ask: anyone who looks under 25, every time, even if a colleague served them earlier.
• What ID to accept: photo ID with a date of birth and a hologram or ultraviolet feature, such as a passport, photocard driving licence or PASS card. Since 15 September 2026 your policy may also allow digital ID checked through a registered digital verification service, but that's optional, and your policy should say whether you accept it.
• What to say: "I'm sorry, I can't serve you without ID. It's the law and my job." Keep it short and polite, and get a manager if it escalates.
• Proxy sales: watch for an adult buying rounds for a younger group.
• Drunk customers: refusing someone who is drunk is a refusal too, and goes in the log.
• Write it down straight away, before the next customer.

Record who was trained and when. Our staff training record sheet has a printable version, and hospitality staff training records explains what to keep. If you employ under-18s behind the bar, read young workers in pubs and bars as well.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

This page covers England and Wales. Scotland has its own licensing law, under which every premises licence carries a mandatory age verification policy for anyone who looks under 25 and a duty to keep staff training records at the premises. Northern Ireland has its own licensing system too. Check your licence and your licensing authority's guidance if you trade there.

Keeping the routine around the log in ShiftComplete

ShiftComplete doesn't have a dedicated refusals register, so keep the log itself on this sheet or in the format your licence asks for. What ShiftComplete does well is the routine around it:

• A weekly checklist task such as "DPS: review and sign the refusals log", set for the day you want it done. Every tick is named and timestamped, so you can show the review happened, and you can ask for a photo of the signed page as evidence.
• Incidents for refusals that turn into something more, such as an aggressive customer or a fake ID handed in, logged in seconds with a photo, severity and resolution notes.
• Team announcements to remind everyone about Challenge 25 before a busy weekend, a freshers' night or a big match, so it doesn't get lost in the group chat.
• Opening and closing checklists that change by weekday, which is where "Challenge 25 signs up at every bar" belongs. See our pub opening and closing checklist.

ShiftComplete also runs your rotas, temperature logs and allergen matrix, for £1.49 per staff member per month with every feature included. It's free for 60 days with no card needed to start. It helps you keep the records a licensing officer or EHO asks to see; meeting your licence conditions stays with the licence holder and the DPS.