Hundreds Of Products Ready Today. Dispatch/Collection How to get a Motorsport UK licence
There are three routes into competition and one of them is free, which almost nobody mentions. This page covers what each licence lets you do, what the tests involve, what the medicals require and what the whole thing actually costs once you add the bits that are not in the pack. Motorsport UK set all of this, and every figure here is theirs.
Start with what you want to enter. Grassroots club events need nothing but a free licence and club membership. Circuit racing, stage rallying and karting each need a starter pack and a test.
You may not need to pay anything at all
This is the part that gets buried. The RS Clubman licence is free. It is a digital licence, you apply on the Motorsport UK site, and the only requirements are that you are medically fit to compete and a British citizen.
With it and a club membership you can enter autotests, AutoSOLOs, autocross, trials, cross country events, and road, navigational and 12 car rallies. That is a genuine season of motorsport in a road car, for the cost of joining a club.
If you want the physical card, a lanyard, a competitor sticker and a bundle of benefits including personal accident cover, RS Clubman+ is £24.99 at the time of writing. The competing part is the same either way.
Our honest advice: do a season of this before you spend £400 finding out whether you like circuit racing.
Autotests, AutoSOLOs, autocross, trials, cross country, road and navigational rallies, 12 car rallies. Digital licence, no test.
Same competing rights. Adds the physical card, lanyard, car sticker, personal accident insurance and a set of retail benefits.
When you want circuit racing, stage rallying or karting, that is when the starter pack and the test come in.
Race, rally or kart
Each has its own starter pack, its own test and its own licence at the end of it. The pack includes your first licence fee. It does not include the test.
01Circuit racing, ARDS
The Racing Starter Pack, then an ARDS test at an accredited circuit or school. A half day of classroom and driving assessment. Leads to a Race Club Competition Licence.
02Stage rallying, BARS
The Rallying Starter Pack, then a BARS test at one of the accredited rally schools. Presentation, written exam, then an examiner sits alongside you in a rally car.
03Karting, ARKS
The Karting Starter Pack, then an ARKS test at a kart school or club. Theory paper and a practical assessment on track, usually a couple of hours. Leads to a Kart Inter Club Licence.
Test fees are Motorsport UK’s own guide figures and vary between accredited schools, so get a quote from the school before you budget. Kart hire is normally extra on an ARKS test.
Four steps, in this order
Doing them out of order is what costs people money.
Buy the starter pack first
It is the only route to your first licence and the first licence fee is included in it. You cannot book the test and sort the paperwork afterwards, because the pack contains the application form you need.
Book the test
Once the pack arrives, book a Novice Driver Training Course including the relevant test at an accredited school. ARDS at a circuit, BARS at one of the accredited rally schools, ARKS at a kart school or club. Shop around, the fees vary.
Sort the medical side
Everyone does a medical self declaration each year. Under 45 applying for a first race licence, that plus a vision test. Sixty and over, a full medical with a resting ECG as well. Get the timing right, because your licence has to be issued within three months of the examination.
Apply within 12 months
Passing the test does not give you a licence, it qualifies you to apply for one. You have 12 months from passing to submit the application. Miss that and you sit the test again, which is the most expensive mistake on this page.
The single most common misunderstanding is that the starter pack is the licence. It is the application form, the rules and the first year fee. The test is a separate booking and a separate few hundred pounds.
Cameron, GSM PerformanceThe only route to a first licence
We sell all three at Motorsport UK’s own price, and the fee for your first licence is included in each. Each contains a booklet setting out the next steps, links to the educational films and the National Competition Rules, your competition licence application form and a keyring. The test is booked separately.
Pack plus test, before you enter anything
| Route | Starter pack | Test | Before your first entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grassroots club events, RS Clubman | free | no test | £0 plus club membership |
| RS Clubman+ | £24.99 | no test | £24.99 plus club membership |
| Karting, ARKS | £75 | around £120 | around £195 |
| Stage rallying, BARS | £115 | around £250 | around £365 |
| Circuit racing, ARDS | £115 | around £290 | around £405 |
Correct at the time of writing and set by Motorsport UK, not by us. Test fees vary between accredited schools and kart hire is usually extra on an ARKS test. None of the above includes club membership, event entry fees, safety kit or getting the car through scrutineering. Check the current figures at getstarted.motorsportuk.org before you budget.
It depends on your age
Every applicant completes a medical self declaration each year regardless of age. For a first Race, Truck or Long Circuit Kart licence between 14 and 44 you need a vision test. From 60 you need a full medical including a resting ECG alongside the vision test, repeated at 65, 70 and 72, then annually from 75.
Watch the timing. Your competition licence has to be issued within three months of the date of the medical or vision test. If the application is not processed inside that window the examining doctor has to revalidate it, which means going back.
Karting starts younger than people expect
Motorsport UK set the minimum age for the ARKS test at 5 years and 9 months for the Bambino class, with racing from 6 at circuits licensed for it. If the driver is under 18, a parent or guardian also needs an Entrant PG licence, and the cost of that is included in the Karting Starter Pack.
If the driver is under 15, the helmet standard is Snell CMR, for example CMR2016, or the CMS equivalent. A motorcycle helmet is not acceptable and neither is an adult car racing helmet. This is the one piece of kit where getting it wrong means being turned away at scrutineering, so buy it to the standard rather than to the badge.
Motorsport UK helmet requirement for under 15sOn top of the helmet, a kart driver needs a homologated suit, boots and gloves. Your club or championship regulations are the document that decides the detail, so read those before buying anything.
Where it goes from here
Motorsport UK licences run in grades, highest first: International, National, Interclub and Clubman. Your first race licence sits at Club level and you move up by competing and collecting signatures from the Clerk of the Course.
The types run alongside the grades: Race, Kart, RS for speed events like sprints and hillclimbs, RS Stage Rally, and Entrant. Upgrading between some grades needs no further test, only proof that you have competed. The detail is in the National Competition Rules that come with your pack, and you want to read that before planning a season around an upgrade.
If you are unsure which licence a particular championship wants, the championship regulations say so explicitly. That document beats any general guide including this one.
The ones we get asked
Do I need a licence to do a track day?▾
No. Track days are not competition and almost every organiser accepts you turning up in a road car with a road licence. You need a Motorsport UK competition licence when you start competing, and which one depends on what you enter.
What is the cheapest way into motorsport?▾
The RS Clubman licence, which is free. It covers autotests, AutoSOLOs, autocross, trials, cross country and road, navigational and 12 car rallies. You need club membership and to be medically fit, and that is it. Most people never find out this exists.
How much does a race licence actually cost?▾
At the time of writing, £115 for the Racing Starter Pack, which includes your first licence fee, plus around £290 for the ARDS test itself. So roughly £405 before you have entered anything. The pack is not the test and the two get confused constantly.
What is the difference between ARDS, BARS and ARKS?▾
They are the tests for the three routes. ARDS is circuit racing, BARS is stage rallying and ARKS is karting. Each has its own starter pack and each leads to a different licence.
How long is the test valid for?▾
Once you pass, you have 12 months to apply to Motorsport UK for your licence. Leave it longer and you take the test again, which is the expensive part.
Do I need a medical?▾
Everyone completes a medical self declaration each year. Beyond that it depends on age. Applying for a first Race, Truck or Long Circuit Kart licence between 14 and 44, a vision test only. At 60 and over, a full medical including a resting ECG as well as the vision test, repeated at 65, 70, 72 and then annually from 75. Your licence has to be issued within three months of the examination or it needs revalidating.
How young can you start karting?▾
Motorsport UK set the minimum age for the ARKS test at 5 years and 9 months for the Bambino class, with racing from 6 at circuits licensed for it. If the driver is under 18 a parent or guardian also needs an Entrant PG licence.
What safety kit do I need on top of the licence?▾
For karting, a helmet, a homologated suit, boots and gloves. Read the helmet question carefully if the driver is under 15, because a motorcycle helmet is not acceptable and the standard is specific. For circuit racing your championship regulations set the kit, and that is the document to work from rather than a retailer website.
Sorting the car out as well?
We have been supplying seats, harnesses and cages to club competitors since 2003. Ring us and we will tell you what your regulations actually require.
Call 0115 9893488Message us