SIA Door Supervisor Exam Questions: Free Sample with Answers Explained

These are three practice questions for the SIA licence-linked unit exams: one from the common unit included in both current full qualifications, one from the door supervisor unit and one from the security officer unit. Each has four options and one correct answer, and the answer below it explains the reason. They are ProSyllabus’s own questions, written from the published qualification content and the law of England and Wales, and they are the three questions of our practice test’s free sample. None comes from an exam or an awarding organisation’s sample paper.

ProSyllabus is an independent study site. It is not the Security Industry Authority (SIA) or an awarding organisation, and nothing here is an official exam. This guide summarises the official sources listed at the foot of the page.

Choose an answer before you open "Show the answer". The point is to find out what you would have picked in the exam room, not to recognise the right answer once you have seen it. Then read the reason: the qualification content includes the legal powers and limits of a security operative, and the reason is what lets you answer a differently worded question on the same rule.

Why it matters: security operatives have no special powers of arrest, only the same powers as everyone else. The limits in section 24A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 are what keep a citizen’s arrest lawful, and getting them wrong can lead to action against the person who made the arrest.

Why it matters: a door supervisor’s right to search comes from the customer’s consent as a condition of entry, not from the licence. Refusing entry, rather than forcing a search, keeps the door supervisor within the law.

Why it matters: access control exists so that the site knows who is on it at any time and lets only authorised people in. A visitor’s word alone is not authority to enter.

Each question tests one rule, and the specification for the unit sets out the rest of the topic around it. These are the points worth revising alongside each question.

The common unit specification says arrest is to take away someone’s liberty, and that a security operative should arrest only as a last resort: false arrest can lead to civil or criminal prosecution of the person who made it, and their own safety can be at risk. If you do arrest, tell the person they are under arrest, give the reason and say that the police will be called; use witnesses where possible and only reasonable and necessary force. The arrested person is then your responsibility until you hand them over to the police, explain the reason for the arrest and tell them of any extra evidence, such as witnesses, CCTV or property.

The door supervisor specification lists four types of search: general, when everyone is searched; random, such as every fourth person; specific, when particular people are searched for particular reasons; and premises searches. A door supervisor searches only with the person’s permission, as part of the admissions policy and as a condition of entry. It lists precautions such as a dedicated search area, searching in pairs and in view of CCTV where possible, protective gloves and self-search techniques, and says to politely explain the reason for the search before refusing entry to someone who does not consent.

The security officer specification says access control lets only authorised people in, records who is on site at any given time and gives information in an evacuation or emergency. The officer checks authority to enter, issues and takes back visitor passes and records visitor information. Statutory agencies, such as police officers, fire officers and health and safety inspectors, must provide valid proof of identity and must not be prevented from carrying out their duties.