Speed Awareness Course Cost & Eligibility: UK Guide

By Matthew Croxford · 20 Oct 2026

Short answer: There is no single national price, as fees are set by individual providers and police forces. Staffordshire charges £93, and most drivers across England and Wales can expect a fee somewhere similar, generally a little under or around £100, paid directly to the course provider rather than the police or court.

Getting a letter about a speeding offence is never a nice start to the week, but it doesn't automatically mean points and a fine. If you were caught only a little over the limit, the police may offer you a speed awareness course instead. It's not a right, it's not free, and it's not available to everyone, so it's worth knowing exactly what you're dealing with before you reply to that notice.

What is a speed awareness course?

The National Speed Awareness Course, usually shortened to NSAC, is an educational session run through the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS) as an alternative to a fixed penalty for low-level speeding. NPCC guidance describes it as the appropriate educational disposal option for qualifying speeding offences, with the aim of improving driver knowledge and behaviour whilst on the road. It's run by approved providers across the country rather than by the police themselves, and you can usually choose to attend in a classroom or do it online.

Crucially, this isn't something you can book off your own back. NSAC is a diversion from prosecution and is offered at the discretion of the enforcing police force, and an offender has no automatic right to NSAC irrespective of how low the offending speed was. In other words, even a borderline case doesn't guarantee an offer.

How much does a speed awareness course cost?

There's no single national price list. The fee is set by the individual provider and police area, so it varies depending on where you live and whether you attend online or in person. Staffordshire's road safety partnership, for example, confirms that the course costs £93, and once completed, no further action is taken for the offence, meaning no fine and no points on your licence.

Most drivers across England and Wales can expect a fee somewhere in a similar bracket, generally a little under or around the £100 mark, paid directly to the course provider rather than to the police or the court. That's roughly comparable to the standard fixed penalty for low-level speeding, except you walk away with a clean licence rather than an endorsement that can push up what you pay for cover.

Course fees are set independently by each provider and police force and can change, so always check the exact amount and payment deadline on the booking confirmation your own force sends you, rather than relying on a figure quoted elsewhere. For the thresholds and rules themselves, the current position is set out in the NPCC enforcement guidance.

Who is eligible for a speed awareness course?

Eligibility comes down to three things: how far over the limit you were, your history with the course, and the type of road you were on. None of it is guaranteed, and the final call always sits with the police force that caught you.

The speed threshold

You generally need to have been caught within a fairly narrow band above the limit, not crawling over it and not flying past it. Guidance used by forces nationally follows a formula of roughly 10% of the limit plus a small margin, which is why you'll often see ranges quoted such as 35 to 42mph in a 30mph zone or 79 to 86mph on a motorway. Go much higher than that upper figure and a course is unlikely to be on the table; the matter is more likely to go straight to a fixed penalty or court.

The three-year rule

You can only be offered this particular course once every three years. The NPCC guidance is explicit on this: an offender is not eligible for NSAC if they have attended an NSAC in the previous 3 years. It doesn't matter which force offered the earlier course or where in the country you did it, the three-year clock applies nationally.

Where the offence happened

Not every road qualifies. Some partnerships exclude certain locations, such as smart motorways, from the course altogether, treating those offences as more serious by default. If your letter mentions a smart motorway or a particularly high-risk stretch of road, don't assume a course offer is coming.

Other things that can rule you out

You've already got a course booked for a different offence in the same window
There are other charges attached to the same incident, not just the speeding offence on its own
You paid the fixed penalty or handed over your licence details before being offered the course, which closes the door on it immediately

What happens if you don't qualify or decline the offer?

If you're not eligible, or you simply don't want to do the course, the standard outcome for a low-level speeding offence is the usual fixed penalty: a fine plus three penalty points on your licence. Those points stay on your licence for four years from the date of the offence, and can affect what you pay for car insurance in the meantime.

One detail trips people up every year. According to Staffordshire's own guidance, if you choose to attend a retraining course, you should not pay the fixed penalty notice, because paying the fine will cancel your course place and points will be added to your driving licence. So once you've accepted a course offer, leave the fine alone and let the course process run its course.

How do you book a speed awareness course?

You can't self-refer. The process starts when the police send you a letter following the offence, and you only get the choice once that letter arrives. Staffordshire's guidance confirms you may be eligible if you exceeded the speed limit (not on a smart motorway), you haven't taken the same course in the past 3 years, and you received a police letter offering the course, and that you cannot self-refer to this course.

Timing matters too. Avon and Somerset Police set out that the course must be attended within 120 days from the date of the alleged offence. Miss that window and you risk losing the offer and being referred back for a fixed penalty instead, so once you get your reference details, get the booking done rather than letting it drift.

Does a speed awareness course affect car insurance?

Completing the course means no conviction and no points go on your licence, so there's nothing for most insurers to ask about at renewal in the way there would be with an SP30 endorsement. Some insurers do ask whether you've attended a course in the past few years as a general question, so it's worth reading your renewal questions carefully and answering honestly rather than assuming it never needs mentioning. If you want to compare how different insurers treat this kind of question, a price-comparison site is the sensible starting point rather than guessing.

If you're weighing up the wider running costs of keeping a car on the road, from fuel to maintenance to insurance, our guides cover the everyday costs of ownership in more depth.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a speed awareness course cost in the UK? Fees are set by each provider and police force rather than nationally, with figures commonly sitting around £90 to £100; Staffordshire's course, for example, costs £93.

Can I request a speed awareness course myself? No. You can only attend if the police force that caught you sends an offer letter; there's no self-referral route and no automatic entitlement even for a very minor offence.

How often can I do a speed awareness course? Only once every three years. If you've attended one within the previous three years, you won't be offered another and will instead face a fixed penalty or court for a further offence.

What speed qualifies for a speed awareness course? Forces generally work to a band of roughly 10% of the limit plus a small margin above it, such as 35 to 42mph in a 30mph zone, though the final decision is always at the discretion of the police.

Does the course appear on my driving licence? No. Completing the course successfully means no penalty points and no fine are recorded against your licence for that offence.