Guidance

Bat survey class licences: references and evidence to support your application

Find out what experience and references you need to support your application or registration, and what form your referees need to complete.

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Published: 3 June 2026

Applies to England

Documents

References and experience needed to support your bat survey class licence application or registration

HTML

Form for referees: template to support a bat survey class licence application (Word format)

MS Word Document, 77 KB

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Form for referees: template to support a bat survey class licence application (Open Document format)

ODT, 63.3 KB

This file is in an OpenDocument format

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Details

This form and guidance is for the following bat licences: 

• survey or research level 1 licence (CL17) 
• survey or research level 2 licence (CL18) 
• survey or research level 3 licence (CL19) 
• survey or research level 4 licence (CL20)

To apply for any of these licences, use the bat survey licence form you require.

You must give written references to support a bat survey class licence if you: 

• have not held a licence for the species, or a similar species, in the last 3 years 
• have a licence but want to add new activities 

Use the guidance to find out who can be your referee and the experience you both need. 

Referees must complete the form on this page to provide you with a reference. 

You must use a different reference form and guidance for: 

• other survey class licences  – including great crested newts (CL08 and CL09), hazel dormice (CL10a and CL10b), barn owls (CL29) and white-clawed crayfish (CL11) 
• other protected species licences

Published 3 June 2026