France's Private-Security Training Reform: What Changed on 1 March 2025

The legal framework for training in private-security activities in France has been rewritten from top to bottom. Ordinance no. 2023-374 of 16 May 2023 and decree no. 2024-311 of 4 April 2024 recast articles L. 625-1 et seq. and R. 625-1 to R. 625-42 of the internal-security code, with the core of the scheme taking effect on 1 March 2025. For training providers in the sector — and for those planning to enter it — here is what actually changed.

Why a reform?

The previous regime dated from the reform applied in 2018: an operating authorisation issued by the CNAPS (the national council for private-security activities), conditional on a sector-specific certification delivered by accredited bodies against a framework dedicated to private-security training. Lawmakers wanted to raise training quality and tighten oversight of the players — continuing the state’s reassertion of control documented by researchers for years. Frédéric Ocqueteau’s 2013 study, “Genèse et premiers pas du Conseil national des activités privées de sécurité (CNAPS)” (genesis and first steps of the CNAPS), showed how France built, from 2011-2012, a dedicated public regulator to discipline a long self-regulated market. At the European level, Mark Button and Peter Stiernstedt observe the same trajectory of rising requirements in “The evolution of security industry regulation in the European Union” (2017) (see the study).

Change no. 1: Qualiopi replaces the sector certification

The most structural shift: since 1 March 2025, the quality certification required for the operating authorisation is no longer the dedicated sector framework, but Qualiopi. The three conditions of the authorisation are now: the activity declaration — the NDA (registered activity number) —, Qualiopi certification and CNAPS approval of the director.

For this sector, Qualiopi thus changes in nature: from funding passport to legal condition of doing business. We analyse the consequences of this stacking in CNAPS and Qualiopi: what it takes.

Change no. 2: the professional trainer card

Since 1 March 2025, every trainer — employee, freelancer or teaching director — must hold a professional card issued by the CNAPS after an integrity check, valid for 5 years, with a French-language requirement (B1 minimum). This aligns the trainer’s status with the security agent’s: an individual, revocable title. Conditions and procedure are detailed in our article on the private-security trainer card.

Change no. 3: prior declaration of sessions

Authorised providers must declare the opening of every training session to the CNAPS at least 15 days before it starts. This declaration feeds the regulator’s inspection capacity: an undeclared session is an immediately verifiable breach, and on-site checks become traceable session by session.

Operationally, this locks down your commercial planning: no more sessions “set up for next week” to absorb urgent demand.

Change no. 4: strictly regulated subcontracting

The new regime frames the subcontracting of courses: a provider may only entrust training to a third party operating within the same framework, with prior agreement of the relevant joint committee or certification body — unless the subcontractor is already duly authorised. Combined with the general duties of training subcontracting (written contract, documentary checks — see our guide to subcontracting in vocational training), the sector is now among the most demanding in France on this point.

Change no. 5: oversight shared between the CNAPS, branches and certifiers

The material and pedagogical conditions of courses (premises, technical facilities, content, examination arrangements) are set by regulation, and compliance is checked by the professional branches and the certification bodies behind the CQPs (branch certificates) and titles being prepared, which can refer breaches to the CNAPS. The CNAPS keeps its own inspection and sanctioning powers: financial penalties of up to €150,000 for a legal entity, temporary bans — an arsenal we detail in CNAPS inspections and sanctions.

Change no. 6: distance learning gets a (small) foot in the door

Since 1 September 2025, the theory modules of initial courses may be delivered remotely under the conditions set by regulation — a measured opening, with practical teaching remaining face-to-face. For providers, this means applying the general requirements of distance learning to the sector: attendance tracking, learner support, assessment — points already mapped by the national quality framework (see our Qualiopi indicators).

What the reform did not change

• The operating authorisation remains the keystone: without it, no private-security training may be delivered.
• The individual prior authorisation of trainees remains: any candidate for initial training must obtain a CNAPS authorisation, valid for six months, before entering a session.
• The CNAPS remains the sector’s single regulator, a public administrative body supervised by the Interior Ministry, whose state-driven governance has been reinforced by successive reforms since 2022.

Take action

If your organisation trains — or plans to train — for private-security occupations, audit your compliance against the six changes above: certification, approval, cards, sessions, subcontracting, inspections. Our page CNAPS authorisation for private-security training providers sums up the current scheme, with a free ebook to structure your compliance plan.