Applying for a UK Press Card from the BPPA

The Association joined the United Kingdom Press Card Authority (UKPCA) towards the end of 2006 and went through the process of getting our logo and design for our press cards approved by the UKPCA's board. We started taking applications from members in April 2007 and issued our first batch of BPPA press cards in May 2007. We are now able to take applications for those press cards from bona fide full time news photographers.

The BPPA will charge applicants an administration fee whether or not their application is successful. The fee is currently £30.00 and a cheque for this amount must be sent with the application form. Non members of the Association will be charged a fee for the card if their application is successful. The fee is currently £150.00 for a two year card (the equivalent of two years full membership of the BPPA, without any of the benefits enjoyed by members). BPPA members will be asked to make their membership paid up until the end of the membership year in which the card expires. This will mean paying at least two years membership in advance if you are approved for a Press Card through the BPPA.

Once you application is approved by the BPPA, and you already hold a valid UK Press Card, it will be your responsibility to cancel it through the body that issued it before a BPPA card can be issued.

Important Note:

The turn around time for applications from the receipt of the application form, payments and photograph is currently between two and three weeks.


The Process:

  1. Read the terms and conditions under which the BPPA approves the issue of UK Press Cards .
  2. Make sure that you are eligible to apply for a Press Card through the BPPA - only full time news photographers qualify for a BPPA issued card.
  3. Fill in the on-line application form carefully and completely.
  4. Print the form out and sign it.
  5. Send the completed form to the address below complete with a cheque for £30.00 made payable to BPPA.
  6. Email passport type picture of yourself to presscards@britishpressphoto.org. The image must be a simple head and shoulders without any form of headgear, have a white background, be 7.5 cm x 5 cm at 254 pixels per inch and have been taken within the last twelve months. It must not be manipulated in any way.Please use your own name as the filename for the picture.

The Association will then assess your application, taking up such references as are necessary to determine whether you qualify for a UK Press Card. If your application is approved, you will be notified by email and asked to pay any further fees or BPPA membership subscriptions that are necessary. If your application is unsuccessful you will be notified by email along with the reason why your application wasn't accepted along with details of how to appeal to the BPPA's full committee. Application fees will not be refunded.

The BPPA's postal address is:

BPPA
Suite 219
2 Lansdowne Crescent
Bournemouth
BH1 1SA

Terms and Conditions:
  1. Any UK Press Card issued on behalf of the British Press Photographers' Association remains the property of the United Kingdom Press Card Authority and can be withdrawn at any time.
  2. The UKPCA Press Card scheme does not allow anyone to hold more than one UK Press Card. If you already have a Press Card and are applying for a BPPA Press Card you must be willing to surrender the other card before a new one can be issued.
  3. The BPPA reserves the right to carry out checks using third party agencies. These may include criminal record checks.
  4. The BPPA will only approve the issue of Press Cards to those applicants that it considers to be full time news gatherers and whose professional practice requires them to identify themselves as such. The exact definition of a full time news gatherer can be a subjective one and the BPPA reserves the right to apply such definitions as the BPPA and UKPCA find applicable.
  5. The Association reserves the right to contact the referees provided and to make enquiries with publications named as sources of either freelance, contract or staff employment in order to determine whether the applicant is a bona fide news gatherer.
  6. Anyone whose application is refused may appeal in writing. Written Appeals will be heard by the BPPA's full committee whose decision will be final.
  7. All applications must be accompanied by the application fee. The fee will only be accepted in the form of a personal cheque, made payable to "BPPA". The application fee is non refundable, even if an application fails.
  8. Cards will only be issued on payment of a further fee which will be not less than the cost of two years full membership of the BPPA.
  9. The BPPA is committed to ensuring that Press Cards issued in it's name by The United Kingdom Press Card Authority are used properly and within both the spirit and the letter of the scheme. Holders of Press Cards whose use of that card brings ether the BPPA or the UKPCA into disrepute will have their cards withdrawn either temporarily or permanently.
  10. Applications will be treated in confidence and the application forms will only be available to members of the BPPA's committee.
  11. Details obtained from application forms will not be kept on file once an application has been processed without the prior permission of the applicant
  12. The decision of the BPPA will be communicated to the applicant in writing once all external agency checks have been completed - a timescale over which The Association has no direct control.