The FA · free preview
Laws of the Game for Coaches
Know the laws like a referee: offside, fouls and misconduct, restarts, the technical area and VAR — and how referees think.
£150 (approx. — the price of the referee course it is built on) · Built on the referee course’s Laws of the Game content (online, then face-to-face) and the refereeing practice manual
Free lesson · The field, the ball, the players and their kit (Laws 1–4)
The real course behind this badge
Every referee in England starts in the same place: the The FA Referee Course, the single mandatory entry point into officiating. It is open to anyone aged 14 or over, with no playing or refereeing experience needed. You book through your County FA using your FA Number (FAN). The fee is set by each county, typically £120–£150, and normally covers the training, a starter pack and your first season's registration.
- Before the course: The FA's free online guide to the Laws on England Football Learning — five modules, about 90 minutes (Before the Match; Signals and Communication; Getting it Right; Offside; Managing Restarts and Set-Pieces) — plus Safeguarding training.
- Face to face: 11 hours, usually a weekday evening in the classroom and a full weekend day of classroom and pitch work, including assistant-referee flag work from day one.
- Five qualifying matches, logged on a form, with a county mentor who watches at least one.
- A call-back evening about ten weeks later on challenges and conflict, where the certificate and badge are handed over.
End to end it takes three to four months. Finishing at 16 or over makes you a Level 7 referee; at 14–15 you become a Youth referee and move to Level 7 at 16. Assessment now leans on practical work on the course day plus the online knowledge checks.
Source: Refereeing certifications reference · The FA Referee Course
The syllabus: 7 modules, 28 lessons
- 1
The field, the ball, the players and their kit (Laws 1–4)
- The real course behind this badge free preview
- The field and the ball (Laws 1 and 2)
- The players and substitutions (Law 3)
- The players' equipment (Law 4)
- 2
The officials, the duration and the ball in play (Laws 5–10)
- The referee: authority, decisions and advantage (Law 5)
- The other officials and the clock (Laws 6 and 7)
- Kick-offs, dropped balls, in and out (Laws 8 and 9)
- Goals and kicks from the penalty mark (Law 10)
- 3
Offside (Law 11)
Pitch practical Use offside legally: step up together on the trigger.
- Stage 1: the offside position
- Stage 2: becoming involved
- Stage 3: exceptions, sanction and the assistant's flag
- Using offside legally: the trap
- 4
Fouls and misconduct (Law 12)
Pitch practical Defend within the law: know what is a foul, a caution and a sending-off.
- Fouls: what is a free kick, and how serious
- Handball and the goalkeeper
- Cautions, sending-offs and DOGSO
- Defending within the law: how a referee reads a challenge
- 5
Free kicks, penalties and restarts (Laws 13–17)
- Free kicks (Law 13)
- The penalty kick (Law 14)
- Throw-ins, goal kicks and corners (Laws 15–17)
- 6
The technical area and dealing with officials
Pitch practical Deal with the officials: challenge a decision the right way, without dissent.
- The technical area and what can happen to you
- How referees manage you
- Time, substitutions and celebrations — your side of it
- Talking to officials the right way
- 7
VAR and how referees decide
- What VAR can and cannot do
- Goal-line and offside technology in a VAR match
- How referees make decisions
- Errors, accountability and what it means for you
- What changed in the 2026/27 Laws