Challenge 25 at the bar, and the check that happens before arrival

Not as such. The mandatory licensing conditions under the Licensing Act 2003 require an age verification policy that asks anyone who appears under 18, or under a higher age the policy sets, for ID before they are served. Challenge 25 is the common way premises set that higher age, and gov.uk guidance describes Challenge 21 and 25 as best practice schemes the condition allows. Individual licence conditions can also name it, so check your own licence.

Identification that bears a photograph, a date of birth and either a holographic mark or an ultraviolet feature. Gov.uk guidance on the mandatory licensing conditions gives passports, photo driving licences and proof of age cards carrying the PASS hologram as examples, and other documents meeting the same three criteria also count. Since 15 September 2026 a policy may also accept digital proof of age from a provider on the government's digital verification services register, under an agreement with that provider.

In England and Wales, yes, since 15 September 2026, but only in a specific form. An amendment order lets your age verification policy accept digital identification from a digital verification services provider on the register kept under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, where your premises has an agreement with that provider and the proof is verified through it rather than read off a screen. Accepting digital proof is optional; physical ID remains valid. A photo of a passport on a phone is not digital proof of age.

No. VenueGo is a document check on the guest's phone at sign-up or purchase, before arrival. It is not presented to staff at the point of sale, which is the moment the mandatory conditions are about. It gives you a record that a guest showed a UK, Irish or US passport or driving licence when they bought, and returns approved, declined or needs review. Your policy still asks for ID at the bar in the way your licence requires.

VenueOra's Venue Management module keeps an incident and refusal log with member lookup, the people involved, the venue and the staff member, in a searchable history, and a compliance document store for insurance, fire assessment and electrical certificates. Policies are written with versions and sent automatically on application, approval or ticket purchase, with acceptance stored on the member. Roles and permissions decide which staff can see or change these records, and actions are kept in an audit log. None of this replaces your written age verification policy.

Under section 146 of the Licensing Act 2003, selling alcohol to a person under 18 is an offence, and section 147 makes it an offence to knowingly allow such a sale. Both carry a fine on summary conviction. It is a defence to show you believed the person was 18 or over and took all reasonable steps to establish their age, such as asking for ID that would convince a reasonable person. Persistent sales to children are a separate offence under section 147A. Check legislation.gov.uk for the current text.