Who Needs the Trainers' Professional License? Conditions and General vs Specialised Licenses

Last verified: 18 October 2026. Conditions and participating bodies can change, so check the Trainers' Professional Licenses page on the Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC) website before you decide. This site is independent and is not affiliated with ETEC or any government body.

The Trainers' Professional License is a document ETEC issues under set standards, procedures and requirements, allowing the holder to work as a trainer for a set period. It is run by ETEC's National Center for Training Evaluation and Accreditation. This guide explains who needs the license, its conditions, and how the general and specialised licenses differ.

Who needs this license?

ETEC says the license is required of everyone who wants to work as a trainer in Saudi Arabia, in the government, private or third (non-profit) sector. The Regulations define a trainer as a specialist who plans, delivers or evaluates training, and "training" there covers both face-to-face and remote training.

• Non-Saudis: can obtain the license, according to the FAQ on ETEC's website.
• Professional certificates and memberships: do not replace the license; ETEC states that anyone who wants to work as a trainer needs it.
• Training of Trainers (TOT) certificate: not a general requirement for the license; check your field's specialised requirements.
• International licenses: Article 4 of the Regulations says the competent authority will issue a list of international trainer licenses whose holders may train in the Kingdom, and a field's regulator may add specialised requirements.

Note: the "accredited trainer" (مدرب معتمد) license issued by the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) is a different system from the ETEC license, so do not confuse the two. TVTC's rules define its license as allowing the holder to deliver TVTC-approved training courses through a training facility that TVTC has licensed, with its own conditions and fees. The ETEC license is required for anyone who wants to practise training, and the TVTC license does not replace it.

Conditions for the general license

Article 3 of the Regulations and ETEC's page set four conditions:

1. A qualification in the field you want to train in: a university degree, a diploma, a secondary school certificate or equivalent, or a professional or vocational certificate accredited and recognised by a competent body in Saudi Arabia. The key point is that the qualification matches the field you will train in.
2. Passing the Trainers' Professional License Test with the required score. ETEC's website states 55 or above.
3. Meeting any specialised requirements that apply.
4. Good conduct: no court sentence for a crime involving honour or trust, unless at least one year has passed since the sentence was completed.

General or specialised license?

There is one test for everyone; the difference is the license's scope and conditions:

Neither license covers the other: a specialised license does not let you train in general-license fields. Likewise, the general license does not allow training in specialised fields until you meet the requirements of the body that oversees that profession or trade.

Bodies that have published specialised requirements

As of our last check, ETEC's page lists specialised requirement files for eight bodies. Each sets its own conditions (qualifications, experience, certificates or language skills), so read your body's file in full:

If your field is not covered by these bodies, the general license allows you to train in it once you meet the requirements of the sector that regulates that profession or trade. ETEC says it updates the specialised fields regularly, so check its page before you apply.

Your obligations once licensed

Article 9 of the Regulations requires license holders to:

• Train only in the field they are licensed for.
• Not issue training certificates in their own personal name.
• Not train at establishments that are not licensed by the relevant government bodies.
• Not use the license for purposes it is not meant for.
• Follow ETEC's decisions and instructions and the relevant laws and regulations.

ETEC can suspend or cancel a license if the trainer is barred from the profession by the relevant authorities, breaks these obligations, or obtained the license with incorrect data. The violations committee can issue a written warning, suspend the license for up to 6 months, or cancel it and bar the trainer from the test for up to two years; cancellation also cancels the test result. Applicants can appeal within 60 days of the decision being placed in their online file (Articles 10 to 13).

How this site helps you prepare

• A question bank organised by the 10 standards in the Professional Standards for Trainers, so you can see which standards you are strong in and where you need more review.
• An explanation for every question, showing why the answer is right and the other options are wrong, in the style of the samples in the applicant guide.
• Mock exams of 75 questions in 80 minutes, timed like the real test.

Scores on this site are for practice only; they are not an official result and do not count towards the license. This site is independent and not affiliated with ETEC or any government body, and it does not issue licenses or register you for the test.