Every young face on a screen or stage in England sits inside a legal framework most viewers never see. This article explains how licensing works for children in performance, who is responsible, and what the rules say about chaperones, hours, breaks, education and night work.
Why children in performance need a licence at all
Under GOV.UK’s guidance on child employment, children under 14 can work in television, theatre and modelling, but they need a performance licence to do so. That is a notable exception: for most other kinds of work, young children cannot be employed at all, and part-time work generally starts from 14 (or 13 in some council areas, according to GOV.UK).
The licence is the mechanism that lets creative work happen while setting conditions. It is granted by a local authority, referred to in the rules as the licensing authority, and the detailed requirements are set out in the Children (Performances and Activities) (England) Regulations 2014, published on legislation.gov.uk. Those regulations cover licensing, education, earnings, chaperones, accommodation, travel, working hours, breaks and night work.
The regulations apply in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements, which this article does not cover.
Who applies, and how early?
The application is not made by the family. Under regulation 4, it must be made in writing by the person responsible for organising the activity or engaging the child, or by the person responsible for producing the performance. It must contain the information specified in the regulations, be signed by the applicant and by a parent of the child, and be accompanied by the required documentation.
Timing matters. The licensing authority may refuse a licence if the application is not received at least 21 days before the first performance or activity. The word “may” is important: the rule is discretionary, not an automatic bar, but productions that leave applications late take a risk.
The regulations also deal with productions that cannot fix every date in advance. Where dates are not known, the licence must limit the child’s participation to a specified number of days within a six-month period.
What does a chaperone actually do?
A chaperone is the adult who has care and control of the child while they are at the venue, with responsibility for the child’s wellbeing. Under regulation 15, a chaperone must be approved by the licensing authority, which can approve someone only if satisfied that they are suitable and competent to exercise proper care and control of a child of that age and sex.
The same regulation sets the ratio. A chaperone may take care of up to 12 children at any one time. Where the approved chaperone is the child’s private teacher, the limit is three. The requirement for an approved chaperone does not apply where the child is cared for by a parent or a teacher who would ordinarily provide the child’s education.
In practice, then, the person looking after a child on set is not an informal helper but someone who has been through an approval process, and whose role is defined in law.
How long can a child work in a day?
The most concrete limits are in regulation 22 and its Table 2, which cap the hours at the venue, the total hours of performance or rehearsal, and the longest continuous stretch, by age.
| Age of child | Maximum hours at the venue in one day | Maximum total hours performing or rehearsing | Maximum continuous performing or rehearsing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birth until 5 | 5 | 2 | 0.5 |
| 5 until 9 | 8 | 3 | 2.5 |
| 9 to school leaving age | 9.5 | 5 | 2.5 |
Time at the venue includes any schooling the child is required to do, even if it takes place elsewhere. The regulations also restrict the times of day children may be present: between 07:00 and 22:00 for children under 5, and between 07:00 and 23:00 for children from 5 to school leaving age, except where the venue is the child’s home or school.
A worked example
Illustrative arithmetic, using the table above: a seven-year-old on a filming day can be at the venue for up to 8 hours, and can perform or rehearse for no more than 3 of them, with no single stretch longer than 2.5 hours. That leaves at least 5 hours of the day for waiting, meals, rest and schooling, since 8 minus 3 equals 5. A toddler’s day is tighter still: 5 hours at the venue, of which 2 may be spent performing, in blocks of no more than half an hour.
Breaks, rest days and the limits on consecutive work
The regulations also set minimum breaks. For children under 5, breaks must be at least 15 minutes, and if the child is present for four or more consecutive hours, at least one break must be a 45-minute meal break. For children of 5 and over who are present for more than four but fewer than eight consecutive hours, there must be one meal break of at least 45 minutes and one other break of at least 15 minutes; at eight hours or more, a further 15-minute break is added.
Between two performances on the same day there must be at least an hour and a half, which can fall to 45 minutes if the earlier performance lasts under an hour and the next is at the same place or needs no travel time. Overnight, at least 12 hours must separate attendances, subject to the night-work provisions.
Over longer runs, a child may not take part on more than six consecutive days. After eight consecutive weeks at that maximum, a child must have a 14-day break, although this does not apply where the licence allows fewer than 60 days.
Is schooling put on hold?
No. Under regulation 13, a licensing authority cannot grant a licence unless it is satisfied that the child’s education will not suffer, and it must approve the education arrangements and the place of education.
Where lessons are given by a private teacher on set, the teacher may teach no more than six children at a time, or 12 if all the children being taught have reached a similar standard in the subject. Education must total not less than three hours on each day the child would be required to attend school. As an alternative, the requirement is treated as met if the child receives education for not less than six hours a week, subject to the conditions in the regulation. Short periods of under 30 minutes, and periods outside permitted hours, do not count towards the total.
What happens with night work?
Performances outside the standard times are possible only where the licensing authority permits them, and the rules around them are strict. Night hours count towards the daily maximums in regulation 22. No other performance or rehearsal may begin until 16 hours after the child’s part in a night performance ends. If a child performs at night on two consecutive days, no further night performance is allowed in the following seven days.
There is a narrow allowance for the unexpected: under regulation 29, a chaperone may allow a child to remain up to one hour beyond the latest permitted time in unforeseen circumstances, provided the relevant authorities are told by the next day.
Who looks after the child’s earnings?
The regulations allow the licensing authority to attach a condition about how a child’s earnings are handled by the licence holder. They do not themselves prescribe a particular method, so any arrangement depends on the conditions attached to the individual licence. Licence holders must keep records, including earnings and who was paid, for six months after the last performance or activity.
What this means when you watch a young cast
Seeing a child on screen can raise understandable questions about how they were looked after. The licensing system supplies a vocabulary for those questions without requiring anyone to speculate about a particular production or family: who applied, which authority approved the chaperone, whether the hours fit the table, and how schooling was arranged. For readers interested in how productions are put together, it sits alongside other behind-the-scenes structures, such as the credits that show who does what on a film, and the wider question of how coverage of public figures is regulated. A reader who wants to understand how fame is presented may also find how to read a celebrity profile useful.
Conclusion: a system built around the child’s day
The English system rests on a simple idea: creative work involving children is allowed, but only with prior approval, an approved chaperone, capped hours, guaranteed breaks and protected schooling. Anyone with a specific concern about a child’s work, or a parent considering an offer, should contact the licensing authority at their local council.
This article is general information based on published guidance and legislation, not legal advice. The regulations are as made in 2014 and may have been amended; check legislation.gov.uk and your local council for the current position.
Sources: GOV.UK (Child employment: performance licences); legislation.gov.uk (The Children (Performances and Activities) (England) Regulations 2014); legislation.gov.uk (Regulations 2014, as made); legislation.gov.uk (Regulation 22); legislation.gov.uk (Regulation 15); legislation.gov.uk (Regulation 4); legislation.gov.uk (Regulation 13)
