Special Contest Call Sign

Make an application for a special contest call sign by downloading and completing the form on this page.

Please read the Ofcom guidance below before starting your application.

Policy and procedure

1. Guidance

The holder of a UK Amateur Radio Full Licence or Full (Club) Licence may apply for a Special Contest Call sign (“SCC”). This call sign may only be used in amateur radio contests of no more than 48 hours duration, run with the aim of contacting as many other stations as possible in a given period of time and run by an amateur radio club, national or international amateur radio association or another organisation (including amateur radio publications), generally accepted within the amateur radio hobby (locally, nationally or internationally) as being a bona fide contest organiser.

The call sign will be in the format ‘G’ or ‘M’, followed by a chosen digit and a chosen suffix letter. Examples are G8Z or M7R. We have made 520 call signs available, (G)(#)(&)(A-Z) and (M)(#)(&)(A-Z), where ‘#’ is an applicable Regional Secondary Locator (if any) and ‘&’ is a digit from 0 to 9.

Although variations are granted by Ofcom, the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) administers, distributes SCCs and also advises Ofcom on applications. However, the RSGB’s advice is only a recommendation, and the final decision remains with Ofcom.

1.1 How Ofcom handles personal data

We require this information in order to carry out our spectrum licensing duties under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006. Please see Ofcom’s General Privacy Statement for further information about how Ofcom handles your personal information and your corresponding right.

2. Qualifying criteria

The qualifying criteria are divided into two parts, – one for contest participation and the other for your achievement in the contest. Both parts of the criteria must be met in order for a SCC to be granted.

Ofcom will also consider results from other contests, not listed in Table 1.  In those cases, Ofcom will assess the suitability of the contest for the purposes of issuing an SCC.

2.1 Participation criteria

Individual licensees (or the licence-holder in the case of club licensees) must supply evidence of having entered at least five contests from the list in Table 1 within the last five years.

If you are requesting a variation to an individual licence (as opposed to a Full (Club) licence), you must have entered all of the contests as a single operator. If you are applying on behalf of a club, the contests may have been entered as a single operator or as a multi-operator team.

2.2 Achievement criteria

2.2.1 If you use a UK and Crown Dependency (UK&CD) call sign to enter a contest:

The applicant must have accrued five achievement points from the contests entered.  One point is accrued if the licensee (or licence-holder) makes at least one fifth (20%) of the number of contacts of the UK&CD leader. Two points are accrued if the licensee (or licence-holder) makes at least one half (50%) of the number of contacts of the UK&CD leader.

2.2.2 If you use a Non-UK&CD call sign to enter a contest:

The applicant must have accrued five achievement points from the contests entered.  One point is accrued if the licensee (or licence-holder) makes at least one fifth (20%) of the number of contacts of the world leader. Two points are accrued if the licensee (or licence-holder) makes at least one half (50%) of the number of contacts of the world leader.

3. Application

Call signs for use in amateur radio contests are available to holders of the UK Amateur Radio (Full) Licence and Full (Club) Licence who can demonstrate that they meet the criteria in the section above.

Any variation that we grant will be valid until 31^st December 2024, unless, before then, the licensee surrenders the licence or asks for the variation to be cancelled or Ofcom revokes the licence or cancels the variation.

Applications take up to 42 days to be processed.

Call sign choices: Please apply on the following form giving three choices of call signs, in order of preference. The RSGB publishes a list of SCCs, which is a guide to availability.

3.1 Qualifying contests

List at least 5 of the qualification contests that the applicant or club has entered within the last 5 years, together with the call sign used, the section of the qualification contest entered and the number of contacts gained by the applicant or club and by the relevant leader.

Overlay results are not accepted as qualifying criteria.  Being a subset, it is easier to gain a higher ranking within an overlay category.  Results submitted in support of an application for an SCC NoV must have been gained in the competition as a whole, not just an overlay category.  This ensures that Ofcom compare like with like, ensuring that all applications are treated equally.

3.2 Reapplication

When your variation expires, you may request a fresh variation for the following five-year period, keeping the same call sign, if you still qualify (see ‘Qualifying criteria’, above).  You must apply between 1^st January and 31^st December of the year of expiry.  If a fresh application is not received, the call sign will be withdrawn for a period of 2 years before it is made available again.

If the Licence revalidation date falls due during the term of the SCC variation, the variation may be withdrawn if the licensee fails to revalidate the Licence.

You may ask the RSGB to remind you about your renewal, using the following address scc@rsgb.org.uk.   While the RSGB has offered this facility, please note that it remains your responsibility to reapply, even if you do not receive a reminder.

Application

Download the Ofcom application form from the link below.

• Application for an Amateur Radio Special Contest Call Sign
  (6-page/Microsoft Word document)

Details of where to send the form are on the form itself.

Data protection

By sending the RSGB your application form you consent to RSGB collecting and storing your data from this application form solely for the purpose of issuing and administering the Special Contest Call Sign scheme and sharing this data with Ofcom if requested to do so.