Membership Types & Fees

Full Membership

There are 5 types of full membership:

• Practising – Qualified nutritional therapy practitioners who have graduated from a NTEC accredited course with clinical training, subject to Continuing Professional Development (CPD), fully insured, registered with the CNHC.
• Non-Practising (A) – Qualified nutritional therapy practitioners who have graduated from a NTEC-accredited course with clinical training, but who are not currently in clinical practice and are either using their skills as BANT Registered Nutritionists® or are on a career break. Subject to Continuing Professional Development (CPD) but since not actively practising, not registered with the CNHC and not insured to practise.
• Non-Practising (B) – Graduates of nutrition and lifestyle medicine science from NTEC accredited course but without clinical training, qualified to work as BANT Registered Nutritionists®. Subject to Continuing Professional Development (CPD), not registered with the CNHC and not insured to practise.
• Retired – Previous full members of BANT, 66 years or over, now retired but still wish to remain a member at a discounted rate. Retired members are exempt from Continuing Professional Development (CPD), insurance to practise and CNHC registration.
• Non-Practising Return to Practice (RTP) – see the section below for more details.

Full members, excluding Retired, have voting rights and have the option to be included in the Practitioner Search.

Application Requirements

• • • Prior to the 1st of September 2020 Full Membership requires qualifications from a level 6 diploma course or BSc or higher degree level course accredited by NTEC.
    • From the 1st of September 2020 Full Membership requires BSc (Hons) degree or higher from a recognised university and qualifications from a NTEC accredited Nutritional Therapy course.
    • Current Full Members of BANT are able to retain their membership without the need to have to upgrade to degree level qualification.
    • Student Members who started their NTEC accredited diploma course prior to 1st of September 2020 may convert to Full Membership upon graduation.
    • Student Members who started their NTEC accredited diploma course on or after 1st of September 2020 will require an upgrade to BSc (Hons) or higher degree qualification to convert to Full Membership.
    • Any Provisional Member who successfully completes the APL/APEL process (BANT reserves the right to ask APL/APEL applicants to take further assessment modules as necessary).
    • All practising applicants must have Professional Indemnity Insurance for clinical practice.
    • All practising applicants must be registered with CNHC.

BANT recognises all courses accredited by the Nutritional Therapy Education Commission (NTEC) as listed on their website.

Full Non-Practising Return to Practice (RTP) Membership

BANT requires the completion of a Return to Practice (RTP) process for the following applicants:

• Graduates not joining BANT within 2-3 years of graduating from a NTEC accredited course
• Nutritional Therapy Practitioners taking a break from clinical practice for 2 years or more

It is a requirement to apply for this type of membership if you are pursuing any of the RTP pathways.

Once you have made your application for Full Non-Practising RTP membership, you will be able to access full instructions on how to proceed (members only).

There are additional costs over and above the BANT RTP membership fee and these do vary according to the type of RTP.

• 2-3 years non-practising involves 2 x case studies at a cost of £125
• 3-7 years non-practising RTP at a recognised training provider – fees charged by specific training provider
• 7 years or more non-practising – the cost of completing a NTEC Accredited BSc (Hons), GDip + Practice or MSc at the specific training provider

Fellow Membership

Fellow Membership conferred on BANT members who have made considerable contributions to the organisation. Once a year, members who think they are eligible for Fellowship status, are invited to make an application supported by 2 other BANT members. The nominations are vetted, and if successful, are finally approved by Council. Fellow members are subject to Continuing Professional Development, have full voting rights and the option to be included in the Practitioner Listing.

Honorary Fellow Members
Appointment for Honorary Fellow Membership must be made by Council.

Criteria:

• Nominee is not a member of BANT.
• Nominee has either promoted the science and application of nutrition or has provided exceptional service to BANT. Honorary status may be conferred on individuals from any profession and is not limited to UK residents. Honorary Fellows do not have voting rights.

Student Membership (A)

• Any student enrolled on a NTEC accredited nutrition/food science course that is recognised by BANT.
• Students that are on BSc (Hons) or higher degree course accredited by NTEC may convert to Full Membership upon graduation.
• Students that started (this is not the same as enrolled) their NTEC accredited diploma course prior to the 1st of September 2020 may convert to Full Membership upon graduation.
• Students that started their NTEC accredited diploma course on or after the 1st of September 2020 will require an upgrade to BSc (Hons) or higher degree qualification to convert to Full Membership.
• As per above Student Members may apply to become a Full Member of BANT on successful completion of their course once this has been ratified by their training provider.

BANT Student Members are not permitted to practise nutritional therapy until they have met the criteria for, and been accepted as, a Full Member. Doing so may result in the student being suspended from BANT pending an investigation. Student members do not have voting rights.

Student Membership (B)

Students enrolled on an NTEC accredited course in nutrition and lifestyle medicine science at BSc (Hons) level but do not wish to complete the clinical element.  They are therefore not intending to qualify or practice as Nutritional Therapists and instead wish to apply their knowledge in non-clinical setting upon their graduation. These student members can apply for Full Non-Practising (B) membership ( those without clinical training) upon graduation.

Student members do not have voting rights.

Associate Membership

To promote collaboration between those involved in nutrition and lifestyle medicine practice and research, BANT welcomes Associate Membership applications from:

• Members of PSA recognised Statutory Registers or Accredited Registers.
• Health professionals, researchers and academics who belong to a non-PSA registered professional association. See point 2 below.

Associate membership is not open to nutritional therapy practitioners or naturopaths who should use either the Portfolio Route or the Full Membership application route for membership.

 Associate Membership Guidelines

1. Associate membership is not for nutritional therapy graduates who can join BANT as full members either as Nutritional Therapy Practitioners in clinical practice or in a non-clinical capacity as BANT Registered Nutritionist®.
2. The BANT Membership Committee will assess any applications from non-PSA registered members on an individual basis.
3. All Associate Members must either be a practising health professional, including nutrition and health coaches, or be active in related industry, profession, research and/or academia.
4. Associate Members will not be entitled to use the BANT logo on any of their promotional materials or website.
5. Associate Members will be listed on the member’s pages only of the BANT website but will not be listed on the public facing pages.
6. Associate Member benefits include a listing in BANT Directory of Associate Members to encourage collaboration with BANT members and access to following resources:

• BANT eNews
• Free access to the Natural Medicines Database and Efficasafe (accessible from March 2025)
• Variety of Member Benefits – discounts and offers on industry services & products
• Subsidised ticket prices to BANT Events
• BANT Science and Education resources, including learning resources and Nutrition Evidence Database
• Ready-made clinical resources for use in 1-2-1 and group settings
• 30+ hours exclusive BANT- funded & subsidised CPD

 Application Form

• Associate Membership

Provisional Membership

Application Fees

• Provisional Membership (A1): £150 (this covers the membership fee)

• Provisional Membership (B): £150 (this covers the membership fee and can only be applied for once the External Full Portfolio (EFP) Assessment has been successfully completed)

Application Requirements

Provisional Membership is an interim category for a maximum of 6 months for practitioners who have either trained overseas or at a course not recognised by BANT as being accredited by the Nutritional Therapy Education Commission (NTEC). After 6 months it is expected that full membership will have been attained by completing the requirements relevant to each route.

• All applicants MUST have Professional indemnity insurance for clinical practice
• All applicants MUST successfully complete the BANT Functional Medicine Learning Zone Modules

Provisional Membership and APL/APEL Process Outline

There are 3 parts to applying for Provisional Membership. The first part is to decide what type of Provisional Membership you are applying for and complete the appropriate application form.

When your Provisional Membership has been approved, a letter of confirmation will be sent out with instructions on how to complete the second part – the APL/APEL process.

There will be a 6 month time limit to complete the APL/APEL process. Provisional Members need to register their details to access the members only section so that they can then access the required Learning Zone modules that form part of the APL/APEL process.

Once part 1 and part 2 have been successfully completed the third part is to apply to change your membership type from Provisional Membership to Full Membership.

This three-step process is detailed below.

Nutrigenetic Counsellor Register

BANT Council launched its Register of Nutrigenetic Counsellors that is only available to Full Practising Members of BANT who meet the registration requirements. This fulfils BANT’s commitment to the Human Genetics Commission that it would set up an advanced practice register covering nutrigenetic counselling following the HGC’s ‘Genes Direct’ reports in 2003 and 2007.

Initial registration will be based on experience and training in the use of genetic profiles/tests. The Nutritional Therapy Education Commission (NTEC) will be consulting on standards for training and an advanced practice framework.

Entry onto the register is free of charge to all successful applicants. Entry onto the register is subject to you agreeing that your practice details are up to date and listed on the BANT practitioner pages and your listing will have a specific search field for Nutrigenetic Counsellors listed as NgC. You will also need to commit to updating your skills in nutrigenetic practice through targeted CPD to meet the published and updated competencies.

APPLY FOR ENTRY ONTO THE NUTRIGENETIC COUNSELLOR (NgC) REGISTER