BTL1 — Blue Team Level 1
An entry-level defensive credential assessed by a single 24-hour practical incident-response exam, certified for life with no renewal fee.
Type: CertificationCareer changersWorking practitioners
Offered by Centri (trading as Security Team Training Ltd; formerly Security Blue Team)
The facts
- Cost
- £399.00, which includes about 30 hours of coursework, four months of on-demand material access and one free resit voucher. Priced in pounds only; the dollar cost moves with the exchange rate.Figure read 2026-09-12 from www.centri.org/certifications/blue-team-level-1
- Prerequisites
- None. The provider states plainly that there are no entry requirements for the exam, and recommends it for people with zero to two years of experience.
- Format
- About 30 hours of coursework followed by one 24-hour practical incident-response exam with immediate grading and feedback.
- Length
- Four months of material access; the exam itself is a 24-hour window.
- Renewal
- None. The provider states you become Blue Team Level 1 certified for life.
- Accreditation
- No ANAB, ISO/IEC 17024 or FSAB accreditation is claimed.
- Who it suits
- A self-funded career changer who wants a practical, lifetime credential and cannot justify four figures for one exam attempt.
- Audience
- Career changers · Working practitioners
- Official page
- www.centri.org/certifications/blue-team-level-1
Strengths
- A lifetime credential with no renewal fee, which over ten years is thousands of dollars cheaper than any GIAC certification.
- A 24-hour practical exam rather than multiple choice, at a price a self-funded learner can actually reach.
- Explicitly no entry requirements, so it is a genuine first credential.
- Includes a free resit, which removes the worst of the financial risk of failing.
Limitations
- No third-party accreditation, so it carries no formal quality assurance the way GIAC's ANAB accreditation does.
- Blue-team scope: incident response and security operations, with forensics as one component rather than the subject.
- Priced in pounds sterling only, so a US buyer's cost depends on the exchange rate and card fees.
- Recognition is strongest among practitioners and in the UK and Europe; many US hiring filters have never heard of it.
- The provider has been through a name change from Security Blue Team to Centri, which makes verifying current terms harder than it should be.
Sources
Costs, prerequisites and exam formats in this field change often, and several providers price by region, cohort or employer agreement. Every figure on this page carries the date it was read and a link to the page it was read from. Confirm current terms with the provider before you spend anything.