Lesson 2.1 — Name, legal entity and certificate identity

This lesson helps the learner capture the correct organisation name, organisation type and registration number for the Cyber Essentials certificate.

CE questionnaire questions: A1.1 A1.2 A1.4

What You'll Be Able to Do

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

identify the correct legal entity for the assessment
choose the correct organisation type
record the correct registration number or approved alternative
understand when additional legal entity questions may be triggered later.

Why This Matters

It explains why certificate identity matters and how to avoid common mistakes with trading names, legal entities, group companies and registration details.

The most common problems are:

using only a trading name when the legal entity should be clear;
using a brand name instead of the legal entity;
using the parent company name when the subsidiary is the actual applicant;
using the wrong company number;

The Core Rule

A1.1, A1.2 and A1.4 define the certificate identity.

You need to know:

Common Mistakes

using only a trading name when the legal entity should be clear;
using a brand name instead of the legal entity;
using the parent company name when the subsidiary is the actual applicant;
using the wrong company number;
entering spaces or punctuation where the form expects a plain identifier;
forgetting that additional legal entities may need to be listed later;

Copy This

Work through the workbook activity for this lesson. Each question maps directly to the CE questionnaire.

Quick Checklist

Before moving on, make sure you can say yes to these:

[ ] Why does A1.1 matter?
[ ] Should the learner rely only on the trading name or website name when answering A1.1?
[ ] What is the difference between a legal entity and a trading name?
[ ] What should the organisation type in A1.2 match?
[ ] What is the registration number in A1.4 normally for a UK limited company?

Your Action

Do this now — it takes 10–20 minutes.

Confirm the exact legal entity name that will appear on the certificate. Check Companies House if needed. Add it to Section A1 of your evidence document.

Key Takeaway

The certificate identity should match the legal organisation that is actually applying for Cyber Essentials.

Your Workbook Activity

Complete: Certificate identity sheet

This covers questionnaire questions: A1.1 A1.2 A1.4

Next Lesson

In the next lesson: Employees, addresses, sector and website details