News

# Increase in fees

On Monday 2 February 2026, The National Archives will increase fees for some
services as we bring charges in line with current delivery costs.

Published 30 January 2026

The changes affect fees for document copies, research and search services, and
authentication, and also introduce a new fee for accessing recently transferred
historic Ministry of Defence service personnel records.

Since the last review in 2018, the operational costs involved to deliver our
services have increased significantly. In the intervening period, improvements
in our processes have enabled us to keep the majority of increases below
inflation.

The National Archives does not make a profit from charging, as the fees reflect
how much it actually costs to deliver our services today.

The vast majority of the records in our collection which are open and searchable
on our catalogue can still be viewed for free in our reading rooms at Kew.

The increase in fees was previously [announced on 1 December
2025](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/the-national-archives-updates-service-fees/).

The new Fees Regulations can be viewed at
[legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/1243/contents/made)

## [Our fees](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/legal/our-fees/)

Read more information on our fees and the changes coming in February 2026.

## [Frequently Asked Questions: Ministry of Defence Service Personnel Records Fees](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/our-role/plans-policies-performance-and-projects/our-projects/ministry-of-defence-service-records/faqs-mod-service-personnel-records-fees/)

Read more about the new Request a Military Service Record service.

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