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.
The new Fees Regulations can be viewed at legislation.gov.uk
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
Read more about the new Request a Military Service Record service.