Terms and conditions of membership

Last updated: August 2025

1. Application and eligibility
2. The tobacco industry and exclusion from membership
3. Your privacy and data protection
4. Payment and payment method
5. Payment and membership upgrade
6. European Respiratory Society (ERS) membership application (UK members)
7. Membership term
8. ERS membership term and renewal
9. BTS membership renewal
10. Changes to your membership at renewal
11. Retirement and subscriptions
12. Parental leave and subscriptions
13. Extended sick leave and subscriptions
14. HMRC/tax relief on subscriptions
15. Joining and member rates for the annual conferences, short courses, and other member benefits
16. Cancellations and refund policy
17. Access to benefits
18. Changes to the membership scheme
19. Constitutional rights of membership
20. Intellectual Property Rights

1.  Application and eligibility

BTS membership is available to all those working within respiratory medicine. This includes medical practitioners, trainees, students, and allied health professionals interested in respiratory medicine and anyone engaged in work relating to respiratory health and disease or related disciplines. We cannot offer membership to patients or to the public.

As soon as your membership application is submitted online you will have immediate access to online resources. We reserve the right to check your application to ensure that the correct category and subscription has been assigned. You will be advised about any changes to your membership and subscription, and bookings for BTS events, if applicable.

An application for membership, or transfer from one category of membership to another, is subject to you meeting the eligibility criteria for membership, as described on the joining page of the BTS website. Membership is personal to you and cannot be transferred to another person. All applicants are required to pay the appropriate annual subscription.

2.  The tobacco industry and exclusion from membership

Membership of the Society is not open to persons who are or have been full, or part-time, employees of, or paid consultants to, the tobacco industry, at any time during the ten years prior to their application for membership. This includes any involvement in the marketing of e-cigarettes. If evidence reveals a relationship with the tobacco industry either before or after joining BTS, we reserve the right to cancel your membership with immediate effect.

3.  Your privacy and data protection

The British Thoracic Society (BTS) takes your privacy seriously. We will only use your personal information to give you password protected access to the BTS website and provide you with the services you have requested from us.

You may review and amend your personal data via the protected area of the BTS website (My BTS), or by contacting the Society at any time. By joining the Society, you give your consent for us to contact you by email about your online registration and access to the website.

Sharing your information

For those members who receive Thorax, we will send your name and preferred postal address to the publishers of the Journal (BMJ) for the mailing list and to enable online access.
For those members who have joined the European Respiratory Society (ERS) via BTS we will send ERS your:

•    Title, name, gender, email address
•    *State if you are 65 years of age or older

For more information about how we use and store your data, click here to view the Society’s privacy policy.

4.  Payment and payment method

Membership fees are reviewed every year and approved at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

We accept payment by direct debit and credit/debit card.

Applicants paying by direct debit will not be issued with a receipt until payment has been collected. If paying by credit/debit card your application will not be processed until full payment is received. All fees are payable to the Society in Pounds Sterling.

5.  Payment and membership upgrade

If you apply to transfer your membership to another category (for example if you wish to transfer to one that subscribes to Thorax) we will ask you to pay a pro-rata fee covering the difference between the two subscriptions. This fee covers the period from the date of the transfer until the expiry date of your current subscription. On renewal you will be charged the 12-month rate for the new membership category. Transfers to categories where the subscription is lower in price will not come into effect until the renewal date and a refund will not be given.

6.  European Respiratory Society (ERS) membership application (UK members)

Under the current agreement with ERS, BTS members resident within the United Kingdom are entitled to discounted ERS membership. If you add ERS membership to your BTS membership either when you join BTS, or at a later date, you will receive an email from BTS confirming receipt of your application.

We will forward your BTS membership number, title, name, gender, and email address to ERS. ERS will activate your membership and send you an email within one month of receipt of your application.

BTS is not able to answer any queries about your ERS membership, website access or annual Congress. For all these queries please contact enquiry@ersnet.org or members@ersnet.org.

We do not offer discounts or refunds on ERS subscriptions, and this includes parental or extended sick leave (see items 10 and 11).

7.  Membership term

BTS membership is annual and renewable each year on 1 July. If you join the Society from 1 August to 30 April, you will be charged a pro rata rate covering the period until 30 June. If you join in either May or June, your subscription will cover the period until 30 June of the following year for which you will pay a one-year subscription fee only.

You will be invited to renew your subscription annually, with at least 4 weeks’ notice.

8.  ERS membership term and renewal

The fee paid on joining ERS covers the period until your BTS subscription is due for renewal, even if you take up this offer several months after joining BTS. Unless you cancel your ERS membership by explicitly telling BTS, we will renew this membership alongside your BTS one annually. If you join ERS during May or June, your subscription will cover the period until 30 June the following year. We cannot refund the ERS membership fee if you wish to leave during the year.

9.  BTS membership renewal

Membership is renewable on 1 July each year. If payment has not been received within 30 days of the renewal date, your membership will lapse, and access to member benefits will cease. If you then decide to re-join BTS the appropriate subscription rates will apply, see item 6.

10.  Changes to your membership at renewal

BTS will update your member category and subscription in accordance with the eligibility criteria and information held against your membership record. Members are responsible for checking the details shown on their renewal notice and online and keeping us informed of any changes that affect your membership. This includes job title, training status level, retirement, as well as contact details.

If you wish to make any changes to your membership category, or have any queries about your subscription, please contact us at any time, and certainly a minimum of 4 weeks before the renewal date to allow sufficient time for us to make amendments before the start of the new subscription year (particularly in respect of payments collected by Direct Debit).

11.  Retirement and subscriptions

If you have retired from regular paid work/regular salaried work, you are eligible for free membership providing you have served a minimum of one year in another category immediately preceding your request.  It does not include Thorax, but you are eligible for the BTS member concessionary rate for the Winter and Summer Meetings.

Members who have retired and returned to paid/regular salaried work, including part-time employment, are not eligible for free membership and will need to pay a subscription. Members who have retired from paid work but wish to continue to receive Thorax, will need to pay a subscription.

To apply for retired membership, send your request by email to membership@brit-thoracic.org.uk

12.  Parental leave and subscriptions

BTS offers a discount of 50% on the cost of 1 year’s membership subscription if you are on parental leave for three months or longer. To apply, send your request by email to membership@brit- thoracic.org with a letter from your place of work confirming your leave dates. Further applications can be made for subsequent births/pregnancies/adoptions. BTS does not reduce ERS subscriptions for parental leave.

13.  Extended sick leave and subscriptions

BTS offers a discount of 50% on the cost of 1 year’s subscription if you are on sick leave for a minimum of 3 months. To apply, send your request by email to membership@brit-thoracic.org.uk with a letter from your place of work to confirm your time off work. BTS does not reduce ERS subscriptions for extended sick leave.

14.  HMRC/tax relief on subscriptions

Membership subscriptions are deductible against income tax. Contact your tax office to find out how to claim. Receipts for your membership subscription can be downloaded from the ‘My BTS’ section of the website.

You cannot claim tax back on fees or subscriptions which you have not paid for yourself (for example if your employer has paid for them).

15.  Joining and member rates for the annual conferences, short courses, and other member benefits

The Society is keen to recruit members who wish to make a difference to respiratory care and not only to receive discounted members’ benefits.

If you either cancel or do not renew your membership between booking a place at a BTS event such as the Summer or Winter Meetings, or a short course, and attending the event; and you paid the member rate, you will be required to pay the difference between the member and non-member rates.

16.  Cancellations and refund policy

Membership is on an annual basis and BTS will not give a refund to a member who resigns during the
year. If you wish to cancel either your BTS or ERS membership, you must inform us in writing by either email at membership@brit-thoracic.org.uk or by letter.

•    Refund policy for new applications for BTS and/or ERS membership

You may cancel your application within 14 working days of receipt of our confirmation and receive a full refund of fees paid. You must make any such request in writing by email to membership@brit- thoracic.org.uk. A refund of the fees paid by you which relate to the cancellation will be sent to you within 30 days of the receipt of your notice of cancellation.

If you cancel your membership after 14 working days, you will not receive a refund.

If you feel there are extenuating reasons and would like us to reconsider, please email membership@brit-thoracic.org.uk. A pro-rata fee to cover the subscription period from the joining or renewal date to the date we received the written cancellation, and an administrative fee of £25, will be deducted from the refund, if granted.

•    Cancelling BTS with ERS membership

If you either cancel or do not renew your BTS membership, and you have paid the special BTS member rate for ERS membership, this will also be cancelled and access to benefits stopped, as you must hold BTS membership to access discounted ERS membership.

17.  Access to benefits

You agree that:
•    Your account and password are personal to you and must not be shared with anyone else.
•    You agree to notify us immediately if you become aware of any unauthorised use of your account or password.

18.  Changes to the membership scheme

BTS may at any time alter, amend, change, modify or withdraw any of the membership benefits or any of the operational arrangements for membership.

BTS may at any time change the criteria and subscription rates for membership.

19.  Constitutional rights of membership

All members may vote at Society General Meetings.
All members are bound by the BTS Articles of Association.

20.  Intellectual Property Rights

All intellectual property in the materials BTS provides to members as part of the Member Services is owned by the Society. Membership does not give the member the right to use BTS intellectual property, including the BTS brand and logo, except where the Society gives this permission in writing.