We have now confirmed the biggest set of changes to the operation of the .UK registry in Nominet’s 30 years of management will take place on Tuesday, 9th February 2027. This is the transition date, and culmination of a five year-long programme known as .UK Standardisation.
The modernisation of our services is designed to benefit both .UK registrars and registrants, and improvements include:
- Increasing the security of inter-registrar transfers.
- All registrars will be able to service their customers end-to-end through the domain registration lifecycle for the first time.
- Upgraded web interface for registrars – known as Dragon Domain Manager.
- Modern technology stack with improved resilience.
- Significant overall savings on registry costs – enabling Nominet to reinvest in its systems.
.UK Standardisation affects Nominet’s operations, policies, and systems. Those registrars engaging with .UK will need to be aware of how the changes will impact them. To ensure an uninterrupted service, .UK registrars will need to make changes on the confirmed date of transition.
Major changes include updates to the transfer process, domain lifecycle, and an updated .UK Registry-Registrar Agreement (formal legal notice is being sent to registrars today). You can find the full detail on Registrar Resources.
How do I get ready for .UK Standardisation?
You can start today. Registrars are now able to access a fully operational testbed environment configured to the .UK future state including an updated version of EPP – allowing you to integration test.
Support documentation is available on Registrar Resources, and we will be hosting webinars and calls to help answer any questions members have.
Our first webinar on 15th July at 14:00 – 15:00, will offer a preview of the web-front end, known as Dragon Domain Manager. You can sign up here.
If you are not aware of the .UK Standardisation process, please sign up to receive updates. You can amend your email preferences via your Online Services account. If you have an allowlist, please add both news@email.nominet.uk and systems@nominet.uk. Visit here to manage your preferences.
More detail will follow on the transition process closer to the change.
As we work with 2200 registrars with businesses of all shapes and sizes, we’re looking forward to supporting you through the coming months to achieve this important change.
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