Emergency First Aid for Schools

Course Overview

School staff are, in most cases, the first people on scene when something goes wrong. Not paramedics. Not a school nurse. The teacher whose lesson just ended, the midday supervisor on the playground, and the teaching assistant sitting next to a child who suddenly stops responding. In that moment, what they know and what they are confident enough to do matters enormously.

Emergency First Aid for Schools gives education staff the knowledge, practical skills, and genuine confidence to respond effectively when a child, colleague, or visitor becomes injured or unwell. It is built around the realities of school life: the playground fall, the child who chokes in the dining hall, the pupil with a known allergy whose EpiPen is somewhere in the building, the colleague who collapses during a staff meeting. These are not hypothetical scenarios. They are the situations this course prepares people for.

Two things consistently come out of this training that go beyond technique. The first is awareness. A teaching assistant who had never considered the full picture of a child’s allergy risk, where their medication was stored, how it would be accessed, and what the school’s procedures actually were in a real emergency, leaves this course thinking very differently about their daily role. That awareness leads to better risk assessment, better independence planning for children with medical needs, and safer practice without the child feeling restricted. The second is confidence. Kitchen and dining staff who had never practised managing a choking child leave knowing exactly what to do and feeling prepared rather than panicked.

The course is designed specifically for education settings. Content reflects the risks most commonly encountered in schools and the specific responsibilities of school staff under Department for Education first aid guidance, the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981, and DfE guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions at school. CPR and AED content reflects the Resuscitation Council UK 2025 Resuscitation Guidelines.

Course Details

  • Duration: Full day
  • Delivery: In-person at your school or chosen venue. Face-to-face only
  • Certificate: Worksafe-accredited Emergency First Aid for Schools certificate
  • Validity: 3 years. Annual refresher recommended
  • Group size: Maximum 12 learners per trainer

Who This Course Is For

This course is right for anyone working in an education environment who may need to respond to a first aid emergency, including:

  • Teachers and teaching assistants across all key stages
  • Midday supervisors and lunchtime staff
  • School support staff and office teams
  • SEN and pastoral staff with close daily contact with pupils
  • Early years practitioners in school-based settings
  • School leaders, governors, and site managers
  • Staff supporting school trips and extracurricular activities
  • Volunteers regularly working within the school

No previous first aid experience is needed. This course is designed for mixed staff groups and is equally valuable for those with no prior training and those seeking a structured refresher.

Why This Training Matters

Schools have a clear legal duty of care to their pupils, staff, and visitors. The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require all employers, including schools, to make adequate and appropriate first aid provision. The DfE statutory guidance on first aid in schools is explicit that this provision must be based on a risk assessment of the school’s specific needs, and that at least one trained first aider should be available at all times, including during off-site activities.

The DfE guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions at school adds a further layer of responsibility. Schools must have individual healthcare plans for pupils with conditions including severe allergies, asthma, diabetes, and epilepsy. Staff who support those pupils need to understand not just what the plan says, but what it means in a real emergency and what their role is when things do not go to plan.

Ofsted does not approve or endorse individual training courses. But inspectors do assess how schools safeguard pupils and manage health and safety, and first aid provision is part of that picture. A school that can demonstrate trained, confident staff and robust first aid arrangements is a school that inspects well in this area.

In practice, the gaps this training closes are often not about willingness. Staff want to help. The gap is in awareness and confidence. A midday supervisor who has never practised CPR on a child-sized manikin, despite being the most likely person to need to use it at lunchtime. Kitchen staff who have not practised responding to a choking child. A teaching assistant who knows a child in their class has an allergy but has never thought through what a real anaphylactic emergency would look like and what they would do. This course addresses all of those gaps directly.

What You Will Learn

By the end of the course, learners will be able to:

  • Explain the role and responsibilities of a school first aider under current DfE and HSE guidance
  • Carry out a safe primary survey and assess an emergency situation calmly and systematically
  • Manage an unresponsive casualty, including airway management and the recovery position
  • Perform CPR on adults and children in line with the Resuscitation Council UK 2025 guidelines
  • Use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) safely and confidently in a school setting
  • Recognise and respond to choking in both adults and children
  • Control bleeding and manage shock
  • Respond to head injuries, suspected fractures, and common playground injuries
  • Recognise and respond to seizures, asthma attacks, and anaphylaxis
  • Understand the role of individual healthcare plans for pupils with medical conditions
  • Know when and how to call emergency services and what information to give
  • Record incidents accurately and follow school reporting and escalation procedures

Course Content

Content is tailored to education settings and reflects the specific risks and responsibilities school staff face. Practical scenarios are drawn from real school environments, including classrooms, playgrounds, dining halls, corridors, and off-site activities. Topics covered include:

  • The role of the school first aider: responsibilities, limits, and the legal framework
  • Primary survey and systematic casualty assessment
  • Managing an unresponsive casualty: airway, breathing, recovery position
  • CPR for adults and children: technique, rate, depth, and ratio in line with RCUK 2025 guidelines
  • AED use in schools: what it is, who can use it, correct pad placement, and common school-specific considerations, including accessibility and location
  • Choking in adults and children: recognition and response, including back blows and abdominal thrusts
  • Bleeding and shock: control techniques and monitoring
  • Head injuries: recognition, immediate response, and when to escalate
  • Suspected fractures and sprains: initial management
  • Medical emergencies commonly seen in schools: seizures, asthma attacks, diabetic emergencies, and anaphylaxis
  • Pupils with medical conditions: understanding individual healthcare plans and the first aider’s role within them
  • Allergy awareness in practice: from knowing a child has an allergy to being confident in a real emergency, including medication access and risk assessment considerations
  • Incident recording, handover to emergency services, and school reporting procedures

How the Course Is Delivered

This course is delivered face-to-face only, at your school or chosen venue. Sessions are practical, inclusive, and built around the real situations school staff encounter.

Delivery includes:

  • Hands-on CPR practice on adult and child manikins with direct trainer feedback
  • Practical AED training with training defibrillators
  • Scenario-based learning drawn from real school settings, including playground incidents, dining hall choking, and classroom medical emergencies
  • Discussion of individual healthcare plans, allergy risk assessment, and the practical implications for daily school life
  • Individual assessment of practical competencies throughout the day
  • Time for questions, because school staff consistently have them once they start applying first aid to the specific situations they face

Training can be adapted to reflect your school’s policies, the age range of your pupils, SEND considerations, and your identified risk profile.

Certification and Validity

On completion, learners receive a Worksafe-accredited Emergency First Aid for Schools certificate, valid for 3 years.

Annual refresher training is strongly recommended to maintain practical confidence and keep skills current. CPR technique, in particular, deteriorates faster than people expect without regular practice. Many schools build an annual skills update into their inset day programme.

In-House and Bespoke Training

Every course is built around your school, your pupils, and the specific first aid challenges your staff face.

We regularly deliver for:

  • Primary and secondary schools
  • Academies and multi-academy trusts, including combined delivery across multiple sites
  • Nurseries and early years settings within school-based environments
  • Special schools and alternative provision where pupil’s medical needs are more complex
  • School trip and outdoor education teams requiring first aid competence in off-site contexts

We can tailor content to include your school’s specific policies, reporting routes, individual healthcare plan procedures, and the medical conditions most prevalent among your pupils.

Course Location and Service Areas

We deliver in-house training at your school or chosen venue across Manchester, Greater Manchester, and the wider North West. We also deliver nationally across England, including North England, South England, London, and Surrey.

All sessions are led by experienced Prima Cura Training instructors. Group sizes are capped at 12 per trainer to ensure every member of staff gets sufficient hands-on practice time. Every trainer holds an Enhanced DBS certificate.

FAQs

Is this course a legal requirement for schools?

Schools are legally required to make adequate and appropriate first aid provision under the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981. The DfE first aid in schools guidance requires that provision to be based on a risk assessment of the school’s specific needs, and that at least one trained first aider is available at all times, including on off-site activities. There is no single mandated qualification, but training must be appropriate to the assessed risk. This course meets that standard for most school settings.

Is this course suitable for early years and nursery settings?

This course is designed for school-based settings and staff working with school-age children. Early years practitioners in standalone nursery settings, or school-based settings with EYFS-specific requirements, may require full Paediatric First Aid training, which is a statutory requirement for many EYFS providers under the EYFS Statutory Framework. We are happy to advise on the right course for your setting.

Is this course Ofsted-approved?

Ofsted does not approve or endorse individual training courses or providers. Inspectors assess whether schools have appropriate first aid arrangements in place based on the school’s own risk assessment and needs. This course is Worksafe-accredited, designed specifically for education settings, and aligned with current DfE and HSE guidance. It demonstrates a proactive and evidence-based approach to first aid provision that supports positive Ofsted outcomes in health, safety, and safeguarding.

Can training be delivered on inset days?

Yes. Inset days are the most common delivery slot for this course, and we regularly schedule around school calendars. We can also deliver during staff training events, twilight sessions, or scheduled CPD time where a full inset day is not available, subject to ensuring the full six learning hours are covered.

Can you deliver for multi-academy trusts across multiple sites?

Yes. We regularly deliver for MATs, either through combined sessions bringing staff from multiple schools together or through separate, scheduled delivery at each site. Get in touch to discuss the most practical approach for your trust.

Related Courses

Book or Enquire

To book Emergency First Aid for Schools Training or request a quote for your school or trust, use the enquiry form on this page or contact us directly. If you are unsure whether this course or Paediatric First Aid is the right option for your setting, we are happy to advise before you commit.

Our Commitment to Quality and Compliance

At Prima Cura Training, all courses reflect current UK guidance and best practice.

All trainers are experienced professionals with relevant qualifications and ongoing CPD. Because many of the organisations we support work with vulnerable individuals, all trainers hold Enhanced DBS checks.

This course is reviewed against updates from the Resuscitation Council UK, the Department for Education, the Health and Safety Executive, and current UK legislation, including the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. All CPR and AED content reflects the Resuscitation Council UK 2025 Resuscitation Guidelines.

You can read more on our Quality Assurance and Compliance page.

Reviewed by Stephanie Austin, Owner and Lead Trainer, Prima Cura Training | 25+ years in health and social care | 15+ years as a trainer | Last reviewed: April 2026 | Next review: April 2027

This page is for general guidance only and reflects current UK legislation, DfE guidance, and Resuscitation Council UK 2025 guidelines as of the date of review. It does not constitute legal or clinical advice. Schools remain responsible for carrying out their own first aid needs assessment, determining appropriate first aid provision for their setting, and ensuring their arrangements comply with the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 and DfE statutory guidance. Individual healthcare plans for pupils with medical conditions must be developed and maintained in line with DfE guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions at school and must not be replaced by or confused with general first aid training.

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