Paediatric & Early Years First Aid EYFS/DfE Compliant (2-Day)

Full 12-hour paediatric early years first aid training delivered at your venue. Two practical days. Infant and child CPR, AED, choking, anaphylaxis, and medical emergency response. Meets EYFS Statutory Framework 2026 (Annex A), Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981, and Resuscitation Council UK 2025 Resuscitation Guidelines.

In early years settings, Ofsted checks paediatric first aid arrangements against the EYFS requirements. In schools, first aid is an employer duty under the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981, supported by DfE guidance.

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Course Overview

One learner on a recent course came into the choking module visibly anxious. He wasn’t new to working with children, but the thought of having to respond to a choking child had stayed with him for a long time. By the end of the session, having practised the techniques repeatedly on infant and child manikins until the movements felt natural, he thanked us and said he left feeling reassured and confident, and that the training had massively helped his nerves. That’s not an unusual response. The choking module often draws out a fear that practitioners carry quietly, and the course is built to address it directly.

The 2-Day Paediatric and Early Years First Aid course is the full 12-hour qualification that meets the statutory requirements of the EYFS Statutory Framework (effective 1 September 2026). It’s the qualification required for the designated first aider who must be on the premises at all times when children are present, and every learner practises on infant and child manikins with direct trainer assessment throughout both days. All CPR content reflects the Resuscitation Council UK 2025 Paediatric Life Support Guidelines, published October 2025, which changed several of the practical specifics that anyone responsible for an infant or child needs to know.

Course Details

• Duration: 12 learning hours over 2 days. The days don’t have to be consecutive.
• Delivery: Face-to-face, at your venue. A blended route is also available.
• Certificate: Accredited full Paediatric First Aid certificate, meeting the 12-hour Annex A criteria of the EYFS Statutory Framework
• Awarding or accrediting organisations: Worksafe, FAIB. Nuco available on request.
• Validity: 3 years. Annual refresher strongly recommended.
• Group size: Maximum 12 learners per trainer

Who This Course Is For

This course is right for anyone working with infants and children who must meet the full EYFS PFA statutory requirement. Under the EYFS Statutory Framework 2026, all staff who have obtained a Level 2 and/or Level 3 qualification since 30 June 2016 must obtain a PFA qualification within three months of starting work to be included in the required staff-to-child ratios. This course fulfils that requirement.

• Nursery practitioners and early years educators
• Childminders and childminding assistants
• Pre-school and playgroup staff
• Nannies and private childcare providers
• School staff working with children in early years provision
• Foster carers and staff supporting children in care settings
• Any staff member who must be included in EYFS staff-to-child ratios and is required to hold the full PFA qualification

Some settings only require the 6-hour Emergency Paediatric First Aid qualification rather than the full 2-day course. Not sure if the 2-day course is the right level for your setting? We’re happy to advise before you book.

The Legal Requirement

Under the EYFS Statutory Framework (effective 1 September 2026), early years providers have four specific paediatric first aid obligations under the safeguarding and welfare requirements in Section 3.

• At least one person with a current full PFA certificate consistent with the Annex A criteria must be on the premises and available at all times when children are present, and must accompany children on outings. This is the statutory minimum. It requires the full 12-hour qualification. The 6-hour emergency course does not meet this requirement.
• All staff who obtained a level 2 and/or level 3 qualification since 30 June 2016 must obtain a PFA qualification (full or emergency) within three months of starting work to be included in the required staff-to-child ratios, and must renew it every three years to stay in ratio.
• Whilst children are eating, there should always be a member of staff in the room with a valid PFA certificate for a full course consistent with Annex A. Choking in young children can be completely silent, and staff without paediatric first aid training may not recognise it in time.
• Annex A: the full PFA course should last a minimum of 12 hours, and the emergency elements of the course should be delivered face to face.

This course meets all four requirements. The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 also place a duty on all employers to make adequate first-aid provision. For early years providers, this obligation sits alongside and reinforces the EYFS statutory requirements.

EYFS Compliance: What You Actually Need to Know

The EYFS compliance picture around paediatric first aid is one of the most frequently misunderstood areas in early years provision. Here is what the EYFS Statutory Framework (effective 1 September 2026) actually requires:

• The statutory minimum: At least one person with a current full PFA certificate must be on the premises and available at all times when children are present. That person must hold the full 12-hour qualification. The 6-hour emergency course does not meet this specific requirement.
• The eating requirement: Whilst children are eating, there should always be a member of staff in the room with a valid full PFA certificate consistent with Annex A. Choking in young children can be completely silent. This is not an administrative point. It reflects a genuine clinical risk.
• Staff in ratios: All staff who obtained a level 2 and/or level 3 qualification since 30 June 2016 must obtain a PFA qualification (full or emergency) within three months of starting work to be included in the required staff-to-child ratios.

If you’re not sure what your setting needs, we’ll tell you honestly before you book.

Benedict’s Law: What It Means for Your Setting

Benedict’s Law is the name given to the allergy safety duty in section 34 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, which inserts section 100A into the Children and Families Act 2014. Since 1 September 2026, it has required state-funded schools in England to have an allergy safety policy. The Department for Education’s Allergy Safety in Schools statutory guidance, published on 6 July 2026, sets out what that policy should cover, and schools must have regard to it.

The guidance expects allergy awareness training for relevant staff, and it makes clear that first aid training alone isn’t enough. The government has said both will become legal requirements through regulations made under section 100B, and the allergy provisions are expected to come into force in 2027. Independent schools and non-maintained special schools aren’t covered yet, and equivalent requirements are expected to follow for them. Nurseries, pre-schools and childminders stay under the EYFS Statutory Framework.

Anaphylaxis recognition and adrenaline auto-injector use are part of the paediatric first aid curriculum, so the first aiders on this course learn to spot a severe allergic reaction and practise using an auto-injector. This course doesn’t replace allergy awareness training for the rest of your staff. For that, see our Allergy Awareness (Benedict’s Law) course or read our guide to Benedict’s Law and schools.

What Learners Will Be Able to Do

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

• Assess an emergency situation involving an infant or child and prioritise appropriate action, including using the BBB recognition tool (Behaviour, Breathing, Body colour) introduced in the Resuscitation Council UK 2025 Paediatric Guidelines to spot a deteriorating child before cardiac arrest happens
• Perform CPR on infants and children to the current 2025 standard: five initial rescue breaths before compressions, a 15:2 compression-to-breath ratio for trained rescuers, and the correct depth and technique for each of the three current age bands (infant: birth to 1 year, child: 1 to 12 years, adolescent: 13 to 18 years)
• Use an Automated External Defibrillator safely and confidently with infants and children, including selecting paediatric mode where available and correct pad placement by size
• Respond to choking in infants and children, including back blows and age-appropriate techniques for each group
• Recognise and manage anaphylaxis, including correct use of adrenaline auto-injectors in line with individual healthcare plans and the principles behind Benedict’s Law requirements
• Manage an unresponsive baby or child, including age-appropriate airway management and the recovery position
• Recognise and respond to seizures and febrile convulsions, including what to do between seizure onset and emergency services arriving
• Manage asthma attacks and breathing difficulties in children
• Provide first aid for bleeding, burns, scalds, shock, head injuries, suspected fractures, and soft tissue injuries
• Recognise signs of serious illness in infants and children, and know when to call 999, and manage minor injuries and childhood illnesses at an awareness level

What the Two Days Cover

All content reflects the Resuscitation Council UK 2025 Paediatric Life Support Guidelines, the EYFS Statutory Framework 2026 Annex A curriculum, and current DfE guidance throughout. Practical scenarios are drawn from real early years and school environments. Topics covered include:

• The role and legal responsibilities of a paediatric first aider
• The BBB recognition tool and primary survey for infant and child casualties
• Infant, child, and adolescent CPR under the current age bands and compression ratios
• AED use with infants and children, including paediatric mode and pad placement by size
• Choking in infants and children
• Anaphylaxis and allergic reactions, including adrenaline auto-injector use
• Asthma and breathing difficulties
• Seizures and febrile convulsions
• Unresponsive infant or child: age-appropriate airway management and recovery position
• Bleeding, wounds, shock, burns, head injuries, fractures, and soft tissue injuries
• Recognising serious illness, managing minor injuries, and childhood illness
• Recording, reporting, and escalation
• Scenario-based casualty simulations covering real early years and school emergencies
• Continuous practical competency assessment throughout both days

Every course is also built to include your setting’s Individual Healthcare Plans, safeguarding procedures, and incident reporting systems as standard.

How the Course Is Delivered

This course is delivered face-to-face across two full days. That’s not a preference. It’s a legal requirement. The EYFS Statutory Framework 2026 is clear that all practical elements must be delivered face-to-face and that adequate resuscitation equipment, including baby and junior manikins, must be provided so that every learner can practise and demonstrate technique. We don’t offer online-only paediatric first aid, and we wouldn’t if we could.

Sessions are delivered at your setting or chosen venue. Groups are capped at 12 to ensure every learner gets sufficient hands-on practice time. Every session is built around the ages of children in your care, your Individual Healthcare Plans, your safeguarding procedures, and your internal reporting routes.

• Hands-on CPR practice on infant and child manikins across both days, with direct trainer feedback on technique against the 2025 guidelines
• Practical AED training with training defibrillators, including paediatric mode and pad placement
• Anaphylaxis response, including adrenaline auto-injector demonstration and practice
• Choking response practice for infants and children of different ages
• Scenario-based casualty simulations covering the full range of paediatric emergencies your team is likely to face

Blended Learning: The Same Qualification, More Flexible Delivery

If finding two consecutive full days for staff is the real barrier rather than the course content itself, the full 12-hour qualification is also available as a blended programme. Our Paediatric First Aid Blended course delivers the same qualification through six hours of structured online theory, completed by each learner at their own pace, followed by one full day of face-to-face practical training and competency assessment.

The certificate is identical. The Annex A criteria are met in full, since the framework requires the practical elements to be face-to-face, not every hour of the course, and this route satisfies that requirement the same way the two-day classroom course does. What changes is the shape of the commitment: instead of pulling staff out of ratio for two consecutive days, theory is completed individually in advance, and the face-to-face day is devoted entirely to hands-on practice, scenario work, and assessment, because the knowledge groundwork is already done.

This tends to suit settings where staffing two full consecutive days is the genuine obstacle, not the appetite for training itself. If your team would get more out of arriving at the practical day already knowing the theory, the blended route is worth a conversation. We can also combine it with Emergency Paediatric First Aid for settings, training staff at different levels in the same window.

2-Day Paediatric First Aid or Emergency Paediatric First Aid?

This is the question early years providers ask most often, and the answer matters.

2-Day Paediatric and Early Years First Aid (this course): The full 12-hour qualification required for the designated first aider under the EYFS Statutory Framework. It meets the complete Annex A criteria. It’s the course your setting needs if you’re appointing a member of staff as the designated first aider who must be present whenever children are on site, and it satisfies the ratio requirement for level 2 and level 3 practitioners.

Emergency Paediatric First Aid (1-Day): A 6-hour course that meets the Annex A emergency criteria. It does not fulfil the requirement for the designated first aider role. It’s appropriate for additional staff members in your setting who aren’t the designated first aider, and supports the eating supervision requirement.

Most settings need at least one person with the full 12-hour qualification and benefit from having additional staff trained to the 6-hour standard. You can also read more about our Emergency Paediatric First Aid course.

In early years settings, Ofsted checks paediatric first aid arrangements against the EYFS requirements. In schools, first aid is an employer duty under the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981, supported by DfE guidance.

We don’t make that determination for employers; the responsibility sits with you. But we do provide guidance throughout the enquiry process, and we will never recommend the longer course if the shorter one genuinely meets your requirements.

Certification and Validity

On completion, learners receive an accredited full Paediatric First Aid certificate valid for 3 years, delivered through Worksafe or FAIB. Nuco is available on request.

Annual refresher training is strongly recommended. CPR technique deteriorates faster than most people expect without regular practice. Our Basic Life Support and AED Training course is the natural next step: a focused, practical skills update between full requalification cycles.

Why Organisations Book With Prima Cura

Most training providers arrive with a course. We arrive with yours.

Before the day, we gather information about your workplace: your incident reporting forms, your internal procedures, and the specific hazards your team actually faces. On the day, your trainer works that into every scenario, every discussion, every practical exercise. If your staff work in a care home, they’re not practising on hypothetical office workers. If your team are lone workers, that context shapes how the session runs.

It means the training lands. Not because it was well-delivered in a generic sense, but because it was relevant to the people in the room and the situations they’ll actually encounter.

A few other things that matter to the organisations that book with us:

• Over 98% of learners rate their training good or excellent. Our statistics are updated every six months, in January and July.
• All trainers hold Enhanced DBS certificates and maintain ongoing CPD
• We advise honestly on the qualification level at the enquiry stage. If the Emergency Paediatric First Aid course meets your statutory requirement, we’ll say so before you book, not after

We respond to all enquiries within one working day.

Where We Deliver

We deliver in-house training at your workplace 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. Groups are capped at 12 per trainer to protect the quality of hands-on learning.

Our associate network means we can deliver across England. You can meet the team on our Associates page.

For schools and early years settings across Greater Manchester and the North West, visit our First Aid Training for Schools in Greater Manchester and the North West page for full details.

FAQs

Further Reading

• Children Are Not Small Adults: What the 2025 Guidelines Changed: The full breakdown of what changed in paediatric CPR and why it matters
• Benedict’s Law: What Schools in England Must Do Before September 2026: Statutory allergy requirements and what they mean for settings
• How to Verify a First Aid Training Provider: What the HSE expects you to check before you book with anyone

Related Courses

• Emergency Paediatric First Aid (1 Day)
• Paediatric First Aid Blended
• Emergency First Aid for Schools
• Anaphylaxis Awareness
• Basic Life Support and AED Training
• Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW)
• Safeguarding Children Training

Book or Enquire

Book your training or request a quote

Tell us your team size, the ages of children in your care, your location, and your preferred dates. We’ll come back with a quote and any advice on the qualification level if you need it.

We respond to all enquiries within one working day.

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 children and vulnerable individuals, all trainers hold Enhanced DBS checks.

This course is reviewed against updates from the Department for Education, the Resuscitation Council UK, and current UK legislation, including the EYFS Statutory Framework (effective 1 September 2026), the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981, the Childcare Act 2006, and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026. All CPR and resuscitation content reflects the Resuscitation Council UK 2025 Paediatric Life Support Guidelines, published in October 2025. Course content reflects the statutory allergy requirements introduced through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, effective September 2026, and will be reviewed when updated DfE guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions is published.

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

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Reviewed by Stephanie Austin, Owner and Lead Trainer, Prima Cura Training | 25+ years in health and social care | 15+ years as a trainer

This page is for general guidance only and reflects the EYFS Statutory Framework (effective 1 September 2026), current UK health and safety legislation, Resuscitation Council UK 2025 Paediatric Life Support Guidelines, and the statutory allergy requirements introduced through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (effective September 2026) at the date of review. It does not constitute legal advice. This 2-day course meets the full 12-hour Paediatric First Aid qualification criteria set out in Annex A of the EYFS Statutory Framework 2026 and satisfies the statutory requirement for the designated first aider. Early years providers and schools remain responsible for ensuring their first aid arrangements, allergy policies, Individual Healthcare Plans, and staff training comply with the EYFS Statutory Framework, the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981, DfE guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions (2015, with updated guidance expected September 2026), and all applicable legislation, including the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026. Where compliance advice is needed, providers should seek independent guidance.

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