Training for supported living and learning disability services

The Oliver McGowan requirement

Tier 1 of the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training starts with NHS England's 90-minute elearning. It is free, delivered on NHS England's elfh platform, and assigning it through Care2Learn never uses a credit: staff complete it there, the completion lands on your training matrix, and Part 2 (an interactive session) is arranged separately with an approved provider. Our own Learning Disability & Autism Awareness course complements it and keeps the knowledge refreshed between sessions.

Built around rights, not just risks

Capacity first. In supported living, the Mental Capacity Act is daily practice: the presumption of capacity, supported decision-making, unwise decisions that are nobody's to overrule, and best-interest decisions that are genuinely least restrictive. CQC's Right support, right care, right culture guidance runs on exactly these principles.

Behaviour is communication. Positive Behaviour Support teaches staff to understand what behaviour is saying and to reduce restrictive practices rather than reach for them — with Effective Communication Skills underpinning every interaction.

The clinical overlay. Epilepsy is far more common among people with a learning disability than in the general population, so Epilepsy Awareness is core — and where someone is prescribed rescue medication, Buccal Midazolam covers the knowledge that precedes face-to-face competency training. Dysphagia matters for the same reason: swallowing difficulties are common, serious and preventable harm.

The starter set for supported living staff

Eleven courses covering the Oliver McGowan requirement and the core around it. The law behind each topic is in our mandatory training guide.

Pay as you go, this starter set is 10 credits × £3.99 = £39.90 per carer, with no subscription and no minimum order (the NHS England elearning is free and never uses a credit). Or put the whole team on a subscription from £1.99 per learner a month and every course in the catalogue is included.

The table is generated from the live catalogue, so lengths and CPD statuses are always current. Every certificate is issued in the learner's own name and can be checked by anyone at verify a certificate.

One record across every tenancy

Supported living rarely happens in one building. Staff move between tenancies, sleep-ins put one person on duty through the night, and the person supported on Tuesday may be prescribed rescue medication that Thursday's staff member has never been trained to recognise the need for. That is the argument for training records that follow people rather than places: each staff member holds one record wherever in the organisation they work, competency sign-offs for hands-on topics such as buccal midazolam are recorded against the course, and the matrix shows at a glance whether tonight's sleep-in staff hold the epilepsy, dysphagia and safeguarding training the care plans assume. Training is valid for 12 months by default, and the account owner can set any course to 24 or 36 months to match your policy — the matrix chases whatever cycle you choose.

Evidence for your CQC inspection

Completions land on the training matrix with renewal dates, the free NHS England course is tracked alongside your paid ones, and the compliance report downloads with your CQC number on it. Certificates are in each person's own name, so they follow staff who move between your services. See pricing for size-band subscription rates; registered charities get 10% off.