First Aid at Work 2026: Course, Certificate and Requirements

First aid in the workplace is not optional. Every employer in the UK has a legal duty to make sure their staff can get immediate help if they are injured or taken ill at work. For many businesses that means having qualified first aiders on site — and the First Aid at Work qualification is the most widely recognised way to train them.

What is First Aid at Work (FAW)?

First Aid at Work (FAW) is the fuller of the two main workplace first-aid qualifications in the UK. It is typically delivered as a three-day course, and the resulting certificate is valid for three years. It is aimed at workplaces where the risk of injury is higher — for example construction, manufacturing, warehousing or anywhere with significant hazards — and it qualifies the holder to act as a designated first aider.

Alongside FAW there is a shorter qualification: Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW). This is a one-day course covering the essentials, designed for lower-risk workplaces such as small offices and shops. Both certificates last three years; the difference is depth of content, not validity. Which one your workplace needs is decided by the employer's first-aid needs assessment, covered below.

You can confirm the current legal position and find guidance on the official HSE first-aid pages at hse.gov.uk.

The employer's first-aid needs assessment

Under the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981, every employer must carry out a first-aid needs assessment. This is the process that decides how much first-aid provision a workplace needs — how many first aiders, trained to what level, and what equipment must be available.

The assessment weighs up factors such as the nature of the work and its hazards, the size of the workforce, how the workplace is spread out, the history of accidents, and whether there are shift patterns or remote workers. A low-risk office might only need an appointed person and a stocked first-aid kit; a busy construction site will need several FAW-qualified first aiders. The point is that the law does not set a single fixed number — it asks the employer to assess and justify what is appropriate.

What about the HSE's role?

One important change often misunderstood: the HSE no longer approves individual first-aid training providers. The old approval scheme ended in 2013. Since then it has been the employer's responsibility to choose a competent provider. Many quality first-aid courses are delivered through regulated awarding bodies — names such as Qualsafe or Highfield are common — and that regulation is a good signal of quality. But there is no "HSE-approved provider" badge to look for; the duty to check the provider is competent sits with the employer.

What the First Aid at Work course covers

A FAW course is hands-on and scenario-based. Over the three days you learn — and practise — the core skills a workplace first aider needs. The syllabus typically covers:

1. The role of the first aider — managing an incident safely, keeping yourself safe, and the contents and use of a first-aid kit
2. The primary survey — assessing a casualty quickly and systematically to find life-threatening problems first
3. CPR and using an AED — recognising cardiac arrest, delivering effective chest compressions and rescue breaths, and using an automated external defibrillator
4. An unresponsive casualty — the recovery position and managing someone who is breathing but not responsive
5. Choking — recognising and treating a blocked airway in adults
6. Bleeding and wounds — controlling external bleeding, dressings, and managing minor and major wounds
7. Shock — recognising and treating shock
8. Common workplace injuries — burns, fractures, sprains, head and spinal injury awareness, and eye injuries
9. Common workplace illnesses — heart attack, stroke, seizures, asthma, diabetic emergencies and severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis)

Because it is the fuller qualification, FAW spends more time on the wider range of injuries and illnesses than the one-day EFAW, which focuses on the immediate life-saving essentials.

The current CPR and AED numbers

First-aid training in the UK follows the guidance of the Resuscitation Council UK, and from 2026 courses reflect the latest 2025 guidelines. For adult CPR in the workplace the core figures are unchanged and worth knowing before you go:

• Compression to breath ratio: 30 chest compressions to 2 rescue breaths
• Compression rate: 100 to 120 compressions per minute
• Compression depth: 5 to 6 cm for an adult
• AEDs: can be used by anyone — you do not need a separate qualification, and the device talks you through each step

These are exactly the kind of facts the theory side of the course checks, and the kind it helps to have already learned before you arrive.

How First Aid at Work is assessed

There is an important thing to understand here: there is no separate national exam to book. Unlike a driving theory test or a professional exam, FAW does not send you off to sit a test at a separate centre afterwards.

Instead, assessment happens during the course. You are judged by continuous practical assessment — the trainer watches you demonstrate skills such as CPR, the recovery position and bleeding control — combined with short theory questions covering the underlying knowledge. You show competence on the day, across the three days, and provided you meet the standard you receive your certificate. There is nothing extra to book and sit later.

That makes preparation a little different from a typical exam. You are not cramming for a test date; you are arriving ready to take part, practise and demonstrate. Knowing the theory in advance means you can focus your energy on the hands-on practice rather than scrambling to absorb the facts at the same time.

How to prepare for the theory

1. Learn the underlying theory first. The primary survey, the CPR ratios and rates, how to recognise shock, a heart attack or a stroke — these are knowledge points you can absorb before the course. Walking in already familiar with them makes the practical sessions far easier.

2. Practise with questions, not just reading. Working through practice questions on the First Aid at Work theory fixes the facts in memory better than passively reading a handbook, and it flags the gaps you still need to close.

3. Get comfortable with the sequences. First aid is largely about following a clear sequence under pressure. Rehearsing the order of actions — check for danger, assess response, airway, breathing, call for help, CPR — means the practical assessment feels like confirming what you know rather than learning it cold.

4. Think about wider workplace wellbeing too. Physical first aid is only one part of a safe workplace. Many employers now pair it with mental health first aid training, and in care settings with the Care Certificate — both complement FAW and broaden what you can offer as a first aider.

Keeping your certificate valid

A FAW certificate lasts three years. To stay qualified you must complete a requalification course before it expires — this is shorter than the full three-day course and refreshes and re-assesses your skills. If you let it lapse, you may have to sit the full course again.

Between certificates, the HSE strongly recommends an annual refresher — typically a short half-day session — to keep skills, especially CPR, sharp. It is not a legal requirement on its own, but it is good practice and helps make sure your first aiders are genuinely ready if they are ever needed.

Whether you are renewing or qualifying for the first time, the theory is the part you can get ahead on. Lining up your First Aid at Work practice before the course means you arrive confident, get more from the practical sessions, and are far more likely to demonstrate the standard on the day.