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QNUK Level 3 Award in Forest School First Aid (RQF)
Two days, and the only qualification built for the job a forest school leader actually does: workplace, outdoor and paediatric first aid combined, rather than three separate certificates that half overlap.
About this course
Forest school leaders sit in an awkward gap. They work outdoors, so they need outdoor first aid. They work with children, so they need paediatric first aid. They are at work, so their employer's first aid needs assessment applies too. Taken separately that is three courses, a lot of repeated CPR and a certificate wallet that still does not quite fit.
The QNUK Level 3 Award in Forest School First Aid was developed to close that gap. It covers the workplace, outdoor and paediatric ground in one combined qualification, which is why it is the one most forest school training providers and insurers point at.
Two days covers the core first aid properly, then the two things that make forest school different: children rather than adults, with the different CPR, airway and illness picture that brings, and an outdoor setting with weather, distance and improvisation in it.
We run it at our centres and on site at schools, nurseries and woodland settings. Running it in your own wood, with your own kit and your own hazards, is worth doing if you can arrange it.
- The role of a first aider in a forest school setting, consent and infection control
- Assessing an incident outdoors, with children present
- CPR on an adult, a child and an infant, and why all three differ
- The recovery position and monitoring, on the ground and in the open
- Choking, serious bleeding and shock
- Bone, muscle and joint injuries, and improvised support in the field
- Head and spinal injuries, and the decision to move or not to move
- Hypothermia and heat illness, bites, stings and anaphylaxis
- Childhood illness: febrile convulsions, meningitis, asthma and diabetic emergencies
- Summoning help from a wood, recording the incident and talking to a parent
How completing this course helps you
- QNUK Level 3 Award in Forest School First Aid, valid for three years
- One qualification covering workplace, outdoor and paediatric first aid
- The certificate forest school training providers and insurers normally ask to see
- An end to holding three overlapping certificates to do one job
Who should attend?
Forest school leaders and assistants, woodland and bushcraft session leaders, outdoor learning staff in schools and nurseries, and anybody running regular outdoor sessions with children.
Entry requirements. None. You need to be physically able to carry out practical first aid on the floor, including CPR on a manikin, and to have enough English to follow the training and the written assessment.
Ready to take the next step?
Choose a delivery option, compare dates and book with confidence, or ask MB and get an answer straight away.
Choosing the right one
Which first aid course does your workplace actually need?
The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 do not name a course. They tell an employer to carry out a first aid needs assessment and then provide what that assessment says is adequate, which is why two businesses next door to each other can land on different answers.
The rough shape is this. Lower hazard workplaces usually land on Emergency First Aid at Work, one day. Higher hazard workplaces, larger headcounts and anywhere with specific risks usually land on First Aid at Work, three days. Early years settings have their own rules through the Department for Education. Outdoor and remote work adds distance from the ambulance, which changes the answer again.
If you are not sure where you sit, ring us with what your people actually do and we will talk it through. Sending somebody on the wrong course costs more than the phone call.
Do the needs assessment first
Hazards, headcount, shift patterns, lone workers and how far you are from help. The HSE guidance is the starting point and it is short.
Match the course to the answer
EFAW for lower hazard, FAW for higher hazard, plus any specific qualification your setting or your insurer requires.
Plan the three years
Certificates last three years and the HSE recommends an annual refresher in between. Diary it when you book, not when it expires.
Course content
What you will cover
The qualification is structured around the management of health and safety and the practical application of risk assessment.
The forest school first aider
- The role and responsibilities in a forest school setting
- Minimising the risk of infection outdoors
- Consent, including consent for a child
- Assessing an incident with a group of children present
- Summoning assistance from a woodland location
- Recording, reporting and the conversation with a parent
Life threatening emergencies
- CPR on an adult, a child and an infant
- The recovery position for each, and monitoring
- Choking in an adult, a child and an infant
- Serious external bleeding and shock
- Seizures, including febrile convulsions
Injuries in the wood
- Cuts, grazes, splinters and the minor injuries that fill a session
- Burns and scalds, including fire circle injuries
- Bone, muscle and joint injuries and improvised support
- Head, neck and spinal injuries
- Eye injuries
- Bites, stings and anaphylaxis
Weather, illness and the wait
- Hypothermia, heat exhaustion and heat stroke
- Shelter and protecting a casualty from the weather
- Meningitis, asthma and diabetic emergencies
- Monitoring a casualty until help arrives
- Kit for a forest school first aid bag
Method of assessment
How Forest School First Aid is assessed
Assessment runs through the course rather than being bolted on at the end. Your tutor observes the practical work as you go, and the written paper closes it off.
Practical observation
Observed across the two days: adult, child and infant CPR, the recovery position, choking, bleeding control and improvised support. A good part of it happens outside.
Scenario work
Scenarios set in a forest school context, with a group of children to manage as well as a casualty, because that is the part nobody practises.
Written assessment
A multiple choice paper covering the combined workplace, outdoor and paediatric content. Certification is issued by QNUK and lasts three years.
Ways to learn
How you can take this course
Every route covers the same accredited syllabus and the same support. Pick the one that fits how your people work.
Classroom
Tutor-led at one of our centres, with everything provided.
Ask us to open a classroom date →or ask MB nowDates and locations
Arrange this course
There are no scheduled dates for this course at the moment. It is normally arranged around you.
Tell us roughly when you need it and how many people are going, and we will come back with dates and a price.
Also available
In-company training
We run this one to order, at your place or ours.
Onsite / in-company
Run Forest School First Aid at your site
We deliver anywhere in the UK, on your dates and around your shift patterns. For six or more people it is usually cheaper per head than sending everyone to a centre, and nobody loses a day travelling.
Tell us roughly how many people and when, and we will come back with options and a price, or ask MB and get an answer straight away.
What onsite includes
- The same tutor, materials and certification as our centres
- Your venue or one we arrange near you
- Dates and start times built around your operation
- One invoice and one point of contact for the whole group
- Content examples drawn from your own workplace
Forest School First Aid FAQs
It was developed specifically for the role. QNUK describe it as covering the need for workplace, outdoor and paediatric first aid in a single combined qualification, which is exactly the three way overlap a forest school leader sits in. Check the wording your own training provider or insurer uses and we will confirm the fit before you book.
That depends on the setting. If you are also counted in an early years ratio under the EYFS framework, the Department for Education requirement is met by the two day Paediatric First Aid award specifically, so you may need both. If forest school is the whole of the role, this qualification is normally the one.
A substantial part. Splinting somebody in a wood in the rain is not the same job as doing it in a training room, and the course is built on that assumption. Bring outdoor clothing.
Yes, and it is worth doing. Running the scenarios in your own wood, with your own fire circle, your own access route and your own kit, produces better decisions than a generic venue does.
Three years. The HSE also recommends an annual refresher in between, which is a half day and keeps skills and confidence current rather than letting them fade for three years at a time.
Yes, anywhere in the UK. For six or more people it is normally cheaper per head than sending everybody to a centre, and nobody loses a day travelling. We work around your shift patterns.
At our centres in Stoke-on-Trent, Derby, Manchester and Liverpool, at your own premises nationwide, and through our partner network where a local option suits you better. Pick a date from the board on this page or call 0330 124 2165.
QNUK, an Ofqual regulated awarding organisation. This one is QNUK Level 3 Award in Forest School First Aid (RQF), accreditation number 603/2465/X. We are an approved QNUK centre.
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