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QNUK Level 3 Award in Paediatric First Aid (RQF)
Two days, and the qualification the Department for Education requires in early years settings. It covers infants and children rather than adults, which is a different set of techniques and a different set of emergencies.
About this course
The QNUK Level 3 Award in Paediatric First Aid is the qualification for anyone working in an early years setting who needs to be counted as a paediatric first aider. It meets the Department for Education requirements set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, which is what Ofsted will be checking against.
It is deliberately not an adult first aid course with the word children added. Infants and children compensate for longer and then deteriorate faster, the CPR ratios are different, the airway is different, and the illnesses that bring a child down quickly are not the ones that bring an adult down. Two days gives that the room it needs.
The course runs across the whole range: an unresponsive infant or child, choking, bleeding, burns, fractures, febrile convulsions, meningitis, asthma, anaphylaxis, diabetic emergencies and the practical business of recording an incident and telling a parent.
We run it at our centres and at nurseries, pre-schools and schools around the country. For a whole staff team it is almost always cheaper and less disruptive to have us come to you, and we will work it around your ratios.
- The role of a paediatric first aider, consent, and keeping yourself and the child safe
- Assessing an incident and carrying out a primary survey on an infant or a child
- CPR on an infant and on a child, and how and why it differs from adult CPR
- The recovery position for an infant and a child, and monitoring afterwards
- Choking in an infant and a child, mild and severe
- Bleeding, shock, burns and scalds, bites and stings, and minor injuries
- Head, neck, back, bone, muscle and joint injuries
- Febrile convulsions, meningitis, asthma, anaphylaxis, diabetic emergencies and sickle cell
- Recording an incident, reporting it, and the conversation with the parent or carer
How completing this course helps you
- QNUK Level 3 Award in Paediatric First Aid, valid for three years
- The qualification the EYFS framework requires for early years paediatric first aiders
- Evidence for Ofsted that your ratios are covered by properly qualified people
- The confidence to act on a child who is deteriorating rather than waiting to be sure
Who should attend?
Anyone working in an early years setting who needs a full paediatric first aid qualification: nursery and pre-school staff, childminders, teaching assistants, nannies and au pairs, and staff in out of school clubs. Parents, grandparents and foster carers are welcome on it too.
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 paediatric first aider and the incident
- The role and responsibilities of a paediatric first aider
- Minimising the risk of infection
- Consent, and who can give it for a child
- Assessing an incident and carrying out a primary survey
- Summoning help and what to tell them
The unresponsive infant or child
- When to start CPR on an infant and on a child
- Demonstrating infant and child CPR on a manikin
- The recovery position for an infant and a child
- Monitoring breathing and what to do if it changes
- Seizures, including febrile convulsions
Injuries
- Choking, mild and severe, in an infant and a child
- External bleeding and shock
- Burns and scalds, bites and stings
- Minor injuries, and when minor is not minor
- Head, neck and back injuries
- Bone, muscle and joint injuries, including support and elevated slings
Illness and the paperwork
- Meningitis, asthma and anaphylaxis
- Diabetic emergencies and sickle cell crisis
- Extremes of body temperature
- Electric shock and eye, ear and nose conditions
- Recording an incident and reporting it
- Talking to a parent or carer afterwards
Method of assessment
How Paediatric 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
Your tutor observes you through the two days: primary survey, infant and child CPR on a manikin, the recovery position, choking, bleeding control and slings. You have to be able to do it, not describe it.
Written assessment
A multiple choice paper covering the illnesses, the injuries and the responsibilities. It is sat at the end of day two.
Certification
The certificate is issued by QNUK and lasts three years. Ofsted will ask to see it, so keep it somewhere you can find it.
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 Paediatric 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
Paediatric First Aid FAQs
Yes. The QNUK Level 3 Award in Paediatric First Aid is a twelve hour paediatric first aid qualification that meets the Department for Education requirements set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, which is the standard Ofsted inspect against.
Length and scope. This one is two days and covers the full range including the childhood illnesses and the reporting duties. Emergency Paediatric First Aid is one day and covers the life threatening emergencies only. EYFS ratios are built around the full two day qualification, and the one day version is normally held by staff supporting those first aiders.
That comes out of your own ratios and your risk assessment rather than a fixed number. The EYFS framework sets the requirement for early years provision, and most settings train more people than the minimum so that holidays and sickness do not leave them uncovered.
Regularly. Childminders need it for registration. Parents, grandparents, foster carers and nannies book it because the techniques on an infant are genuinely different and nobody wants to be working that out during the emergency.
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 Paediatric First Aid (RQF), accreditation number 603/0559/9. We are an approved QNUK centre.
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