Unfortunately, unlike most things, there is a significant difference, and this is where due diligence comes into play to ensure you get what you need and are satisfied with your first aid training purchase.
Perhaps a starting point would be:
- Are they registered with an awarding organisation?
- Do they have trainer insurance?
- How long have they been teaching and delivering first aid?
- Do they have any professional teaching qualifications?
- Are they healthcare professionals?
- Did they come recommended?
Often, this is only the beginning of your investigation into their offerings; does it align with your requirements?
Does the training provider offer regulated or unregulated first aid training?
A regulatory body or bodies, based on the location of the qualification’s delivery, approve an assessed learning journey that an awarding organisation creates for regulated first aid training.
Ofqual is England’s regulatory body.
Qualifications Wales is the Welsh regulatory body.
In Scotland, the Scottish Qualifications Authority is the regulatory body.
Typically, providers develop unregulated first-aid training; these are merely study programmes, and very few seek regulatory approval.
Which means they likely don’t receive IQAd (internal quality assured) or EQAd (externally quality assured) for compliance with an awarding organisation.
Regulated first aid training providers get EQAd on average twice a year, and one of those visits is without warning. We conduct IQA randomly at Warwickshire First Aid Training, using an external IQA instead of an internal one.
