Universities

First Aid Training for UK Universities

You already know the law. The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 apply to your institution as an employer.

Your first aid needs assessment shapes what provision looks like across your buildings.

Your H&S team coordinates it centrally. Your departments deliver it locally.

What you need is a certification partner who can meet the standard, work around your calendar, and deliver at scale across a complex site.

Safe Haven Training delivers nationally accredited first aid courses at UK universities. FAIB certified as standard. Ofqual regulated qualifications available on request.
 

Find Courses

Contact Us

Our trainers are NHS professionals and emergency care specialists.

We deliver onsite at your campus, or at any of our 90+ UK venues.

We work with H&S teams, safety officers, faculty operations leads and estates managers to build coordinated training schedules across academic and calendar years.
 

How UK Universities Structure First Aid Training

Most UK universities follow a similar model. Central H&S coordinates and holds the policy.

Departments identify local first aiders based on their own risk profile. Security teams provide a 24/7 baseline.

An accredited first aid training provider like Safe Haven Training is usually onboarded for training and certification.

Typical structures include:
 

• A designated senior lead in the H&S team responsible for the first aid policy
• Departmental "first aid champions" or safety officers who manage local provision 
• A mix of FAW (First Aid at Work) and EFAW (Emergency First Aid at Work) qualifications across the institution
• Additional cover from security teams, wardens or residence life staff
• Specialist first aid provision for high risk departments - labs, workshops, sports and outdoor teaching

Ratios vary. Some universities apply a floor by floor rule (for example, two FAW and one EFAW per floor). Others apply a headcount rule (one FAW per 50 staff, with additional cover for higher risk departments). Whichever model you use, the challenge is delivering the training itself at the right pace across the year.

Working With Central H&S Teams
 

Coordinating first aid across a large university is a scheduling problem, not just a training one.

You have faculty term dates, exam periods, hall induction weeks, staff development days, quiet weeks and full weeks.

Departments have their own operational rhythms. Renewal dates are staggered across hundreds of first aiders. We work as an external certification partner alongside your H&S team.

That includes:
 

• A shared training calendar aligned to your academic and calendar year
• Coordinated dates across departments to reduce operational disruption
• Renewal reminders and forward planning for FAW three year cycles
• Onsite delivery so departments don't lose staff to travel
• Grouped bookings across faculties or schools to reduce cost per learner
• Consolidated invoicing for larger institutions
• Certificates issued within 48 hours of course completion
   

For institutions running training across multiple sites - Innovation Park, satellite campuses, sports facilities, business schools.

We can build the schedule to reach each one.
 

First Aid Courses for University Staff

Because universities deal almost entirely with adults, paediatric first aid rarely comes into scope.

Standard workplace first aid qualifications fit most needs.
 

Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) - 1 Day

Suited to office staff, admin teams, lecturers, faculty support roles and general campus staff. The right entry point for low risk environments.
 

First Aid at Work (FAW) - 3 Days

The right qualification for designated first aiders in higher risk settings - labs, workshops, kitchens, sports facilities, residential accommodation, security teams and estates.
 

First Aid at Work Requalification - 2 Days

For existing FAW holders renewing their certificate at the three year point.
 

Level 2 Basic Life Support & AED - Half Day

CPR and defibrillator skills for sports coaches, gym staff, security teams and site staff. A strong addition where the university has AEDs distributed across campus.

 

The right mix depends on your first aid needs assessment. Most universities combine EFAW for general staff with FAW for named first aiders in higher risk departments.

 

Halls of Residence and Residence Life
 

Halls of residence operate 24 hours a day.

Wardens, resident assistants and duty managers are the first response for a huge range of student incidents, from alcohol emergencies and mental health crises to sudden illness and injury.

For residence life teams, we recommend combining:
 

• Emergency First Aid at Work for the practical response skills
• Level 2 Award in First Aid for Mental Health for the pastoral and welfare side
   

Both can be delivered onsite during induction weeks or before term begins, when residence teams are being trained up together.
 

Sports Facilities and Athletic Union
 

University sports centres, gyms and athletic union clubs carry their own set of risks - sudden cardiac arrest during exercise, sports injuries, asthma attacks and heat exhaustion.

Most universities now have AEDs positioned in sports facilities as standard.

Our Sports First Aid Course, Emergency First Aid at Work and BLS & AED course fits sports staff, coaches, personal trainers and athletic union welfare officers. 

 

Further Education Colleges

Further education colleges follow the same Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 as universities, with additional DfE guidance covering colleges specifically (Department for Education, 2022).

Key considerations for FE colleges:
 

• Practical vocational courses (motor vehicle, construction, hair and beauty, catering, engineering) carry higher first aid risk than academic only provision
• Colleges with 14 - 16 provision need to align arrangements with home schools, which retain safeguarding responsibility
• AEDs are increasingly standard, especially near sports facilities and workshops
• Mental health first aid is particularly relevant given the age and stage of learners
   

We deliver the same core first aid, AED and mental health courses to FE colleges as to universities, adapted for the specific risk profile of vocational learning environments.

 

First Aid Course Delivery Options

Onsite at your campus

We come to you, in the buildings you already use. Trainers bring all equipment, including manikins, AED trainers and bleed kit trainers.
 

At one of 90+ UK venues

For smaller cohorts or ad hoc bookings, we deliver at venues across the UK. Individual staff can book onto scheduled dates.
 

Coordinated across the academic year

For institutions with recurring training needs across multiple departments, we build a coordinated calendar aligned to your renewal cycles.

 

Speak with our team

References
 

1. Department for Education (2022): First aid in schools, early years and further education

2. Health and Safety Executive (2025): First aid at work: Legislation

3. Health and Safety Executive (2025): First aiders and training

4. Legislation.gov.uk (1981): The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981
 

First Aid Courses for Universities and Colleges

Choose courses based on each role and what your first aid needs assessment shows.