Oliver McGowan training tier 1 and tier 2 explained

Oliver McGowan training has 2 tiers, and both start with the same part 1: an elearning module of at least 90 minutes, free to access in the UK through elearning for healthcare (elfh)¹². Tier 1 adds a 1 hour live, interactive online session for staff who need general awareness; tier 2 adds a 1 day face to face session for staff who may need to provide care and support, delivered with a person with a learning disability and an autistic person¹². The legal duty sits with your organization, not the worker: since 1 July 2022, section 181 of the Health and Care Act 2022 requires every provider registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to make sure each person working for its regulated activities receives learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role³.

This page covers England, where the code of practice applies¹. For the other mandatory training your care workers need, see mandatory training for care workers in the UK.

Which tier does each member of staff need?

You decide, role by role; NHS England's FAQ puts the choice on the employer⁴. Tier 1 is for people who need "general awareness of the support autistic people or people with a learning disability may need"; tier 2 is for people "who may need to provide care and support"².

The code of practice expects tier 2 for staff who provide direct care or support, naming registered managers, team leaders, care assistants and support workers¹. In a domiciliary care agency "frequently asked to provide support for people at short notice, all staff who have contact with the public are likely to need tier 2 capabilities"¹. In a care home, staff are likely to need tier 2, while a person employed "to do laundry or maintain gardens" may only need tier 1¹.

Some roles need more than tier 2: the code says tier 3 capabilities may be relevant to registered managers and other leaders of services for people with a learning disability or autistic people¹. NHS England says you decide what extra training is needed⁴.

Homes for older people are a gray area. NHS England's December 2022 tier guidance says a home where no residents have identified as autistic or as having a learning disability "may decide" tier 1 is enough for staff with resident contact, adds that a home with frequent turnover may decide on tier 2, and says staff should do tier 2 if such a resident is going to use the service⁵. The code, final from 6 September 2025 and the text CQC takes into account, has no such exception¹.

If you decide a member of staff needs no training at all, CQC expects "a record of how you've reached that decision if we ask"⁶.

What happens in part 1 and part 2?

Both tiers share part 1 and split at part 2⁴.

Your tier 2 staff do not do tier 1 first; tier 2 contains the tier 1 material². Tier 2 adds topics such as diagnostic overshadowing, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, hospital passports and the appropriate use of DNACPR¹.

Part 1 only records as complete when every video and learning session has been watched in full⁴. NHS England says the 2 parts should ideally be done "within a few days of each other", and recommends repeating part 1 if up to 6 months have passed⁴.

If a lived experience trainer is absent, replacing in person delivery with a video is "not a reasonable alternative"⁴. To check which of your other care training can move online, see online or face to face care training in England.

You can split tier 2 into 2 sessions on different days, learning disability first, because the autism session builds on it⁴.

Is Oliver McGowan training free?

Part 1 is free; part 2 costs depend on how you run it. NHS England says the elearning is "free for anyone in the UK to access", and gives 3 ways to run part 2: your own trainers, a partner organization, or an external provider⁴. A care worker can register on elfh with a personal email, but employers arrange part 2⁴.

Adult social care providers can claim part of the part 2 cost back. Skills for Care says funding continues in 2026 to 2027 through a ring fenced pot of the Learning and Development Support Scheme (LDSS), and that the pot "is limited"⁸. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) guide sets out the criteria and process⁷:

• Who can claim. A CQC registered adult social care service that directly employs care staff in England and has an up to date Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) account. The guide says funding covers all staff employed by the service, regulated and non regulated, including agency staff and registered managers, who are legally employed in England and have a UK National Insurance number⁷.
• How much. Per learner, for courses paid for between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2027: up to £12.50 (tier 1) or £50 (tier 2) when your own trainer delivers it, and up to £25 or £90 when you pay an external company⁷.
• What it does not cover. Backfill pay and travel, except travel for tier 2 delivered in house. A cap per organization sits in the grant determinations, which were not read for this page⁷.
• When. The guide's general rule is a claim within 3 months of course completion. Its only Oliver's Training exception covered courses completed and paid for in 2025 to 2026, which could be claimed up to 20 March 2026. The guide says "reimbursement cannot be guaranteed"⁷. The 2026 to 2027 grant determination letter, which holds the scheme terms, was not read for this page.

For NHS employers, the pages read for this guide describe no national reimbursement scheme. NHS England's FAQ gives the same 3 routes, with local examples run by trusts and integrated care boards⁴.

Who does the law put the duty on?

The duty sits on the registered provider. Section 181 of the Health and Care Act 2022 inserted this subsection into the Health and Social Care Act 2008:

Regulations under this section must require service providers to ensure that each person working for the purpose of the regulated activities carried on by them receives training on learning disability and autism which is appropriate to the person’s role.

Health and Social Care Act 2008, section 20(5ZA), inserted by section 181 of the Health and Care Act 2022³

A "service provider" there is a person registered as one under that chapter of the 2008 Act, and section 181(7) reads the requirement into Regulation 18 until the first regulations under section 20(5ZA) come into force³.

CQC applies the requirement to "all services and all settings", including ancillary staff such as receptionists, cooks and cleaners⁶. The law names no course: CQC says the requirement "does not specify a training package or course"⁶. NHS England says providers can choose Oliver's Training or other learning disability and autism training⁴.

Whatever you choose is measured against the code of practice, shown on GOV.UK on 9 October 2026 as final from 6 September 2025¹. If you depart from the code, you are expected to give good reasons and show you meet the requirement another way¹.

If your staff lack training appropriate to their role, CQC says "you may be in breach of Regulation 18" and will check how you are managing the risk and closing the gap⁶. For agency staff, NHS England says you and the agency agree who provides it⁴.

Does the certificate move with you to a new employer?

The training does, within the retake period; no page read for this guide says the certificate itself transfers. NHS England's FAQ says "Your training moves with you" and tells workers to keep a record as proof⁴; its training page calls the package "transferable between employers"². The code adds the limit: staff who change employers need no additional training until the 3 year limit is reached¹.

The pages read for this guide do not say what the certificate shows, who issues the part 2 certificate, or whether the 3 years run from part 1 or part 2. The elfh program page was not available when this guide was checked, so this page does not describe the elearning certificate.

For an adult social care funding claim, DHSC asks for "a certificate of course completion", plus proof of payment when the course was bought in⁷. When you hire, ask for evidence of both parts and their dates⁴.

How do you record it for CQC?

The code says you should record completion in your existing staff record system, and expects training data to be available to the relevant monitoring body, such as the integrated care board or local authority¹. Skills for Care has added both parts to ASC-WDS so adult social care employers can record and report completion rates⁸.

When CQC looks at the care of a person with a learning disability or an autistic person, its checks include "the training provided to staff and training records"⁶. For trained staff, CQC says it looks at how you make sure they are competent and putting the learning into practice⁶. The code also expects you to ask staff to complete the standardized pre and post training surveys and to make the feedback available to DHSC when asked¹.

How can you tell a course is the real Oliver McGowan training?

Check the trainers. NHS England says the package needs "to be delivered by approved trainers", and publishes a list so employers and participants can check⁹. The code says "Only accredited training providers are allowed to deliver" it, with NHS England's approved trainer process in place until an accreditation provider is appointed¹.

• The provider list is not a quality mark. NHS England's training provider list "is not complete and is not quality assured by NHS England"⁴. For adult social care, Skills for Care keeps its own list of providers it has quality assured⁸.
• Part 2 is built to follow Oliver's own part 1. Asked whether you can use your own elearning before part 2, NHS England's FAQ answers that both parts of Oliver's Training are to be completed, and that part 2 builds on what staff learn in part 1⁴. NHS England's training page adds that participants recall information from the elearning during part 2².
• The funding follows the list. DHSC's guide says eligible Oliver's Training courses are delivered by trainers on NHS England's approved list⁷.

None of the official pages read for this guide discusses courses sold under the Oliver McGowan name that are not the standardized package. You can use another package, measured against the code's 4 standards⁴¹; it is just not Oliver's Training.

How to do it yourself

The tools are free: the code, NHS England's FAQ and tier guidance, the elfh elearning and, in adult social care, ASC-WDS¹⁴⁵⁷⁸. NHS England says a large employer may need up to 3 years to train all its staff, highest risks first⁴.

1. Allocate a tier to every role. Mark which roles have contact with the people you support or the public, and apply the code's examples¹. Where a role with contact gets tier 1, write down why, next to any record that a member of staff needs no training, which CQC may ask to see⁶.
2. Flag the tier on each staff record and in your training plan, step 2 in NHS England's tier guidance⁵. In adult social care, ASC-WDS holds both parts⁸.
3. Get everyone through part 1. Use elfh accounts (work email or bulk upload) or an AICC link into your own learning system⁴.
4. Choose your part 2 route. Your own trainers (trained and on the approved list first), a partner organization, or an external provider whose trainers you have checked⁴⁹.
5. Book part 2 within days of part 1. Release tier 2 staff for a full day, or 2 sessions, learning disability first⁴.
6. Keep the evidence as it comes in. A completion certificate per worker and, for bought courses, proof of payment showing the cost per learner and the payment date. That proof is a receipt, a receipted invoice or a redacted bank statement; an invoice on its own is not sufficient. Claim within 3 months of completion, the DHSC guide's general window⁷.
7. Set each retake date no more than 3 years on, sooner after a promotion, team move or role change¹.
8. Check that practice changed. Run the standard surveys, then use team meetings and supervision¹⁶.

The part 1 and part 2 times come from the code¹; the rest are working estimates for a small provider, not official figures.

The 5 mistakes that cost the most

1. Counting the elearning as the whole training. Oliver's Training is complete only with part 2⁴.
2. A long gap between the parts. If up to 6 months pass, NHS England recommends repeating part 1, at least another 90 minutes per worker⁴¹.
3. Trainers not on the approved list. The course may not be Oliver's Training, and LDSS ties eligible courses to that list⁹⁷.
4. A lost claim. The DHSC guide asks for an up to date ASC-WDS account and, as its general rule, a claim within 3 months of completion, and once the pot runs out no further claims are reimbursed⁷.
5. Tier 1 for care staff with no written reason. The code's domiciliary and care home examples both point to tier 2¹.

Questions people also ask

Do you have to do tier 1 before tier 2? No. Tier 2 contains the tier 1 material, so NHS England says tier 2 staff do not complete tier 1 first².

Can tier 2 be done online? No. NHS England's FAQ says tier 2 part 2 is face to face, trainers and attendees in the same room; hybrid or online delivery is not suitable⁴.

What is tier 1 part 2? The 1 hour live, interactive online session with a facilitator, a person with a learning disability and an autistic person; it can also run face to face¹⁴.

Can you train your own tier 2 trainers? Yes. NHS England says trainers complete standardized trainers' training before approval; if you want your own, you can contact your local integrated care partnership²⁴.