British Red Cross First Aid Courses

The British Red Cross Society is a charity registered in the UK and incorporated by Royal Charter to teach simple first aid skills via health and safety courses.

Suppose your business needs to meet standards the Health and Safety Executive sets. In that case, your employer may send you to one of several safety courses facilitated by the British Red Cross.

Here are some of the Red Cross first aid training courses being offered. Let’s see how they compare with Skills Training Group’s first aid course prices.

Please note that Skills Training Group are not associated with Red Cross first aid training and our first aid courses are completely independent.

Last reviewed: September 2026 — checked against Resuscitation Council UK Guidelines 2025.

Prices checked: 2 September 2026. British Red Cross fees below are the published “from” prices on British Red Cross Training and exclude VAT; Skills Training Group fees are the prices shown on our own course pages and also exclude VAT. Training prices change every year, so always check the current figure on each provider’s own website before you budget.

What Is the British Red Cross First Aid Training Course?

The British Red Cross sells its workplace training through British Red Cross Training. The current range covers Emergency First Aid at Work, First Aid at Work, First Aid at Work Requalification, Paediatric First Aid, First Aid for Appointed Persons, an annual first aid refresher, first aid for teachers and for sports, defibrillator training, and a separate set of mental health at work courses.

These interactive courses provide potential customers with the practical skills they need to save lives during first aid emergencies.

Completing these courses allows you to receive a first aid certificate valid for 3 years and the responsibility to be the first responder during a first aid emergency.

British Red Cross First Aid Courses

The British Red Cross may have the right course for your needs. Rather than navigating through the interactive course finder on their website, you can run through the courses here:

Emergency First Aid at Work

This 1-day emergency first aid at work course is designed to prepare first aiders for any medical situations that can arise during their average workday.

• Duration/Schedule: 1 day/09:00-17:00
• Red Cross Price: From £173 + VAT per learner
• Skills Training Group Price: £95 + VAT per person

View our EFAW Course here.

First Aid at Work

The first aid at work course allows people to prepare for even the most unlikely workplace scenarios. It allows people to take everything into account.

• Duration/Schedule: 3 days/09:00-17:00
• Red Cross Price: From £359 + VAT per learner
• Skills Training Group Price: £195 + VAT per person (6 hours of e-learning plus 2 practical days)

View our FAW Course here.

First Aid at Work (Requalification)

A First Aid at Work certificate lasts three years, and you should requalify before it expires – there is no grace period, so once it lapses you cannot act as a workplace first aider until you have retrained. The HSE also says that if a certificate has been expired for more than about a month, it may be more sensible to sit the full three-day course again.

• Duration/Schedule: 2 days/09:00-17:00
• Red Cross Price: From £269 + VAT per learner
• Skills Training Group Price: £120 + VAT per person

View our FAW Requalification Course here.

First Aid Annual Refresher

The British Red Cross now calls this course the Annual First Aid Refresher rather than the Annual Skills Update. It exists so first aiders can follow the HSE’s strong recommendation to refresh their skills each year between three-yearly requalifications. Annual refresher training is recommended, not legally required.

• Duration/Schedule: Half-day, in a classroom or online
• Red Cross Price: From £119 + VAT per learner
• Skills Training Group Price: £26 + VAT per person (half-day)

View our annual refresher course here.

Paediatric First Aid

This paediatric course is designed to care for children in their early years. Foundation stage care is vital for ensuring their long-term health.

• Duration/Schedule: 2 days
• Red Cross Price: From £209 + VAT per learner
• Skills Training Group Price: £95 + VAT per person

View our paediatric course here.

Blended Paediatric First Aid

A blended paediatric course is useful for childcarers who cannot take multiple days off to attend in-person classes. The British Red Cross no longer sells a separate blended paediatric product – it lists one two-day Paediatric First Aid course, so the entry above is the one to compare against. Skills Training Group runs its Level 3 Paediatric First Aid course in blended form as standard.

• Duration/Schedule: 1 day of e-learning plus 1 practical day
• Red Cross Price: Not listed separately – see Paediatric First Aid above
• Skills Training Group Price: £95 + VAT per person

View our blended paediatric course here.

Emergency Paediatric First Aid

This emergency paediatric course is a must if you are a newly-qualified level 2 or 3 childcare staff member working with children in their early years.

• Duration/Schedule: 1 day/09:00-17:00
• Red Cross Price: Not currently listed as a separate course
• Skills Training Group Price: £70 + VAT per person

View our emergency paediatric course here.

First Aid for Teachers

Teachers are often the first line of defence when students get into emergencies, so it is best to prepare them for these situations by undertaking a school first aid course.

• Duration/Schedule: 1 day
• Red Cross Price: Not published – quoted on enquiry
• Skills Training Group Price: £495 + VAT for a one-day on-site course at your school, covering the whole group

View our school first aid course here. Note that this is a whole-group on-site price rather than a per-learner price, so compare it against a quote for a full course rather than against a single seat.

First Aid for Sports

Sports are a hotbed for first aid emergency situations, and this sports first aid course will prepare you to rush the field when needed.

• Duration/Schedule: Red Cross 1 day; Skills Training Group 2 days
• Red Cross Price: Not published – quoted on enquiry
• Skills Training Group Price: £100 + VAT per person, with on-site training at your venue quoted separately

View our sports first aid course here.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

Mental health matters here for a practical reason: since the 2024 revision of the HSE guidance L74, employers are expected to consider mental health in their first-aid needs assessment, not just physical injury. The British Red Cross runs six mental health at work courses as a separate range, and also gives its first aid at work learners a free 30-minute Mental Health for First Aiders online module.

• Duration/Schedule: Between 2 hours and 1 day
• Red Cross Price: Not published on the course pages – quoted on enquiry
• Skills Training Group Price: £99 + VAT for the Level 1 introduction, £180 + VAT at Level 2 and £295 + VAT for the Level 3 Award

View our mental health training here.

AED (Automated External Defibrillators)

An AED is a specialised device that can save lives in the event of cardiac arrest. If you are responsible for one at your premises, it is worth understanding the legal requirements for defibrillators in the UK. This aed course trains users on how to use it.

• Duration/Schedule: Half-day
• Red Cross Price: Not published – quoted on enquiry
• Skills Training Group Price: £55 + VAT per person (3 to 6 hours)

View our aed course here.

AED With Life Support

This training combines basic life support and CPR with the use of an AED to give the casualty the best chance of surviving a cardiac arrest. The British Red Cross now runs this as a single half-day course, Defibrillator (AED) training with CPR, rather than as two separate products – so it is the same course as the entry above. Under Resuscitation Council UK Guidelines 2025, anyone may use an AED and no training is required to do so, but training makes people far more likely to act.

• Duration/Schedule: Half-day
• Red Cross Price: Combined with the AED course above
• Skills Training Group Price: £55 + VAT per person

Use of Oxygen

Oxygen therapy training teaches people how to administer oxygen to someone in urgent need. It is worth knowing that this is no longer part of the published British Red Cross workplace course range, so if you need it you will have to ask them directly or look at a specialist pre-hospital care provider.

• Duration/Schedule: Typically 2 to 3 hours
• Red Cross Price: Not in the current published range

General First Aid Courses for Everyday Life

The British Red Cross also offers courses for day-to-day activities.

First Aid for Adult

First aid skills are relevant for everyone, and this four-hour course is designed for members of the general public.

• Duration/Schedule: Around half a day
• Price: Not published on the course page – check the British Red Cross public courses listing for current dates and fees

First Aid for Baby and Child (Red Cross Babysitting Course UK)

This is another course for members of the general public, particularly those caring for children.

• Duration/Schedule: Around half a day
• Red Cross Price: Not published on the course page – check the British Red Cross public courses listing for current dates and fees

How to Compare First Aid Course Prices Fairly

Headline prices are easy to misread. Before you decide, check these seven things:

• VAT. Most workplace training is quoted excluding VAT. Every figure on this page excludes VAT, but a cheaper-looking quote elsewhere may already include it.
• Per learner or per course. An on-site course is normally priced for the whole group, up to a maximum number of delegates. That is not comparable with a single open-course seat.
• Classroom or blended. Blended courses usually cost less and take fewer days out of the workplace, but the total learning time should be the same.
• What the certificate is. First Aid at Work and Emergency First Aid at Work certificates last three years whoever issues them. Check who awards it and whether it is a regulated qualification or a provider certificate.
• Whether the syllabus matches your risks. The HSE expects your first-aid needs assessment to drive the course you buy, including mental health and, where relevant, life-threatening bleeding.
• Whether the clinical content is current. Training materials have had to follow Resuscitation Council UK Guidelines 2025 since January 2026.
• The extras. Travel, venue hire, manuals, insurance cover and re-sit fees are not always in the headline price.

The HSE does not approve or vet first aid training providers, so the due diligence is yours. Its guidance L74 sets out what a competent provider looks like, and the British Red Cross, St John Ambulance and St Andrew’s First Aid are the three Voluntary Aid Societies the HSE recognises as standard setters.

Prices on this page were checked on 2 September 2026 and are the published “from” figures on each provider’s own website. They change – often annually – so treat them as a guide and confirm the current price with the provider before you book.

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