The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is the government's recommended training for staff of health and social care providers registered with the Care Quality Commission in England. Since 1 July 2022 those providers have had a legal duty to make sure their staff receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role, and the code of practice that explains how to meet it became final on 6 September 2025. The training has two tiers, both of which include live sessions co-delivered by a person with a learning disability and an autistic person. No self-study online course, from Lift College or anyone else, meets the requirement on its own. This guide explains what does, who it applies to, and where a short CPD course such as Lift College's Learning Disability and Autism Awareness Training fits.
Why the training exists
Oliver McGowan was an autistic teenager with a mild learning disability and epilepsy. He died in November 2016 after being given antipsychotic medication that he and his family had asked him not to be given. The independent review of his death concluded it was potentially avoidable. His mother, Paula McGowan OBE, campaigned for mandatory training; the government's 2019 consultation response, "Right to be heard", committed to developing a package named in Oliver's memory, co-designed and co-delivered by people with a learning disability and autistic people.
The code of practice sets out the case in numbers from the LeDeR programme: in 2022, men with a learning disability died on average 19 years younger than men in the general population, and women 23 years younger; 42% of deaths of people with a learning disability were rated avoidable, against 22% for the general population.
The law
Section 181 of the Health and Care Act 2022 added a requirement to the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to regulation 18 of the 2014 Regulated Activities Regulations: from 1 July 2022, service providers registered with CQC must ensure their staff receive training on learning disability and autism appropriate to their role. It applies to every CQC-registered provider of health and adult social care in England: NHS trusts, GP and dental practices, independent healthcare, independent ambulance providers and adult social care providers.
The Act also required the Secretary of State to issue a code of practice. The code was laid before Parliament on 19 June 2025 and became final on 6 September 2025. CQC must take it into account when deciding whether a provider meets the staffing regulation. A provider that departs from the code is expected to give CQC good reasons and show it meets the requirement another way.
The four standards
The code sets four standards that all training must meet:
- Standard 1: content. All staff receive training covering a minimum curriculum of capabilities from the Core Capabilities Frameworks for supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people, with further training proportionate to the role, using the frameworks' three tiers.
- Standard 2: practice. Training enables staff to explore how they will put the learning into practice in their own setting.
- Standard 3: live, co-delivered training. All staff receive a minimum amount of live, interactive training co-produced and co-delivered by people with a learning disability and autistic people: at least one hour for staff who need general awareness, and at least one day in person for staff who provide care and support or who lead services. This is on top of a compulsory e-learning module of at least 90 minutes covering the Tier 1 capabilities, which everyone completes.
- Standard 4: quality. Training is evidence-based and quality-assured through trialling, evaluation and accreditation, with people with lived experience meaningfully involved.
Standard 3 is the one that matters most for anyone comparing options: it is the live, co-delivered part that an online course cannot supply.
The two tiers
The code describes the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training as two packages:
- Tier 1 is for people who need a general awareness of the support autistic people or people with a learning disability may need. It consists of the e-learning module plus a one-hour online interactive session co-delivered by people with lived experience.
- Tier 2 is for staff with responsibility for providing direct treatment, care or support, and other professionals in health and care settings with a high degree of autonomy. The code's list includes regulated health professionals, registered managers, team leaders, students and trainees, care assistants, support workers, educators, allied health professionals conducting functional assessments, and staff conducting capacity, best-interest and Mental Health Act assessments. Tier 2 consists of the e-learning module plus a one-day face-to-face session.
The Core Capabilities Frameworks also describe a Tier 3 for staff with a high degree of autonomy who provide care in complex situations or lead learning disability and autism services; the code's Annex A maps example roles to tiers, and some staff need further training beyond the package.
How to get it
The e-learning module is the NHS England elearning for healthcare module named in the code. The live sessions are organised through NHS England's delivery arrangements with trained facilitators, including facilitators with lived experience; how they are booked varies by area, so the practical first step for most staff is to ask their employer or their integrated care board how the sessions are being run locally. The code says the training is the government's "preferred and recommended" package; a provider can meet the standards another way, but must be able to show CQC that it does.
What an online CPD course can and cannot do
An online awareness course covers knowledge. It can:
- Teach what a learning disability and autism are, how they affect communication, sensory experience and daily life, and how to make reasonable adjustments.
- Serve as pre-learning before the live session, so staff arrive with the vocabulary and the law already understood.
- Train staff the law does not cover: schools, nurseries, colleges, retail, hospitality, housing, transport, leisure, charities and offices, where the Equality Act 2010 duty to make reasonable adjustments applies but section 181 does not.
- Give a dated, verifiable certificate of completion for a training record.
It cannot:
- Provide the live, interactive, co-delivered session that Standard 3 requires.
- Count as the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training, or on its own discharge a CQC-registered provider's duty under section 181.
Lift College's Learning Disability and Autism Awareness Training is written on that basis. It is 2 hours in 5 modules, covers the Tier 1 knowledge and the law including the code itself, and says in its own FAQ that it is not the statutory training. It costs £19.99, pay once, with 14-day money back.
Who it suits
- Staff in schools, nurseries, colleges, retail, hospitality, housing, transport, leisure, charities and offices.
- Managers who need to meet the duty to make reasonable adjustments.
- Health and care staff who want the knowledge before their statutory Tier 1 or Tier 2 session.
- Volunteers, family members and employers.
Where to go next
- See the course: Learning Disability and Autism Awareness Training.
- New to care? The Care Certificate covers awareness of learning disability and autism as its sixteenth standard.
- Related: Neurodiversity Awareness Training and Mental Capacity Act Training.
- Browse all safeguarding training and care courses.