Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism Explained

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is the government's standard training package for health and social care staff across England. If you employ or manage staff in a CQC-regulated service, you need to know what it covers, which of your staff need which tier, and how it sits alongside your wider safeguarding training for vulnerable adults.

Who was Oliver McGowan, and why is the training named after him

Oliver McGowan was a young autistic man with a mild learning disability who died in 2016 after being given antipsychotic medication in hospital against his and his family's wishes. His death, and the campaign for change led by his mother Paula McGowan, exposed a wider problem: many health and social care staff had never received structured training in learning disability and autism, and did not understand how to adapt their communication, environment or care approach as a result. A national review followed, and the government committed to developing standard, consistent training that all providers could be expected to deliver. That training now carries Oliver's name.

The training was co-designed with autistic people and people with a learning disability, and their families, rather than being written solely by clinicians and policy officials. That principle of lived-experience involvement carries through into how the training is actually delivered, not just how it was designed.

The legal and policy basis

The requirement to train staff in learning disability and autism is not just good practice — it is a legal duty. The Health and Care Act 2022 amended the Health and Social Care Act 2008 so that all providers registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) must ensure their staff receive training on learning disability and autism that is appropriate to their role. The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training package, together with the accompanying Code of Practice, is the standard the government and CQC point to as the recognised way of meeting that duty. Providers are not strictly barred from using an alternative training product, but they need to be able to demonstrate it delivers equivalent outcomes to Oliver's Training — in practice, most providers use the standard package because it removes that burden of proof.

This sits alongside other statutory and best-practice training areas that CQC-regulated employers already need to plan for, including Mental Capacity Act and supported decision-making training. Learning disability and autism training, mental capacity training and safeguarding training are closely related but distinct requirements, and inspectors will look for evidence of all three where they are relevant to the service.

The two-tier structure

Oliver's Training is split into two tiers, and the tier a staff member needs depends on how much direct contact they have with autistic people and people with a learning disability, not on their job title alone.

Tier 1: general awareness

Tier 1 is for staff who need a general awareness of learning disability and autism because their contact is less direct, or because they support the wider service rather than delivering hands-on care. It consists of a self-directed e-learning module, followed by a shorter interactive session delivered online, co-facilitated by an autistic person and a person with a learning disability alongside a trainer.

Tier 2: direct care and support

Tier 2 is for staff who provide, or may provide, more regular and direct care and support to autistic people and people with a learning disability. It includes the same e-learning foundation as Tier 1, followed by a full day of face-to-face, interactive training. Crucially, this face-to-face element is co-delivered by a trainer alongside an autistic co-trainer and a co-trainer with a learning disability — the same "lived experience first" principle that shaped the whole programme. Tier 2 is designed to stand on its own: staff who need Tier 2 do not have to complete Tier 1 separately first, because the Tier 2 content covers what Tier 1 covers and builds on it.

Deciding which tier applies to which role is an employer responsibility. A receptionist or a member of catering staff in a hospital, for example, is likely to need Tier 1; a support worker, nurse or care assistant providing direct, hands-on care is likely to need Tier 2. Where staff move between roles, or where contact with people with a learning disability or autistic people increases over time, employers should review and update the tier assigned.

Who is required to complete it

Because the underlying legal duty in the Health and Care Act 2022 applies to CQC-registered providers generally, the expectation is broad: it covers staff across the NHS and independent healthcare, and across adult social care settings including residential care, domiciliary care and supported living, wherever staff may have contact — direct or indirect — with autistic people or people with a learning disability. This includes clinical and care staff, but also, at Tier 1, administrative, ancillary and support staff whose roles bring them into any contact with people who use the service. Exactly who sits at Tier 1 versus Tier 2, and the pace at which existing staff complete training, is for each employer to plan and record, in line with the Code of Practice and their own training needs analysis.

Delivery, access and assessment

The e-learning component of both tiers is delivered free of charge through the NHS's e-learning for healthcare (elfh) platform, and is accessible to staff across health and social care. The interactive component — the online session for Tier 1, or the full-day face-to-face workshop for Tier 2 — has to be booked separately and is where the training moves from theory into practice: real scenarios, direct interaction with co-trainers who have lived experience, and space for staff to ask questions and reflect on their own practice. This structure is deliberate. Written or video-based e-learning alone was found not to be enough to change staff attitudes and behaviour reliably — the interactive, co-delivered element is what the evidence base behind the programme says makes the difference.

Providers are expected to keep records of who has completed which tier and when, in the same way they would for any other mandatory training — this evidence is what CQC will ask to see, and what underpins supervision and appraisal conversations about staff competence and confidence in this area.

How it links to CQC's Fundamental Standards and the Single Assessment Framework

For CQC-registered providers, Oliver's Training is not a standalone add-on; it is evidence towards specific regulatory requirements. Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 requires providers to ensure staff receive the training, supervision and professional development appropriate to their role — learning disability and autism training, at the right tier, is now an explicit part of what "appropriate" means. Regulation 9, on person-centred care, requires that care and treatment reflects people's individual needs and preferences; staff who understand how autism or a learning disability affects an individual's communication, sensory needs or decision-making are far better placed to deliver care that genuinely meets that standard.

Under CQC's Single Assessment Framework, inspectors look at outcomes rather than ticking a training register alone — they want to see that trained staff can demonstrate the skills and confidence the training was meant to build, in how they actually support people day to day. That is one more reason the interactive, lived-experience-led element of Oliver's Training matters: it is designed to produce staff who can show, not just say, that they understand how to support autistic people and people with a learning disability well. Training in this area often sits alongside related competencies inspectors will also want to see evidenced, including training on restraint and restrictive practice, where poor understanding of autism or learning disability can otherwise contribute to avoidable escalation.

Planning training across your service

For most employers, Oliver's Training will not sit in isolation — it needs to be planned alongside induction, safeguarding refreshers, Mental Capacity Act training and any restrictive practice training relevant to the service. Building a simple training matrix that maps each role to the tier of Oliver's Training it needs, and to these related requirements, makes it far easier to demonstrate compliance at inspection and to keep records current as staff change roles. Learnsignal's healthcare and social care CPD courses are designed to support exactly this kind of joined-up compliance training plan.

Frequently asked questions

Is Oliver McGowan training legally mandatory for all health and social care staff?

The underlying duty comes from the Health and Care Act 2022: CQC-registered providers must ensure staff receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role. The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training package and Code of Practice is the recognised standard for meeting that duty, which is why it is treated as mandatory in practice across the sector, even though the statutory wording is about ensuring "appropriate" training rather than naming the package directly.

How do I know whether a staff member needs Tier 1 or Tier 2?

It depends on the level of direct contact they have, or may have, with autistic people and people with a learning disability. Staff with more regular, hands-on care and support contact need Tier 2; staff who need only a general awareness because their contact is more limited or indirect need Tier 1. This is an employer decision based on each role, not a fixed list of job titles.

Do staff need to complete Tier 1 before Tier 2?

No. Tier 2 includes and builds on the content covered in Tier 1, so staff who have been identified as needing Tier 2 can go straight to it without completing Tier 1 first.

What makes Oliver's Training different from a standard e-learning course?

Both tiers combine a self-directed e-learning module with an interactive, co-delivered session — a shorter online session for Tier 1, or a full day of face-to-face training for Tier 2 — led jointly by a trainer, an autistic co-trainer and a co-trainer with a learning disability. That lived-experience co-delivery is central to the design and is what distinguishes it from a generic online module.

Getting Oliver's Training right is about more than compliance paperwork — it is one of the clearest, most practical ways a health or social care employer can improve the quality and safety of care for autistic people and people with a learning disability.