Distance Learning - Mental Health First Aid Certificate L2 (23/24)

Mental health first aid has come to the fore in recent years as society comes to terms with the adverse effects of poor mental health. This course will give you the knowledge needed to form an awareness of mental health crises and how they can be mitigated. You will also learn what is needed to create a culture of understanding in your workplace around mental health and what can be done to promote positive mental wellbeing in your local community. We would recommend this course to anyone who believes in mental health awareness, but also to anyone who may need to support colleagues or teachers and youth workers who may need to be able to spot the warning signs of poor mental health.

Study for the course takes place in an online virtual learning environment (VLE) where you can study at any time and at your own pace. We ask that learners complete their courses within the given timeframe and that as a broad average most courses can take approximately 6-8 hours per week to complete. However, timeframes are flexible on a person-by-person basis should any learners require reasonable adjustments to their study plans.

Distance learning relies on communication between you and the college. We appreciate that learners with busy lives might face challenges in keeping up with their courses. All we ask is that learners stay in touch with us. Learners who don't risk being withdrawn from their courses.

Remote distance learners are afforded access to every kind of support available to on campus learners. This includes Welfare support and additional learning support.

We have a dedicated Learning Support coordinator who can offer one-to-one support to learners. This can be for a myriad of reasons, ranging from disability, learning difficulties, or just needing some help after being out of education for a long time. There is no need to have a formal diagnosis of any condition to access this support.

Learners are paired with an experienced assessor and they submit work and are assessed online using the virtual learning environment e-Assessor Pro. Learners are given detailed feedback on their work by their assessors. Any reasonable adjustments to assessment arrangements are made on a person-by-person basis.

Our courses have set durations however we are sympathetic with learners who have busy lifestyles and other demands on their time. As a general average we recommend that learners spend approximately 6-8 hours learning time per week. This can include interacting with learning content, completing assessments and other learning such as secondary reading, research or receiving learning support. Any learner who has concerns with the time commitment should contact us to discuss ways we can support them.

Our distance learning courses are planned to meet both local and national skills needs. These courses are ideal as additional development for professionals, or as introductions to topics and issues which are relevant to finding work or further training. Distance learning students are able to access careers advice via the college's Student Services team. several of our courrses complement each other and learners are able to study up to three courses each academic year (1st August-31st July).

• Learners must live in England
• Learners must not live in a  local combined authority, apart from West of England Combined Authority (WECA)
• Learners must have lived in the European Economic area or the UK for at least
  the last three years
• Non-UK nationals will be asked to supply evidence of their immigration status
• Learners aged 19-23 must already hold a either a full level 2 qualification, or 5 GCSEs at grade C/4 or above