A leading national training provider has reached a major milestone in their delivery of the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism.
First Response Training (FRT), which was one of the first training providers in the UK to gain approval to rollout this mandatory programme, has now successfully delivered Oliver’s Training to over 100,000 learners.
FRT are quality assured to deliver Oliver’s Training through the Quality Assured Care Learning Service (QACLS) from the Department of Health and Social Care and Skills for Care.
They are also an approved provider of Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training Tier 1 and Tier 2 through the Training and Development Services Framework delivered by the NHS Collaborative Procurement Hub. This provides a fully compliant, pre-approved route to market for all NHS organisations, part or fully government funded organisations and blue-light services.
The national training provider first began delivering the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism in early 2023.
They now work with several NHS ICBs and Trusts, local authorities and independent care providers to deliver the vital, mandatory training programme for their staff.
Oliver’s Training empowers and educates over 100,000 healthcare professionals
As of June 2026, FRT has delivered over 6,000 Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training Tier 1 and Tier 2 training sessions, reaching over 103,000 learners nationally. This includes over 36,000 learners on Tier 1 sessions and almost 67,000 learners on Tier 2 sessions.
This milestone demonstrates the significant scale and reach of the programme across health and social care services.
A spokesperson from FRT says their aim is to “empower and educate staff to transform their practice by embracing the lived experiences of autistic individuals and those with learning disabilities.”
Through the collaborative strength of their trios – Facilitating Trainers and Experts With Lived Experience Co-Trainers – FRT aims to inspire lasting change in how individuals are understood, supported, and valued.
Laura Amy Williams, Autistic Expert with Lived Experience Co-Trainer at FRT, says:
“It gives me a lot of reassurance to know there are so many people who want to understand autism and autistic people. As an expert with lived experience, I feel I can simply be myself and share my story.”
Over 100 Experts with Lived Experience employed
FRT employs over 110 Experts with Lived Experience Co-Trainers across the UK to help deliver Oliver’s Training.
Many were not in employment before joining the team and now receive fair pay, training and development and ongoing support to deliver essential training to health and care workers across the UK, actively making a huge impact on healthcare outcomes for people with learning disabilities and autistic people.
Becky Cropper, Neurodiversity Training Lead at FRT, says:
“I am so proud to work closely with our large and ever-growing team of Expert Co-Trainers.
“They do a fantastic job, delivering training of real value and helping to make a real difference to learners’ daily practices by sharing their real-world experiences and providing unique perspectives.”
Perry Leeks, Neurodiversity Training Project Director at FRT, adds:
“Recruiting our 100th Expert with Lived Experience was a significant moment for us.
“I’m lucky enough to meet many of our experts in person, sit in sessions with them, and hear their stories first-hand — and I’m constantly inspired by the authenticity they bring into the room.
“Watching the impact of the training live is one of the best parts of my role. You can see attitudes shift, understanding deepen, and moments of real reflection happen in real time. That’s not something you get from typical training sessions — it comes from lived experience being shared openly, honestly, and with trust. We are incredibly proud of our Experts, and of the dedicated team who support them every day — now over 100 strong.”
Huge social impact of Oliver’s Training
FRT’s successful rollout of Oliver’s Training programme has also supported NHS Trusts, ICBs and other organisations to meet their own social impact targets.
Rob Brooks, Senior Workforce Transformation Manager, Apprenticeships & Education, at NHS North East London ICB, has testified to the social impact of the training, explaining:
“Through the partnership with First Response Training, the programme has created meaningful employment opportunities for local people with learning disabilities and autistic people, many of whom had previously been unemployed or underemployed.
“Beyond the direct employment opportunities, the programme has also supported the development of the Homerton Hub model, where a further 30 Experts with Lived Experience have been recruited as part of the Trust’s internal delivery team.
“There has also been significant community engagement with local organisations such as The Tower Project, Hopeful Futures, The Sycamore Trust and Inclusive Growth initiatives in Barking and Dagenham.
“This engagement has helped create pathways into employment and confidence-building opportunities for people who may not yet feel ready to step into training roles.
“Given the extremely low employment rates for autistic adults and people with learning disabilities, creating these opportunities is a meaningful contribution to reducing inequality within the local population.”
Oliver’s Training sparks behavioural change in the NHS
In terms of the delivery of Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training, significant social impact can also be delivered in terms of behavioural change across NHS Trusts, leading to better outcomes for patients and their families.
One of the NHS ICBs that FRT has worked with to deliver Oliver’s Training has recorded effective changes made to processes, people and places to improve practice across the NHS Trusts accessing the training.
Simple process changes include adding patient alerts to records to advise staff if patients wish to only be contacted in certain way, alterations to appointment letters and adding images to websites to clearly show the location of and entrance to their settings, complete with examples of activities they may carry out. Some settings have also started to provide video instructions to help people locate their clinic or hospital.
Focusing on the people delivering care, many settings are now ensuring that a consistent team is involved in the care of patients with learning disabilities to prevent any unnecessary stress for patients. Staff are also completing ‘sensory spiders’ for patients to identify effective strategies for supporting them to regulate their emotions and avoid triggers. Overall, staff are more likely to ask patients about reasonable adjustments and to ask them if they would like to have information or instructions about their medication or care in an alternative format, such as an easy read document featuring images, for example.
Additional support with navigating care in clinical settings is also now routinely provided at many NHS Trusts where staff have completed Oliver’s Training.
For example, blood tests and blood pressure checks are now often completed in-house to prevent stress to patients with learning disabilities or autistic patients. These patients are now also shown around operating theatres and introduced to staff prior to undergoing surgery. In addition, lights are dimmed and noise kept to a minimum to avoid sensory triggers. Some settings have introduced sensory packs, sensory distraction boxes, ear defenders and dark glasses, as well as calming areas.
Reaching over 100,000 learners ‘an incredible feat’
Perry Leeks said the delivery of Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training to over 100,000 learners was “an incredible feat.”
He added:
“Undergoing Oliver’s Training has proved to be transformative for many health and care professionals and for NHS Trusts and care providers overall.
“All enhancements in daily practice made as a result of this training directly lead to better care and support for patients with learning disabilities and autistic people, leading to better health outcomes, which is the ultimate aim of the programme.
“We are very proud to be able to have delivered this training to over 100,000 learners and counting across the UK and to be a part of this change for good.”
FRT deliver over 7,000 courses each year in the fields of health and safety, first aid, fire safety, food safety, mental health, health and social care and other special focus topics.
You can contact FRT via freephone 0800 310 2300, send an e-mail to info@firstresponsetraining.com or submit an online enquiry.