Before You Book: Accredited Mental Health First Aid Training in the UK

Before You Book: Frequently Asked Questions

Choosing the right mental health or wellbeing training can be confusing. Many enquiries are well-intentioned but lack a clear link to the issues the organisation is trying to address. This page answers common questions and helps you think about what support you actually need before booking.

Mental Health First Aid: What you need to know before booking

What is a regulated mental health first aid qualification?

A regulated qualification is formally recognised by an external awarding body and follows strict quality assurance standards set by Ofqual (England) and the SQA (Scotland).

MHScot’s First Aid for Mental Health qualifications meet these standards, providing learners with an officially recognised certificate, not just proof of attendance

Unlike awareness-only or attendance-based courses, regulated qualifications are:

  • Externally quality assured and assessed
  • Structured around national frameworks
  • Recognised across the UK

Who is Mental Health First Aid training for?

Our First Aid for Mental Health qualifications are suitable for anyone who wants to better understand mental health and support others at work.

They are particularly relevant for:

  • Managers and supervisors
  • HR and people professionals
  • Wellbeing, DEI and health & safety leads
  • Staff who are seen as go-to support or champions

If you’d like to check whether this role is the right fit for you, try our short Mental Health First Aider Self-Assessment.

It helps you reflect on the qualities, boundaries, and mindset that support this important role, so you can decide with confidence before booking.

What’s the difference between MHScot’s training and MHFA England or SMHFA?

Traditional Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) and Scottish MHFA (SMHFA) courses provide attendance certificates only.

MHScot’s qualifications go further by combining accredited assessment with a focus on real workplace impact and culture change.

MHScot is an independent Scottish CIC. We prioritise smaller group learning, inclusive design, and a practical, preventative approach that embeds the roles of mental health champions and first aiders together.

Our qualifications include:

  • Formal assessment and external quality assurance
  • A workplace-specific focus with a workplace and stress module.
  • National recognition across the UK

They meet the same standards used for physical first aid qualifications.

How long is the qualification valid?

The qualification lasts three years, after which learners will need to re-qualify by completing the same course again.

There is no separate refresher course, instead, learners have lifetime access to our online learning platform, allowing them to revisit resources and refresh their knowledge anytime.

In between qualifications, some organisations choose to host short practice workshops to revisit the CARE framework through guided role play and discussion.

These sessions help learners build confidence and maintain their skills in real-world scenarios.

How does Mental Health First Aid apply in workplace settings?

Training is only one part of creating a healthier workplace. Whether it’s MHFA, financial wellbeing, stress awareness, or bespoke sessions, impact depends on the culture, workload, and systems people are working in.

Our programmes are built for real-world application, covering:

  • Recognising early signs of distress
  • Managing stress and communication at work
  • Creating a culture of care and psychological safety

We help you embed this learning through our Workplace Framework for Mental Health First Aiders, supporting both managers and MHFAiders.

What does a Mental Health First Aider do in the workplace?

A trained MHFAider offers a first point of contact, someone to listen, reassure, and signpost to help. They are not clinicians, but trusted colleagues who support early intervention and reduce stigma.

At MHScot, we go a step further by embedding the role of mental health champions and ambassadors within our First Aid for Mental Health training.

Rather than treating these as separate initiatives, we integrate both, ensuring your trained First Aiders are also equipped to influence culture, lead by example, and act as visible advocates for mental wellbeing across your organisation.

This approach not only builds individual confidence but strengthens your workplace culture, creating a more joined-up, compassionate environment for everyone.

How many MHFAiders does an organisation need?

There’s no set number. We help you assess coverage based on team size, shift patterns, and workplace risk.

What topics are covered in Mental Health First Aid training?

  • Understanding mental health and the social model
  • Recognising warning signs and stress triggers
  • Communication and active listening skills
  • The First Aid for Mental Health Action Plan
  • Supporting someone in crisis and signposting effectively

How is Mental Health First Aid delivered?

  • Online blended: Self-study through our LMS, plus guided online sessions and a one-to-one assessment
  • In-person: One full day at your workplace or a venue arranged by you

Our courses are designed for up to 12 learners. This smaller group size allows time for meaningful discussion, reflection, and individual support, which are essential for a topic as sensitive and personal as mental health.

While some providers offer sessions for up to 16 participants, we’ve found that larger groups dilute the quality of conversation and can make it harder for learners to engage openly.

We prioritise psychological safety, depth of learning, and real-world application over numbers.

What happens after the Mental Health First Aid course?

Training alone cannot fix workplace causes of poor mental health. It works best when paired with simple systems, open communication, and clear leadership responsibilities.

Learners receive:

  • Lifetime access to our online learning community
  • Drop-in sessions and a WhatsApp support group
  • Digital certification and access to a large library of resources for continued learning

Many organisations also choose to host short CARE framework practice workshops in between qualifications.

These optional sessions provide time to revisit key skills through guided role play and discussion, helping learners keep their confidence sharp and their conversations effective.

What evidence shows Mental Health First Aid training works?

Research shows that regulated First Aid for Mental Health qualifications:

  • Improve confidence to support colleagues
  • Reduce mental health stigma
  • Strengthen wellbeing culture
  • Encourage earlier intervention and help-seeking

(Source: Deloitte 2022; HSE 2024; IOSH MENTOR Study.)

We’re aware that some reports question the long-term impact of mental health first aid training, but context matters as does having a strategy behind it. 

Our approach embeds learning within workplace culture, not as a one-off intervention, ensuring that skills are supported, refreshed, and applied in real settings. This sustained, culture-based model is what makes MHScot’s programmes effective over time.

Before you decide on any workplace mental health training

What should we consider before booking any workplace mental health training?

Most organisations come to us with good intentions but without a clear view of what they want training to fix, improve, or support. This is one of the main reasons workplace mental health efforts fall short. Training works best when it sits within a simple, realistic plan for how people are supported at work.

Before you decide on a course, it can help to reflect on the following:

1. What problem are you trying to solve?

Examples include high stress, unclear expectations, repeated conflict, low confidence discussing mental health, or a lack of psychological safety. Different problems point to different solutions. Training can help, but it is not a stand-alone fix.

2. Who needs this training and why?

Managers, MHFAiders, HR, teams and individuals all have different needs. Being clear about who the training is for, and what you want them to do differently afterwards, stops it becoming a tick-box exercise.

3. What support will be in place after the training?

Skills fade quickly if people do not have time, safe processes, and clear expectations to use what they have learned. This applies to all training, including Mental Health First Aid. Think about follow-up, supervision, and how people can ask for help.

4. Does this sit within a wider approach to wellbeing?

Training is most effective when it sits alongside the basics: fair workloads, reasonable demands, clear roles, supportive management, and a culture where people can raise concerns early. These foundations make Mental Health First Aid, and any other training, safer and more effective.

How does this connect to HSE stress guidance and ISO 45003?

Workplace mental health is not only about training. It also sits within legal and recognised standards on health, safety, and psychosocial risk. Training should support these duties, not replace them.

HSE Stress Risk Assessment and Management Standards

In the UK, employers are required to assess and address work-related stress. The HSE highlights six key areas that affect stress at work:

  • demands
  • control
  • support
  • relationships
  • role
  • change

Training can help people recognise early signs of strain and have better conversations, but it does not remove the need to look at these areas and act on what staff are telling you.

ISO 45003 Psychological Health and Safety

ISO 45003 provides guidance on how to create safer, more supportive workplaces by:

  • identifying psychosocial risks
  • reducing unnecessary pressure and harmful working practices
  • improving communication and participation
  • supporting managers to respond early when problems arise

Mental Health First Aid and other training can contribute to ISO 45003 aims, but only as part of a wider approach that looks at how work is designed, led, and managed

Putting it together

If you are booking training, it is helpful to think about how it will sit alongside your stress risk assessment, policies, and wider culture work. This approach consistently produces better outcomes than treating training as a one-off event.