Level 3 Award in Patient Care Services Ambulance Driving

Sixteen assessed outcomes across the five days.

Before you move

• Pre-shift daily inspection and pre-driving checks
• Current legislation and driving regulations as they apply to ambulance work
• Vehicle safety systems and what they will and will not do for you

Driving the vehicle

• Defensive driving
• Braking systems — smoothly, and with a patient in mind
• Steering systems and negotiating bends safely
• Transmission systems during ambulance driving
• Varying vehicle speed appropriately
• Dual carriageway and motorway procedures
• Overtaking other vehicles during ambulance driving
• Driving during hours of darkness
• The effects of adverse conditions on driving

Around the vehicle and on the road

• Reversing and manoeuvring an ambulance safely
• Navigating during ambulance driving
• Managing hostility while driving

Reversing is where most people are weakest and it is where the size of the vehicle tells. Simulation is only permitted for reversing manoeuvres where the real thing cannot be done safely, so the great majority of your reversing practice is in the actual vehicle.

The FutureQuals Level 3 Award in Patient Care Services: Ambulance Driving, qualification recognition number 603/2147/7.

Six credits at Level 3. Total qualification time 60 hours, of which 33 are guided learning.

How you are assessed

By portfolio of evidence built across the week, assessed continuously by your instructor rather than in a single test at the end. Graded pass or fail — there are no grades above a pass on this qualification.

Your portfolio is internally assessed and quality assured by us, then externally quality assured by FutureQuals. That external check is what makes the certificate worth something to an employer.

Who assesses you

Tutors hold a teaching qualification plus occupational driving competence — approved driving instructor with fleet, RoSPA Gold, IAM or equivalent, or PCV competence. Assessors hold a Level 3 assessing qualification. Expert witnesses are not permitted on this qualification, so everything is signed off by a qualified assessor who watched you do it.

Prior to starting the course learners must meet the following criteria:

• Be 21 years of age or older on the first day of teaching.
• Possess the right values, behaviours and attributes appropriate to the role.
• Have no outstanding court cases, prosecutions or pending disciplinary action in any area being brought against them.
• Hold a valid driving licence for the class of vehicle being driven, for the full duration of the qualification, with no more than 6 points.

Learners with Type 1 Diabetes can still apply as long as it is well controlled.

Any previous driving ban, for any reason, must be declared to us when booking. It does not automatically stop you taking the course, but we need to know beforehand rather than on day one.

What you do not need

You do not need a contract with an ambulance service, and you do not need prior experience or qualifications. The awarding organisation sets no formal entry requirements beyond the licence. Our 21 and six-points rules are stricter than the minimum, because insurers and employers generally expect it.

£960 including VAT — or £816 each when you book four or more. Vehicle use, fuel, instruction, assessment and certification are all included.

12 month payment plan

We can support learners to spread the cost of their training over a 12 month period in equal instalments at 0% interest.

Multiple booking discount

For companies who book four or more learners onto this course, you will be given a 15% discount on the total price — £576 back on four places.

Returning learners

Trained with us before? When you come back to requalify, take 10% off your refresher.

Secure your place with a 20% deposit

Pay 20% at checkout to secure your place on the date you want. The balance is due before your course starts.

Pay in full with Klarna

Choose Klarna at checkout and spread the cost on Klarna’s terms. Subject to Klarna’s eligibility checks.

Employer invoicing

Employers booking several people can be invoiced rather than paying at checkout. Get in touch and we will set it up.

Staying overnight

Travelling to us from outside Teesside? We have agreed learner rates with the Sporting Lodge Inn at Stainton, a 5 to 10 minute drive from our Stockton-on-Tees centre, with easy access from the A19 and A174.

• £75 per night — bed and breakfast
• £95 per night — dinner, bed and breakfast, including a two-course evening meal and a drink

Both rates include free on-site parking and free use of the hotel gym and 25-metre pool. There is a pub and restaurant on site.

These rates are only available through us, not directly with the hotel. Add the nights you need to your checkout when you book your course, and we will arrange it and confirm the details with you.

Five classroom days means five nights. At £75 that is £375 for the week, with breakfast and parking included.

Rooms are subject to availability, so book as early as you can. Plans change — cancel your room up to 24 hours before arrival and we will refund it.

Download our Teesside accommodation and local area guide for learners (PDF)

Our centre is Faraday House, Sopwith Close, Stockton-on-Tees, TS18 3TT, with free on-site parking and direct access from the A66 and A19.

By rail

Darlington sits on the East Coast Mainline, under three hours from London King’s Cross, with direct services from Edinburgh, Newcastle, York and Leeds. Eaglescliffe is the nearest station to the centre, with parking, cycle storage and ticket facilities.

By air

Teesside International Airport is around twenty minutes away and Newcastle Airport about an hour, with direct flights from Aberdeen, Belfast and Dublin.

What it costs to attend

Teesside is straightforward to reach from anywhere in the UK, and cheaper to stay in than most training locations — five nights here costs less than three in most cities.