This Young Carers Awareness and Support Course is designed for professionals and staff who may come into contact with children and young people who provide care for another person. It develops understanding of what it means to be a young carer, how caring responsibilities can affect different areas of life, and how staff can recognise and respond to individual support needs appropriately.
This free course covers caring roles and responsibilities, education and wellbeing, identification, supportive conversations, young carer assessments, practical support, safeguarding, information sharing and transition into adulthood. It also explores professional boundaries and the importance of listening to each young person’s experience without making assumptions.
Why Take This eLearning Course?
Young carers are not always easily recognised, and their circumstances can vary considerably. Effective support depends on understanding the caring role, noticing possible indicators, listening carefully and knowing when to record, refer, signpost or escalate concerns. This course helps learners develop a proportionate, respectful and person-centred approach.
This course will help you to:
- Recognise the different practical and emotional responsibilities a young carer may have.
- Understand why some young carers may remain unidentified.
- Consider how caring can affect education, wellbeing, development and social participation.
- Identify possible signs that a young person has caring responsibilities.
- Hold sensitive and supportive conversations without making assumptions.
- Understand the purpose of a young carer’s needs assessment.
- Connect young people with appropriate assessment and specialist support routes.
- Recognise when caring responsibilities may be excessive or inappropriate.
- Respond appropriately to safeguarding, confidentiality and information-sharing concerns.
- Support continuity as young carers approach adulthood and adult carers services.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Define a young carer and describe common caring responsibilities.
- Explain why young carers may not always be recognised.
- Describe possible effects of caring on education, wellbeing, development and friendships.
- Identify potential indicators of caring responsibilities without treating them as proof.
- Explain how to conduct a supportive and non-judgemental conversation.
- Outline appropriate recording, referral and follow-up arrangements.
- Explain the purpose and key considerations of a young carer’s needs assessment.
- Identify when caring responsibilities or circumstances may require safeguarding action.
- Describe appropriate information sharing and the boundaries of a frontline professional’s role.
- Explain how transition planning and adult carers support can help young carers approaching 18.
Young Carers Awareness and Support Course Outline
The course is organised into six modules, progressing from understanding the young carer role through identification, assessment and practical support to safeguarding responsibilities and transition into adulthood.
Module 1: Understanding Young Carers and Caring Roles
Learners will explore the definition of a young carer, including the practical and emotional support a young person may provide to a parent, sibling or another person. The module considers why caring responsibilities may not always be recognised and why family circumstances, culture and individual experience should be understood without assumptions. It also emphasises listening to the young person’s voice and recognising that the same circumstances can affect different young people in different ways.
Module 2: The Possible Impact of Caring
Learners will consider how caring responsibilities may affect education, attendance, concentration, homework, participation and attainment, while recognising that these effects are not inevitable. The module also explores tiredness, pressure, emotional wellbeing, recreation, development, friendships and social activities. Learners will examine how strengths such as empathy, organisation or practical ability can be acknowledged without romanticising caring or overlooking continuing support needs.
Module 3: Recognising and Responding to Young Carers
Learners will examine possible indicators of caring responsibilities, including tiredness, attendance patterns, family concerns, missed activities and substantial responsibilities at home. They will learn how to start supportive conversations using privacy, open questions and non-judgemental listening, and how to record information accurately and sensitively. The module also covers proportionate follow-up and whole-setting approaches that make awareness, identification and access to support part of ordinary organisational practice.
Module 4: Assessment, Referral and Practical Support
Learners will develop an understanding of the purpose of a young carer’s needs assessment and the statutory assessment rights that apply in England. The module explores what an assessment may consider, including the nature and suitability of caring responsibilities, the young person’s wishes, the effects of caring and the wider support available to the family. Learners will also consider local routes to assessment, specialist young carers services and practical workplace support such as named contacts, appropriate flexibility and coordinated referrals.
Module 5: Safeguarding, Information Sharing and Professional Boundaries
Learners will explore when caring responsibilities may become excessive, inappropriate or harmful, considering the young person’s age, development, wellbeing and level of responsibility. The module explains when safeguarding concerns should be reported, why frontline staff should not investigate concerns themselves, and how sensitive information should be handled proportionately. Learners will also clarify their professional boundaries when identifying, listening, recording, signposting and referring, including when specialist or statutory involvement is required.
Module 6: Transition to Adulthood and Continuing Support
Learners will examine how education, employment, independence, family circumstances and service arrangements may change as a young carer approaches adulthood. The module introduces the purpose and timing of transition assessments under the Care Act 2014 and considers routes into adult carers services and ongoing support. It also emphasises person-led planning, coordinated handovers, appropriate information sharing and continuity so that support does not end abruptly when a young person reaches 18.
Target Audience
This course is suitable for:
- Health and social care staff who work with children, young people or families.
- School, college and pastoral staff who may encounter young carers.
- Youth, community and family support workers.
- Safeguarding and wellbeing staff with responsibilities for children and young people.
- Frontline professionals involved in identification, signposting or referral.
- Organisations seeking to improve staff awareness of young carers and their support needs.
No previous specialist knowledge is required.
FAQ
Who is this course suitable for?
The course is suitable for professionals and staff who may come into contact with children, young people and families, including workers in health and social care, education, youth services, community support and safeguarding roles.
Do I need any previous experience?
No. The course introduces the key concepts and responsibilities from the ground up, so previous specialist knowledge of young carers is not required.
What will I learn on this young carers course?
You will learn how young carers may be defined, the responsibilities they may undertake, possible effects of caring, indicators that may warrant a supportive conversation, routes to assessment and support, safeguarding considerations and transition planning as a young person approaches adulthood.
Will this course help with day-to-day practice?
Yes. The course focuses on practical workplace responses, including how to recognise possible caring responsibilities, speak with a young person sensitively, record relevant information, follow up concerns and use appropriate referral or support pathways.
Does the course cover practical skills?
It covers practical professional approaches rather than physical care techniques. These include observation, supportive communication, recording, signposting, referral, information sharing and recognising when further professional or safeguarding action is needed.
Does it cover young carer assessments and relevant responsibilities?
Yes. The course explains the purpose of a young carer’s needs assessment in England, what it considers and how frontline staff may help a young person access the appropriate local pathway. It also covers safeguarding, confidentiality, information sharing and professional role boundaries.
Does the course explain when caring may become inappropriate?
Yes. Learners consider how the frequency, duration, level of responsibility and effect of caring can indicate that responsibilities are excessive or unsuitable. The course also explains when concerns should be escalated through established safeguarding arrangements.
Does the course cover young carers approaching adulthood?
Yes. The course considers changing needs as a young person approaches 18, the purpose of transition assessment, routes into adult carers services and good practice for maintaining continuity of support.
How long does the course take?
The course is self-paced and usually takes around 1 hour to complete.
Will I receive a certificate?
Yes. A certificate is issued after successful completion.
This online Young Carers Awareness and Support Course provides a clear foundation for recognising young carers and responding in a way that respects their individual circumstances, wishes and needs. It supports staff to take appropriate action within their role while connecting young people with further assessment, support or safeguarding services when required.
Enrol now to build your understanding of young carers and their support needs.
