Compare courses
Compare our positive handling courses
Half day, full day or two days. The standard is the same in each. The difference is how much time your team gets to practise it, and what they are ready to do at the end.
Half day
Three hours in person, plus 90 minutes of theory online beforehand.
Full day
Six hours in person, all in one day.
Two days
Twelve hours in person over two days, plus 90 minutes of theory online beforehand.
Three formats, side by side
Every row below comes from the outline we publish on each of these positive handling courses. If a detail that matters to your decision is missing, ask us and we will confirm it for your setting.
| What you are comparing | Half day | Full day | Two days (PBIS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time away from class | Three hours in person, plus 90 minutes of theory online before the course. | Six hours in person, all in one day. | Twelve hours in person over two days, plus 90 minutes of theory online before the course. |
| Designed for | Teams who cannot release staff for a whole day. Teaching staff in mainstream primary and secondary schools, special schools, early years practitioners, learning support assistants and leadership teams. | A team’s first positive handling course, or a lapsed one to renew. Any staff who work directly with pupils and may need to use physical intervention. | Schools with higher levels of behavioural need, and teams building behaviour systems rather than patching incidents. |
| De-escalation | Verbal and non-verbal techniques, practised in school scenarios. | Verbal and non-verbal techniques taught across the phases of a crisis, then practised. | A full day on understanding and prevention before any physical skills are added. |
| Physical intervention | Prompting, escorting and holds where they are necessary, with personal safety and breakaway. | Safe physical intervention for school staff, with personal safety and breakaway. | Prompting and escorting from the front and the back, control principles, clothing grips, wrist holds and straight-arm holds. |
| Legal framework | The legal basis, the Human Rights Act, duty of care, necessity and proportionality. | Legal frameworks, duty of care, documentation requirements, and the difference between planned and emergency intervention. | Legal frameworks, duty of care, necessity and proportionality, plus manual handling principles. |
| Recording and after the incident | Templates for incident reporting and reflection. | Post-incident review, with the documentation requirements that go with it. | Recording, reporting and debriefing, with staff wellbeing and support. |
| Assessment and certificate | A knowledge check before and after, plus practical skills evaluation in the session. | Skills observation, scenario assessment and knowledge checks. | Skills observation, scenario assessment and a final assessment, with certification. |
| What staff take away | A digital handbook, incident reporting templates, and the online portal for 12 months. | Handouts, a quick reference guide to the phases of crisis, and follow-up support. | A course handbook, an online folder of templates and instructional videos, policy development support, and telephone support for safety queries. |
Course details checked on 13 November 2026 against each course page. Cost is not a row in the table because it depends on team size, so the published rate is below.
How to choose
Three questions decide it more often than anything else.
How much time can you release?
If a whole day is not possible this term, take the half day. It covers the core of the full day in three hours, with the theory done online beforehand.
Is this your team’s first training?
Take the full day. Six hours gives staff time to practise de-escalation and the physical skills in the same session, and most schools start here.
How often do you intervene?
If restraint happens regularly, or your staff support children with complex needs, take the two days. Day one is understanding and prevention. Day two is intervention and recovery, including team approaches and debriefing.
What all three have in common
Cost
Starting from £99 per learner per day for most teams. Face-to-face, in-house across the UK. Tell us your team size and we will price it properly.
Questions we are asked
Which course do most schools start with?
Most schools start with the full day, then move to a whole-school briefing or a train-the-trainer course once the standard is in place.
Is the half day enough if our staff already use physical intervention?
It teaches prompting, escorting and holds, and staff practise them in person. What it does not have is the full day’s time for repeated practice across the phases of a crisis, or the second day’s work on team intervention and debriefing. Teams who intervene often usually need one of the longer formats.
Can we mix formats?
Yes. Some schools train a core team to the full day or the two days and give everyone else a half day or a whole-school briefing. The whole building then shares one standard, while a smaller group carries the physical skills.
How much does a course cost?
Courses start from £99 per learner per day for most teams. The price depends on team size and location, so tell us how many staff you need to train and we will quote properly.
Longer reading: how to choose positive handling training for your school, and full-day, blended or train-the-trainer: which format fits which setting?