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FA Foundation Medical E-Learning
The three free modules everyone in the game is expected to hold: concussion, sudden cardiac arrest and the medical emergency action plan.
Free · about 30–60 minutes a module · three self-paced online modules · no expiry
Free lesson · Concussion guidelines: if in doubt, sit them out
The Foundation Medical E-Learning: what you are signing up for
The FA Foundation Medical E-Learning is three free, self-paced online modules on England Football Learning’s My Learning platform: Concussion Guidelines, Sudden Cardiac Arrest and the Medical Emergency Action Plan. Together they are the baseline medical knowledge expected of everyone in the game — coaches, managers, parents, club officials, match officials — and the gatekeeper for the practical first-aid courses above them.
| The real course | |
|---|---|
| Format | Three self-paced online modules; no classroom day, no practical |
| Duration | About 30–60 minutes a module |
| Cost | Free |
| Entry | Nothing beyond a free FA Number (FAN) account — no age limit, no prior knowledge |
| Assessment | In-module knowledge checks; completion is recorded on your FA Number (FAN) record |
| Validity | No expiry — though a club may direct you to re-complete it periodically as good practice |
| What it unlocks | The Concussion Guidelines and Sudden Cardiac Arrest modules are the prerequisite for booking an Emergency First Aid in Football (EFAiF) practical day through your County FA |
It is the ground floor of The FA’s pitch-side medical ladder. Above it sit the Introduction to First Aid in Football (IFAiF: online, £30, valid three years), Emergency First Aid in Football (EFAiF: one practical day, £105, age 18+) and the trauma courses for registered clinicians. This tier teaches decisions, not hands-on skill: when to take a player off and keep him off, when to treat a collapse as a cardiac arrest, and what must be written down before the season starts so the right things happen in the first three minutes of an emergency. Chest compressions and the defibrillator are practised on a manikin on the practical courses; nobody learns them from a screen.
In the game, each module closes with a three-question check you must answer entirely correctly — retake it as often as you like — and the course ends with an eight-question final at the 80 % standard the online certificates use. Passing records the badge on your profile the way the real completion sits on your FA Number (FAN) record, and opens the EFAiF course to you.
Source: Specialist & support roles reference · FA Foundation Medical E-Learning
The syllabus: 3 modules, 14 lessons
- 1
Concussion guidelines: if in doubt, sit them out
- The Foundation Medical E-Learning: what you are signing up for free preview
- What concussion is — and why waiting for a knock-out means missing it
- Recognising it: what you see, what he tells you, and the red flags
- The removal rule, the first 24 hours, and why there are no exceptions
- The graduated return to play — and the long game
- 2
Sudden cardiac arrest: the chain of survival
- Who it happens to, and why screening is not enough
- Recognising it: the triad and the two traps
- The chain of survival and the numbers that drive it
- Your move as the coach: the first three minutes
- 3
The medical emergency action plan
- A laminated page, not a folder in a drawer
- Six named roles for every session and match
- Address, access and the defibrillator: the information the plan holds
- Who calls 999, and what to say
- Equipment checks, the rehearsal and the review