Short answer
Start with the L3AET to formalise your teaching, add the L3CAVA (or the L3AACWE) if you will assess students or staff, then make the case for a formal education role. Both courses are online, so you study around shifts.
The signs you are already doing it
✓Your manager asks you to induct new starters
✓Colleagues come to you when they are unsure
✓You run informal teaching sessions or refreshers
✓You support students on placement
If that sounds like you, the next step is putting a recognised framework around what you already do.
Step 1: Formalise your teaching with the L3AET
The Level 3 Award in Education and Training (L3AET) gives you a framework for the teaching you already do: setting learning outcomes, checking understanding rather than hoping it landed, and pitching sessions at the right level. Your micro-teach can be delivered to colleagues, as long as they are aged 14 or over and the session lasts at least 15 minutes. View the L3AET
Most part-time learners finish in one to two months. Many study on rest days and in the evenings.
Step 2: Add assessing if your role needs it
If you will formally assess students or staff against a standard, you need an assessor qualification. The L3CAVA is the full one and includes the L3AACWE; the L3AACWE on its own covers assessing in the workplace. Becoming an assessor in health and social care walks through it step by step.
Teaching and assessing complement each other: one is about helping people learn, the other about judging whether they have met the standard.
Step 3: Make the role formal
With qualifications in hand, the conversation with your manager changes. Ask what an education role looks like in your organisation: a practice educator post, a split between clinical and education shifts, or a defined responsibility for students and new staff. Titles and requirements vary between employers, so ask what yours expects.
Step 4: Keep going
Once you are teaching regularly, the Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training (L4CET) deepens your practice and opens more senior education roles. 5 signs you are ready for the L4CET
You have been doing the work. The qualification lets everyone else see it.
Who pays?
Ask before you pay. Many health and social care employers fund qualifications like these. Your employer can request an invoice and pay by Bank Transfer, with a multiple-booking discount of 5% for 3 to 4 staff and 10% for 5 or more. See can my employer pay for my course?.
Paying yourself? Pay in full or spread the cost with PayPal Pay in 3 or Pay in 30 days. See how PayPal Pay Later works on our courses.
Questions people ask
Can I do my micro-teach with colleagues?
Yes, as long as they are aged 14 or over and the session lasts at least 15 minutes.
Do I need both the L3AET and an assessor qualification?
Only if your role involves formally assessing people as well as teaching them.
How long will it take around shifts?
Most part-time learners finish the L3AET in one to two months. You have 365 days.