Course Details

CPD COURSE · ENGLAND AND WALES

Advanced Parenting Skills

For practitioners already working with families — evidence, assessment, engagement, behaviour, adolescence, parental adversity, domestic abuse, disproportionality and the law.

TEN MODULES · 20-QUESTION ASSESSMENT · ENGLAND AND WALES

CPD HOURS

25 hours

ACCREDITED BY

CPD Standards Office

FORMAT

Blended self-paced

SLIDES

PPT Deck

LISTEN

Audio Podcast

QUIZ

Audio Quiz

VISUAL

Infographic

Overview

Advanced Parenting Skills is a CPD course for practitioners already working with families, covering the evidence base, assessment, engagement, behaviour, adolescence, parental adversity, domestic abuse, disproportionality and the law in England and Wales. “Advanced” here does not mean more techniques — it means a different relationship to uncertainty, evidence and your own reasoning: articulating the mechanism a piece of work depends on before you start it, holding a working formulation you actively test and revise rather than defend, and separating your own discomfort from actual risk.

Ten modules run in sequence; later modules assume the assessment and formulation discipline established in Module 3. Every statistic names its source and the year it was published, and all law and statutory guidance is stated for England and Wales, which diverge in several places. Nothing in this course is legal advice, and completing it does not qualify anyone to give legal, clinical or diagnostic opinions — your own organisation’s policies and local multi-agency procedures always take precedence over anything stated here.

Who this course is for

Outcomes are written for practitioners already working with children and families — this is not an introductory course.

▸
Children’s social workers and family support practitioners holding assessment or intervention responsibility

▸
Health visitors, school-based staff and early help practitioners working directly with parents

▸
Practitioners in domestic abuse, substance misuse or mental health services who work with parents as part of a wider caseload

▸
Team managers and practice supervisors overseeing parenting assessment and intervention work

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, learners will be able to:

✓ Describe the mechanisms through which parenting support produces change, and the conditions under which it does not.

✓ State accurately what attachment theory does and does not claim, and avoid the common misapplications in practice.

✓ Build an assessment from observation, chronology and multiple sources rather than parental self-report alone, and write a formulation another practitioner could test.

✓ Distinguish genuine change from surface cooperation, using evidence rather than impression.

✓ Coach behavioural strategies through rehearsal and feedback rather than explanation alone, sequencing relationship-building before behaviour management.

✓ Explain to parents why strategies that worked at seven fail at fourteen, and support them to hold authority through negotiated boundaries.

✓ Recognise the impact of parental mental ill health, substance use and learning disability on parenting, and respond and escalate appropriately — including where a parent discloses thoughts of suicide or self-harm.

✓ Apply the statutory definition of domestic abuse in England and Wales, including the position of children under section 3, and identify interventions that are unsafe where domestic abuse is present.

✓ Distinguish cultural difference from harm, and recognise disproportionality in your own decision-making and your service’s data.

✓ State the legal framework governing parenting work in England and in Wales, escalate appropriately, and measure change using something other than your own impression.

Career path

This is CPD for practitioners already working with families — it strengthens judgement within existing roles rather than creating a new one. Nothing in this course is legal, clinical or diagnostic advice, and completing it does not qualify anyone to give legal, clinical or diagnostic opinions. Your own organisation’s policies and local multi-agency procedures take precedence over anything stated here.

TEN MODULES

Course structure

Select each module below to view the module title.

01 Advanced Practice and the Evidence Base

02 Development, Attachment and Regulation

03 Assessing Parenting Capacity

04 Engagement, Ambivalence and Disguised Compliance

05 Behaviour, Boundaries and Coaching Parents

06 Parenting Through Adolescence

07 Parental Mental Health, Substance Use and Learning Disability

08 Domestic Abuse and Parenting

09 Culture, Disproportionality and Fathers

10 Law, Thresholds and Measuring Change

Modules run in sequence; later modules assume the assessment and formulation discipline established in Module 3. Each module includes an Apply and Reflect exercise, plus a 20-question assessment with a full answer key and the reasoning behind each answer.

COURSE INFORMATION

Frequently asked questions

Is this an accredited qualification, and how many CPD hours does it carry?

Not stated anywhere in this pack. Provider name, accreditation status, CPD hours and price must be confirmed by the delivering provider before publication.

Is this legal advice?

No. Nothing in this course is legal advice, and completing it does not qualify anyone to give legal, clinical or diagnostic opinions.

Which jurisdiction does it cover?

England and Wales. The two nations diverge in several places, and every legal or statutory point states which nation it applies to.

How current are the statistics?

Every statistic names its source and the year it was published. Children’s social care statistics are published annually and revised, so treat every figure as needing re-verification.

Does my own organisation’s policy take precedence over this course?

Yes. Your own organisation’s policies and your local multi-agency procedures take precedence over anything stated here.

Is the statutory guidance up to date?

It was checked against guidance revised in 2023 and again in March 2026 — confirm you are citing the current version before relying on it.

Advanced Parenting Skills

25 CPD HOURS · ACCREDITED BY CPD STANDARDS OFFICE · TEN MODULES

Free

Course Features

Lectures 12
Quizzes 2
Duration Lifetime access
Skill level All levels
Language English
Students 2
Certificate Yes
Assessments Self