Plans to teach basic first aid in schools have been welcomed by the British Heart Foundation.

The charity calls the move a "decisive moment in the battle to improve cardiac arrest survival rates".

There are 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK every year and fewer than 10% of these people survive.

The survival rates double, however, in countries where CPR is taught in schools.

Now the government says that from 2020 learning those key skills should be mandatory for every pupil.


By the time they leave secondary school, all youngsters in England will have been taught how to administer CPR, the purpose of defibrillators, and basic treatments for common injuries.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said: "Learning the basic skills of first aid and techniques like CPR will give young people the confidence to know that they can step in to help someone else in need and in the most extreme cases - it could potentially save a life.

"That's why we took the decision to include health education alongside relationship education for primary school children and relationship and sex education for secondary children.

"These subjects are a crucial part of our work to ensure children learn the wider skills they need to flourish in the modern world."

Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The DfE's plans are a decisive moment in the battle to improve cardiac arrest survival rates, following years of campaigning by the BHF and others.

"Introducing CPR lessons into health education in all state-funded secondary schools is a significant step that promises to improve the odds of survival for countless people who have a cardiac arrest in the future."

The government says it will offer support to schools who want to introduce the scheme this year, before it becomes compulsory in 2020.