The HDA aims to equip support workers with the skills, techniques, tools, and knowledge to improve their personal confidence and capability, unlock leadership skills, enhance functional and digital skills, and improve the experiences and outcomes of patients, service users and families.
Working with NHS England, the new, relevant and applicable qualification will boost the adult care sector under the Higher Development Award umbrella. This qualifications is well recognised within the NHS and beyond as it is part of City & Guilds, the foremost provider of management qualifications in the UK.
Courses starting in January and April 2026
For those who are looking to develop their skills to the next steps in their careers, aspirational team leaders, mentors and coaches or those in a supervisory position, this course is a starting point for your journey to becoming the manager and leader you want to be. This qualification is a Vocationally Related Qualification (VRQ) that is aimed at a new or aspiring team leaders to support the development of knowledge and skills in leading teams. By undertaking this qualification, you will be developing your skills in leading a team, achieving team and organisational objectives, and contributing to planning problem solving and decision making. You also have the option of completing your Functional Skills qualification alongside this course.
Email K.Nicholson@lmc.ac.uk for more information or complete the enquiry form below
Our third Higher Development Award cohort have just finished and we are busy getting ready to greet our fourth!
The Higher Development Award is designed to support those working alongside the NHS in and around Lancaster and Morecambe. It offers full funded opportunities to upskill clinical and non-clinical support staff, helping build confidence, leadership, and professional capability. The programme is suitable for people at all stages of their careers.
If you are interested in working with animals, this is a great course for you! As not only do you gain the knowledge and practical skills to work with animals, but you also gain the employability skills to be able to work in teams and work within the industry. It's important to remember that jobs in the animal industry are not just about working with animals, you need to have the skills to deal with people too!
If you want the opportunity to use and develop practical skills, learn about an accessible vocational area, have fun, work hard and deal with the public then this is the course for you. LMC is a great community asset and I think the local district are lucky to have such a modern, flexible and engaging place of education.
Be prepared to work hard and be challenged. The more you put in, the more you will get out of the course. It's a rewarding experience as you can clearly see your skills develop. There is also a great demand for skilled plasterers and the potential for good earnings, so why not give it a go?
I really enjoy being part of the LMC Beauty Team and working within the department. Watching my students grow and develop their ideas and skillsets week on week is a really exciting part of my role, particularly when I can see them challenging themselves to get creative and try out new and different ideas.
Come and join us here as LMC! You’ll gain new skills, use industry standard equipment, be taught by a dedicated team of specialists who are passionate about educating you to a higher skills level, so that you can gain an Apprenticeship or full time employment.
The course gives people experiences of business in many forms which can be used in a huge variety of possible future careers – past students have gone on to work in sectors as diverse as fashion, charities, social media, nuclear energy, defence manufacturing and the public sector.
Welding particularly is like lego for adults – its great fun making things. Whereas Engineering will teach you why things are made the way they are and a combination of both will give you the skills to make almost anything you can think of! Why not give it a go!
In my role as a course tutor I’m responsible for ensuring that my students develop in many areas, and not just Hairdressing. I like to encourage my students to improve their well-being as well as support them with their personal development and learning journey, to gain the knowledge to be successful within their course to achieve the qualifications they need to progress in the industry.
I love working with people of all ages and backgrounds and seeing them make progress and achieve their qualifications, sometimes in “small” ways, such as remembering how to do a written multiplication.
As soon as interviewed, I knew I was keen to work here. I loved the atmosphere of the classrooms and the department that John and the rest of the team have created. One of my favourite things about the role is getting to talk about my passion, it’s not often people get to do that for a living. I’m very lucky!
It’s really difficult to state just one thing I love about working at Lancaster & Morecambe College because there are so many! I really wanted to work here because the college has a fantastic reputation. I love introducing new ways of working and keeping up with relevant trends to improve the course, and I really enjoy the supportive environment that we create for our students.
My favourite part of my job is helping people achieve their GCSE English, a key qualification which will open doors for them in the future.
I would recommend LMC as a fantastic place to study sport and continue your development and interests in football. Your studies link to your football development as much as possible, helping you gain the knowledge, skills and experiences to pursue a career in sport in the future.
My favourite part of the role is guiding my students through the more practical aspects of Forensic Science, especially latent fingerprint collection and evidence handling. I enjoy watching them develop their confidence and skills in these techniques
I would say come to College, study Beauty Therapy, be pampered, pamper clients, but be prepared to work hard for the qualifications to get far in the industry. It's a very rewarding career to go into, putting smiles on clients faces and giving them a new found confidence.











