SEVEN COURSES · SEVEN CERTIFICATES · ONE KBC DIPLOMA
Kent Business College Inclusiveness and Learning Difficulties Diploma
Practical inclusion skills for learning and work
Explore seven free online certificate courses covering inclusion, disability access, social barriers, neurodiversity, mental health, accessible teaching and individual inclusion action plans.
The seven learning modules are available: explore the pathway below and open each module to enrol for free. Start with Module 1 and work through all seven. Start Module 1 →
Who is this diploma for?
Educators, skills coaches, employers, learning designers, apprentices and anyone interested in inclusive learning. The programme uses apprenticeship examples from England. No previous qualification or KBC apprenticeship enrolment is required.
Price: £0. Enrolment, all seven course certificates and the full diploma will be free. A free learner account will record progress and the name for each award.
How the seven certificates connect
Each numbered course corresponds to one chapter of the KBC inclusion handbook. Successful completion earns that course’s certificate. The full Kent Business College Inclusiveness and Learning Difficulties Diploma requires successful completion of all seven courses. Completing or enrolling in one course does not meet the diploma requirement.
Start with Course 1 for the foundations and bring the learning together in Course 7. The lesson sequence is video → matching reading → knowledge-check quiz, with practical examples and opportunities to revisit the material.
COURSE 1 OF 7 · FREE · AVAILABLE
Certificate in Understanding Inclusion in Apprenticeships
Learn the foundations of inclusive apprenticeship delivery with this free Kent Business College course. Explore how barriers can arise across work, teaching, independent study and assessment, and how a practical response can improve access, participation and achievement.
The course introduces useful inclusion terminology, models of disability, the KBC barrier-to-participation framework and the roles of learners, coaches, tutors and employers. Through worked examples, consider reasonable adjustments, respectful identification of needs, confidentiality, referral boundaries and ways to evaluate support.
By the end, you will be able to describe a learning barrier clearly, identify who should act and explain how to check whether an adjustment is effective.
What you will learn
- Distinguish disability, disadvantage and barriers to participation.
- Identify support responsibilities across the apprenticeship partnership.
- Use respectful, functional descriptions of learner needs.
- Evaluate support while recognising confidentiality and referral boundaries.
Award: the KBC course certificate contributes towards the full seven-course diploma.
COURSE 2 OF 7 · FREE · AVAILABLE
Certificate in Physical, Sensory and Long-Term Health-Related Barriers
Explore practical ways to make learning accessible to people facing physical, sensory, communication and long-term health-related barriers. This free KBC course focuses on what a person needs to participate, learn and demonstrate competence.
Study examples involving mobility, dexterity, persistent pain, fatigue, hearing loss, visual access, speech differences and fluctuating health. Consider how adjustments to resources, equipment, communication, scheduling and learning environments can support participation. Worked planning and review activities help you connect the learner’s experience with clear responsibilities and appropriate specialist input.
By the end, you will be able to distinguish an access barrier from a competence requirement, propose practical adjustments and review their effectiveness with the learner.
What you will learn
- Identify physical, sensory and communication barriers in learning tasks.
- Plan support for variable energy and fluctuating access needs.
- Coordinate responsibilities for resources, equipment and specialist advice.
- Review whether the chosen adjustments improve participation.
Award: the KBC course certificate contributes towards the full seven-course diploma.
COURSE 3 OF 7 · FREE · AVAILABLE
Certificate in Social, Economic, Cultural and Identity-Related Barriers
Understand how everyday circumstances and unequal access to opportunity can affect learning. This free KBC course explores social, economic, cultural and identity-related barriers through practical apprenticeship and workplace examples.
Examine financial insecurity, digital exclusion, transport, housing, caring responsibilities, care experience, language access, discrimination and belonging. Learn how several barriers can overlap, how to hold a respectful support conversation and how to agree actions without stereotyping the learner.
Worked cases connect individual support with the responsibilities of educators, employers and organisational leaders. By the end, you will be able to identify intersecting barriers, agree proportionate actions and review whether access and participation improve.
What you will learn
- Recognise how social and economic circumstances affect participation.
- Explore intersecting barriers without making assumptions about identity.
- Agree practical support across provider and employer roles.
- Evaluate inclusion using the learner’s experience and relevant evidence.
Award: the KBC course certificate contributes towards the full seven-course diploma.
COURSE 4 OF 7 · FREE · AVAILABLE
Certificate in Cognitive and Neurodevelopmental Differences
Develop your understanding of neurodiversity and learning support with this free KBC certificate course. Explore how attention, memory, language, reading, numeracy, coordination and sensory processing can influence a person’s learning experience.
The course covers ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, developmental language differences, learning disability, acquired brain injury and Tourette syndrome. Practical cases show how needs can overlap and why support should respond to the individual and the task.
Learn to describe barriers respectfully, select useful teaching and workplace adjustments, recognise professional boundaries and review support with the learner. The focus is educational practice and participation.
What you will learn
- Explain how cognitive and neurodevelopmental differences may affect learning.
- Identify task-specific needs and overlapping barriers.
- Select practical adjustments with the learner.
- Review support and recognise when specialist input is appropriate.
Award: the KBC course certificate contributes towards the full seven-course diploma.
COURSE 5 OF 7 · FREE · AVAILABLE
Certificate in Psychological, Emotional and Mental Health-Related Barriers
Explore how psychological, emotional and mental health-related barriers can affect access to learning, participation and assessment. This free KBC course helps educators, coaches and employers respond thoughtfully within their educational roles.
Study examples involving test anxiety, presentations, online participation, low mood, stress, exhaustion, grief, trauma and other mental health-related experiences. Worked cases connect a learner’s difficulties with practical changes to communication, preparation, teaching and assessment arrangements.
Learn how to listen without labelling, coordinate educational support, recognise the limits of your role and use appropriate safeguarding or specialist referral routes. Review activities focus on whether support improves access and learning over time.
What you will learn
- Recognise how emotional and mental health-related barriers can affect tasks.
- Use respectful support conversations and clear professional boundaries.
- Propose practical educational adjustments and coordinate responsibilities.
- Review outcomes and recognise appropriate escalation or referral routes.
Award: the KBC course certificate contributes towards the full seven-course diploma.
COURSE 6 OF 7 · FREE · AVAILABLE
Certificate in Inclusive Curriculum, Materials, Teaching and Assessment
Learn how to build inclusion into the learning experience with this free KBC course for tutors, coaches, curriculum leads and learning designers. Connect curriculum aims with accessible resources, clear teaching and fair opportunities to demonstrate competence.
Explore accessible documents, slides, diagrams, videos, online forms and LMS navigation. Consider the design of live sessions, assignment briefs, feedback and assessment adjustments, alongside scaffolding, retrieval practice and responsible use of AI in learning design.
Practical activities help you identify unnecessary barriers, preserve the intellectual challenge and check resources before release. By the end, you will be able to improve a learning activity and explain what evidence would show that the change worked.
What you will learn
- Distinguish the intended learning challenge from unnecessary access barriers.
- Design clearer, more accessible learning resources and activities.
- Improve assignment briefs, feedback and assessment access.
- Check accessibility and evaluate the effect of design changes.
Award: the KBC course certificate contributes towards the full seven-course diploma.
COURSE 7 OF 7 · FREE · AVAILABLE
Certificate in the Art and Science of Individual Inclusion Action Plans
Bring your inclusion knowledge together by learning to create practical individual inclusion action plans. This free KBC course shows how a shared conversation becomes clear action across the learner, provider and employer partnership.
Follow a six-stage planning cycle: understand the learner’s goals and barriers, agree useful outcomes, select adjustments, allocate responsibilities, implement support and review its effect. Worked plans and reusable templates help you specify actions, timescales, evidence and review decisions.
Explore confidentiality, information sharing, transitions and leadership oversight. By the end, you will be able to produce a plan that makes responsibilities clear and evaluates whether the learner can participate and demonstrate competence more effectively.
What you will learn
- Co-create a plan around the learner’s goals and functional barriers.
- Specify actions, responsibilities, timescales and review evidence.
- Coordinate implementation and handle information appropriately.
- Review outcomes and adapt, transfer or close support arrangements.
Award: the KBC course certificate contributes towards the full seven-course diploma.
Certificates and the diploma
These are Kent Business College professional development awards. Course certificates recognise successful completion of the required activities and assessments. The full diploma recognises completion of all seven constituent courses. The final diploma issue process is to be confirmed by Kent Business College.
Learning at your own pace
The learning experience combines focused video lessons, the relevant handbook reading and quizzes. Return to the material, take breaks and work towards each certificate. Open each module to review its activities and completion requirements.