Drug training • Substance use training • Drug awareness training
Drug training for schools, services and professionals
Waymark Education provides practical, evidence-informed drug training and substance use training for schools, alternative provision, SEND and specialist settings, Local Authorities, safeguarding teams and wider professionals working with children and young people.
Sessions are grounded, current and non-alarmist — helping people build confidence, understand emerging risks and respond proportionately where substance use, vulnerability and safeguarding concerns overlap.
Practical, credible, proportionate
Drug awareness training, staff CPD, pupil education and professional briefings shaped around the audience in the room.
15+ years
Frontline-informed training experience
50,000+
Young people reached through direct delivery
Cross-sector
Education, health, safeguarding and public services
Tailored
Schools, AP, SEND, Local Authorities and professionals
Who it is for
Drug and substance use training for education, safeguarding and wider professional settings
Training can be shaped for young people, staff teams, safeguarding leads, Local Authority teams and wider professionals working where substance use, vulnerability and risk may overlap.
Training content
What drug training can cover
Sessions can be broad or focused, depending on your audience and priorities. Content can support organisations looking for drug awareness training, substance use training, substance misuse training or drug and alcohol training.
Drug awareness and substance use
Clear, practical training around substance use, drug awareness, drug-related harm, adolescent risk and safer decision-making.
Vaping, cannabis and nitrous oxide
Current, proportionate input around substances and patterns of concern commonly raised by schools, services and safeguarding teams.
Safeguarding and vulnerability
Substance use is explored alongside vulnerability, exploitation, peer influence, contextual pressures and wider safeguarding concerns.
Professional confidence
Training supports staff and professionals to recognise concerns, respond proportionately and have more confident conversations.
Prevention and early response
Sessions focus on practical prevention, early identification, resilience and meaningful responses rather than fear-based messaging.
Multi-agency understanding
Training can support shared language and understanding across education, safeguarding, health, youth support and wider services.
Formats
Flexible formats for different audiences
Drug training can be delivered as direct education, staff CPD, professional briefings or commissioned workforce training. Sessions can be one-off, repeated or tailored into a wider programme.
Pupil and young person sessions
Age-appropriate drug education for schools, colleges, AP, PRUs, SEND and specialist settings.
Staff CPD and briefings
Practical drug training for teachers, pastoral teams, DSLs, tutors, support staff and senior leaders.
Professional training
Substance use training for Local Authorities, safeguarding partnerships, public health teams, youth services and wider professionals.
Commissioned training
Tailored briefings, CPD, workforce development and multi-agency sessions shaped around local priorities.
Search-friendly, practice-focused
Substance use training without scare tactics
Some organisations search for drug training, drugs training, drug awareness training, substance misuse training or drug and alcohol training. Waymark can support these needs while keeping the delivery balanced, credible and focused on real practice.
The aim is not to sensationalise risk. It is to improve understanding, support proportionate responses and build confidence in the adults and services around young people.
Evidence-informed
Non-alarmist
Safeguarding-aware
Professionally credible
Audience-aware
Commission-ready
Related training pages
Find the right route for your setting
If you already know the audience you need to support, these pages provide more specific detail.
Drug education for schools
Pupil sessions, assemblies, staff CPD and school-based drug education.
Explore page →AP and PRU drug education
Relationship-aware delivery for alternative provision and higher-complexity settings.
Explore page →SEND and specialist settings
Adapted delivery for specialist settings, communication needs and accessible engagement.
Explore page →Professional training
Briefings and CPD for Local Authorities, safeguarding teams and wider services.
Explore page →FAQs
Drug training questions
What is drug training?
Drug training helps staff, professionals and young people understand substance use, related risks, safeguarding concerns and proportionate responses. Waymark training is practical, evidence-informed and non-alarmist.
Do you provide drug training for schools?
Yes. Waymark provides drug training for schools and colleges, including pupil sessions, assemblies, classroom workshops, staff CPD, DSL briefings and tailored support.
Do you offer substance use training for professionals?
Yes. Waymark provides substance use training for professionals working across Local Authorities, safeguarding, public health, youth services, early help, community safety and wider support services.
Can training cover vaping, cannabis and nitrous oxide?
Yes. Sessions can cover vaping, cannabis, nitrous oxide, alcohol, emerging trends, adolescent risk, safeguarding and wider patterns of concern.
Is this the same as substance misuse training?
Many organisations search for substance misuse training. Waymark often uses the term substance use because it is broader and less stigmatising, but training can meet the needs of teams looking for substance misuse, drug awareness or drug and alcohol training.
Can sessions be tailored?
Yes. Training can be tailored by audience, setting, age group, professional role, local context, session length and priority topic.
Enquiry
Planning drug training or substance use training?
Whether you need pupil education, staff CPD, a safeguarding briefing or professional training for a wider service or partnership, Waymark can help shape something practical, current and audience-aware.