Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS): e-Learning course

Our DOLs course is down for the moment, as we update it to reflect the Supreme Court ruling on 2 June. Please see our webinar for an overview: What the Supreme Court’s Deprivation of Liberty judgment means for Social Care | SCIE Webinar 2026 – SCIE.

This CPD-accredited course builds on the topics already covered within the Mental Capacity Act e-learning course, and focuses on the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

It will explore the DoLS processes and cover the things everyone working in and around health and social care need to be aware of.

This course is for everyone who looks after, or cares for someone who may be unable to make decisions for themselves in relation to their own care, treatment and accommodation decisions. For example, doctors, nurses, social workers, care workers, and family members.

Course content

Module 1: DoLS

  1. Introduction: Where DoLS came from and why we need it; and the relationship between DoLS and the Human Rights Act.
  2. What is a deprivation of liberty?: What is meant by the term ‘deprivation of liberty’; how the law works and the importance of case law in deciding whether a deprivation of liberty might be happening.
  3. Understanding the DoLS process: Making a request for DoLS; the six assessments; the key roles in DoLS processes.
  4. Key safeguards in DoLS: The roles of independent mental capacity advocates, relevant person’s representatives, the OPG and the Court of Protection.
  5. Recent developments: The future of DoLS: The 2014 Supreme Court judgement; the Law Commission’s reform of the DoLS systems.
  6. Conclusions and reflections

Module 2: DoLS and the MHA

Explores the interface between the Mental Health Act (MHA) and the Mental Capacity Act (MCA).

  1. Introduction: Understanding the links between the Mental Capacity Act, Derivation of Liberty and the Mental Health Act.
  2. The Mental Health Act and the Mental Capacity Act: The two acts do work together but there are some situations when the MHA should be used instead of the MCA and vice versa.
  3. The Mental Health Act and DoLS: Learn more about situations where a person is, or may be, subject to the MHA, making them ineligible to be deprived of their liberty under DoLS.
  4. Conclusions and reflections

Module 3: Assessment and certification

Pass the assessment to obtain a certificate.

Course features

  • Saved learning progress
  • Learning notes
  • Online assessment
  • CPD certificate
  • Email support

CPD accreditation

By studying the course, and passing the assessment, you will be issued with a certificate showing 2.0 CPD points.

CPD Standards Office accredited course ref no 60036/39.

CPD Standards Office Accredited Course

Purchase for you and your colleagues

Standard price per learner: £55.00 + VAT

Discounts applied for orders of multiple licences.

Buy and study now Enquire about hosting on your LMS

Frequently asked questions

This course is for everyone who looks after, or cares for someone who may be unable to make decisions for themselves in relation to their own care, treatment and accommodation decisions. For example, doctors, nurses, social workers, care workers, and family members.

This is always a difficult question to answer as no two people are the same. There are a number of factors to consider such as level of knowledge, reading speed and in which order the course is completed.

For that reason, our estimates are really quite broad. Analytics shows that learners take an average of two hours to study the course and pass the assessment.

If you are interested in hosting this e-learning course and/or the assessment, on your Learning Management System (LMS) or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) we are able to help. We can provide:
  • Course content: A SCORM 1.2 or 2004 compliant version of the course.
  • Assessment / certification: The assessment, questions and answers, in MS Word format, which you can build on to your platform.
  • Course updates: We will supply you with course updates for an agreed period of time.
  • Custom changes: We can help by making custom changes to the course to meet your specific learning and development needs.
Contact us to find out more about bringing our course to your learners on your platform.

v3 (October 2017) Fully updated and rebuilt version of the course.

v1 (January 2011) Flash-based version of the course

  • The price stated is exclusive of VAT. Customers will be charged VAT at the UK’s standard rate in addition to the price stated.
  • On receipt of payment, we’ll issue you, the customer, with course invite(s).
  • You, the customer, will be able to issue course invites to your learners. Each learner must have a unquie and working email address, and must sign-up (or log into their existing) MySCIE account to accept the invite. MySCIE accounts are free.
  • Course invites must be issued to, and accepted by, learners, within 90 days of purchase, otherwise the invite will expire.
  • Learners are required to agree that their course progress is shared with you, the customer, before they can access the course.
  • From accepting the invite, the learner will have 90 days access to the course and its assessment / certification.
  • You can study the learning material (content) in any order, but you must view all the learning material before you can proceed to the assessment.
  • During your enrolment period you will have three attempts to pass the assessment. Only if you pass the assessment will a certificate be available for download. The assessment pass mark is 80 per cent.
  • Please check the recommended devices / web browsers for this course, before purchase.
  • Please check who this course is for, before purchase.
  • An internet connection is required, with the ability to stream video content from YouTube.
  • All material in these resources, including text, graphics, photographs, video and audio is copyright of the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), unless otherwise stated.
  • Although SCIE’s courses have been used over many years with almost no reported problems, SCIE cannot provide technical support for their implementation or to investigate or fix any reported technical problems, nor does it warrant that they are fully compliant with all or any technical platform. Please review the recommended devices / web browsers advice.

SCIE recommends using the latest versions of device operating software and browsers to access our e-learning courses. The minimum technical requirements are (depending on your setup):
  • Chrome: Latest version
  • Firefox: Latest version
  • Microsoft Edge: Latest version
  • Safari: Latest version
  • iOS: 10
  • Android: Marshmallow (6.0)
This course has been tested on a selection of Apple and Android mobile and tablet devices, running the latest web browsers. SCIE cannot take responsibility if the course, assessment or certificate does not work on your particular device or software. Please note: Usage of Microsoft Internet Explorer, including IE 11, is not recommended.

SCIE used to provide free access to the content of this course. The course has been updated and relaunched with an assessment and now provides a CPD-accredited certificate. This course is no longer available for free.