Our Foundation Course in Easy Read is opening its doors again, and we’re looking forward to welcoming a new group of students. The updated course begins on Wednesday 20 January 2027, and you can book your place now.
If you’ve visited the course page recently, you’ll have noticed it’s been unavailable for a while. We paused new bookings to give the course a thorough review and update. A lot has changed in the tools people use to make Easy Read, and we wanted to bring everything we’ve learned into the next edition.
Since the course first launched, over 1,400 people have graduated from our Easy Read Academy. It’s become the world’s most widely used Easy Read training, and we’re proud of the community that has grown around it. This new edition builds on that experience, with newly recorded videos, refreshed exercises and assignments, and more people sharing their knowledge.
We’re particularly pleased to introduce our presenting team for 2027: Pete Le Grys, Holly Thomas, Grace Wilks and Matt Stabb. Pete returns alongside Holly, with Grace and Matt, two of our Expert Advisers, joining them as course presenters. There will also be special guests from the UK self-advocacy movement.
Having these voices throughout the course matters to us. Easy Read is about making information that people with learning disabilities can understand and use. Hearing from people who use it, and involving them in how it’s made, is central to getting that right.
What you’ll learn
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The thinking behind Easy Read — the ideas and values behind it, who it is for, and why it matters.
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The power of information — how access to information affects people’s choices, independence and ability to have a say, and who decides what information is shared.
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Working with words — finding the main message and writing clear, useful information.
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Working with pictures — choosing meaningful images and matching them to the words so they work together.
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Design and layout — organising pictures and text so information is easy to follow.
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Co-production — working with people with learning disabilities to plan, create and check information, with a real say in the decisions.
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AI in Easy Read — exploring what AI can help with, where it falls short, and how to check and improve what it produces.
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Sharing and different formats — choosing ways to present and share information that work for the people using it.
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Practical work with EasyMaker — demonstrations of bringing words and pictures together and creating information in different formats.
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Putting it into practice — applying your learning to a real document and thinking about the next steps for your Easy Read work.
Research from our Newton Project and our Easy Read Standard underpin the updated teaching.
The course has ten lessons, including an introduction, released weekly from 20 January to 24 March. You can work through each released lesson at your own pace, allowing around 20–25 hours of study altogether. Pete and Holly host five optional live Zoom sessions during the course. It’s a chance to get answers to your questions, whether they’re about the lessons or your own Easy Read work, and to share ideas with other students.
You don’t need a Photosymbols subscription to take the course. If you don’t already have access, we’ll provide access to the Photo Library pictures and EasyMaker tools needed for the course activities, when you need them.
Whether you’re new to Easy Read or already making it as part of your work, the course will help you build your skills and confidence. It’s for people across health and social care, public services, charities, self-advocacy organisations and beyond who want to make information more accessible.
If you’ve already completed the Foundation Course, you don’t need to take it again. This is an updated edition with the same core purpose, ready for the next group of learners.
