STRICTLY Come Dancing star Claudia Winkleman is hosting the country’s biggest free first aid lesson on Friday June 12.

St John Ambulance’s Big First Aid Lesson aims to equip 50,000 young people with the skills to act in an emergency.

TV presenter and mum-of-three Claudia said: “The Big First Aid Lesson is a fantastic and engaging way of teaching students the skills they may need to help keep a classmate or a family member safe in an emergency while they’re out on the playground or during the holidays.

“All schools should make teaching young people basic first aid a top priority.”

The event is a free, one-hour, online first aid training session filmed live and streamed directly into classrooms, including schools across the South-West.

It combines first aid training and 999 scenarios with real life stories, as well as plenty of opportunities for students to join the conversation via Google Hangouts.

Last year, over 32,000 young people tuned into St John Ambulance’s first Big First Aid Lesson.

In 2015, the nation’s leading first aid charity aims to educate 50,000 young people aged between seven and 16 years old.

The training will focus on showing students how to respond to emergencies, such as asthma attacks and head injuries, so they have the skills and confidence to be the difference between life and death.

The only equipment schools need to take part is an internet connection and a screen (such as an interactive whiteboard) for their pupils to watch in the classroom or during assembly.

Steve Hargreaves, St John Ambulance regional director for the South-West said: "We’re asking teachers to commit just one hour of their timetables to our event so every student can learn how to save a life - it could be the most important lesson they ever learn.

"We’re looking forward to working with Claudia to create a fun first aid hour so more young people can be the difference between life and death."

Schools that register for this year’s event are being encouraged to watch last year’s session to get to grips with skills such as how to perform a primary survey - the first step anyone should take in a first aid emergency – and put injured people into the recovery position.