OBJECTIVES: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) affects approximately 400,000 people in the UK, amounting to £1.8 billion in direct healthcare costs in 2012. Statistics from the 2012/13 national diabetes audit (NDA) suggest that 92.4% of T1DM patients in England fail to achieve target haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels (<48 mmol/mol [6.5%]). Current NICE draft guidance recognises the importance of education on glycaemic control; recommending courses for all T1DM patients within one year of diagnosis. However, only 4.1% of newly-diagnosed diabetics are offered structured courses such as the Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating (DAFNE). We sought to determine the relationship between educational course availability and uptake, and target HbA1c achievement. METHODS: Educational course attendance data and HbA1c results for T1DM patients was extracted from the 2012/13 NDA for 9 regions in England, and DAFNE centre location records for 2014 were obtained. We explored the relationship between educational course uptake and optimal HbA1c achievement in newly-diagnosed patients, and also the number of DAFNE centres against overall T1DM HbA1c achievement. RESULTS: Newly-diagnosed T1DM patients consistently manage HbA1c better than the overall T1DM population. However, no association was found between education course uptake or the number of DAFNE centres per region, and optimal HbA1c achievement in newly-diagnosed patients. A weak positive correlation was found between the number of DAFNE locations, and patients in the overall T1DM population achieving optimal HbA1c (R=0.3). CONCLUSIONS: Educational courses may help T1DM patients achieve better glycaemic control. However, uptake for courses is below current NICE draft recommendations. Increasing uptake for such courses could help improve target HbA1c achievement in the long-term, whilst also providing a societal benefit through cost savings. Examining potential socio-economic factors and their impact on course uptake could be investigated. More research is required into educational course uptake in the overall T1DM population.