Mandatory Training for Care Workers

There is no single statutory list of mandatory training for care workers. The law requires that staff are competent and that training is "appropriate" to their role; what that means in practice is set out in the Skills for Care core and mandatory training framework, which CQC inspectors use as their reference point.

The table below covers the core topics almost every adult social care service treats as mandatory: who needs each one, the law or guidance behind it, and the usual refresher period.

Statutory or mandatory — what's the difference?

Statutory training is training an Act of Parliament or its regulations requires directly. Fire safety, health and safety, moving and handling and first-aid provision all sit here: the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 and the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 each place explicit duties on employers.

Mandatory training is training your organisation requires because of the work it does — usually to meet CQC's fundamental standards. Regulation 18 requires staff to "receive such appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal as is necessary to enable them to carry out the duties they are employed to perform", and Regulation 12 makes unsafe care a breach in itself. Safeguarding, medication, infection control and dementia awareness are mandatory in this sense: no Act names a course, but a service that skips them cannot show its staff are competent.

The distinction matters at inspection. An inspector will not ask whether a course was "statutory"; they will ask how you know every member of staff is trained, competent and in date for the risks of their role.

Does CQC publish a list?

No. CQC deliberately publishes no single list of required courses, because what is "appropriate" depends on the service: a nursing home, a domiciliary agency and a supported living service carry different risks. What CQC does expect is that your training matrix reflects the Skills for Care core and mandatory training framework, that refreshers happen on the cycle your own policy sets, and that you can evidence all of it on request. That framework is for England; see the question below about Scotland and Wales.

The core topics, course by course

Training topic	Who needs it	Law or guidance behind it	Usual refresher
Safeguarding Adults	Everyone in a regulated service, bank and agency staff included	Care Act 2014 · CQC Regulation 13	Yearly (sector norm)
Safeguarding Children	All staff in children's services, and adult services children visit	Children Act 1989/2004 · Working Together 2023	Yearly to 3-yearly
Moving & Handling	Everyone who moves people or loads	Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 · HSWA 1974	Yearly
Basic Life Support & First Aid	All care staff	CQC Regulation 12 · Resuscitation Council UK guidance	Yearly
First Aid	Appointed first aiders, plus awareness for all staff	Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981	Yearly e-learning; 3-yearly practical requalification
Fire Safety	Everyone	Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005	Yearly
Health & Safety	Everyone	Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974	Yearly to 3-yearly
Infection Prevention & Control	All care staff	Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice	Yearly
Food Safety & Hygiene	Anyone who prepares or handles food	Food Safety Act 1990 · Regulation (EC) 852/2004	Yearly to 3-yearly
Medication Awareness	Everyone who administers or prompts medicines	CQC Regulation 12 · NICE guideline SC1	Yearly, with workplace competency checks
Mental Capacity Act	All care staff (England and Wales)	Mental Capacity Act 2005 · DoLS	Yearly to 3-yearly
Equality, Diversity & Dignity	Everyone	Equality Act 2010	At induction, then 3-yearly
Duty of Care	Everyone, at induction	Care Certificate Standard 3	At induction
Data Protection & GDPR	Everyone who touches people's information	UK GDPR · Data Protection Act 2018	Yearly
Oliver McGowan (Tier 1)	All staff in CQC-registered services — the training the Act's statutory guidance names (Tier 1 elearning is free)	Health and Care Act 2022 (Oliver McGowan)	As the statutory guidance and your policy set
Learning Disability & Autism Awareness	All staff — complements the free Oliver McGowan elearning above	CQC Regulation 18 · Health and Care Act 2022 context	As your policy sets, per role tier
Dementia Awareness	Staff supporting people living with dementia	CQC guidance · Dementia Training Standards (Tier 1)	3-yearly

Refresher periods in the right-hand column are the sector norm, not a legal deadline: outside a handful of statutory requalifications, the refresh cycle is a decision your training policy makes and your matrix enforces. On Care2Learn, training is valid for 12 months by default and the account owner can set any course to 24 or 36 months — see how long a certificate is valid.

New starters: the Care Certificate

Staff new to care are expected to complete the Care Certificate — 16 standards written by Skills for Care and Skills for Health — as part of a 12-week induction. It covers the knowledge behind most of the topics above, but it is an induction standard, not a substitute for the refreshed, role-specific training in the table. The knowledge element can be done online; the full certificate is only awarded once practice has been observed and signed off in the workplace.

Training by care setting

The core list above is common to almost every service. What you add to it depends on where care happens:

Domiciliary and home care — lone working, working in someone's home, and medication support without a nurse down the corridor.
Care homes — falls, pressure area care, nutrition and hydration, dementia and end of life care.
Supported living and learning disability services — the Oliver McGowan requirement, positive behaviour support and epilepsy.
Children's homes and 16–17 supported accommodation — the safeguarding, exploitation and key-working suite Ofsted-regulated services need.

Every course, by topic

Care2Learn's full catalogue of 82 courses, grouped as on the catalogue page. Most cost £3.99 per person pay-as-you-go — the Care Certificate is 2 credits (£7.98) and NHS England's Oliver McGowan elearning is free — or everything is included on a subscription from £1.99 per learner a month.

Free templates

Two documents every service needs, free to download and use — no sign-up, no catch:

Training matrix template (Excel) — staff down the side, the core courses across the top, with a how-to-use sheet. Add your own service-specific columns.
Competency observation form (Word) — for recording that someone has been observed doing a task safely in the workplace, because knowledge training alone doesn't evidence competence.

A hand-kept matrix goes stale the week after you update it — Care2Learn keeps the same matrix automatically, with renewals chased and everything exportable for inspection.

Frequently asked

What training do care workers legally need?

No Act of Parliament lists courses for care workers. Employers have statutory duties (fire safety, health and safety, manual handling, first-aid provision), and CQC Regulation 18 requires every member of staff to receive the training necessary for their role. In practice, the Skills for Care core and mandatory framework defines the topics almost every service treats as mandatory, and the table on this page maps each one to the law or guidance behind it.

How often does mandatory training need refreshing?

Mostly yearly by sector norm, but outside statutory requalifications (such as practical first aid at work, which runs on a 3-year certificate) the refresh cycle is set by your own training policy. Pick a defensible cycle, write it down, and let your training matrix enforce it. On Care2Learn the default is 12 months, and the account owner can set any course to 24 or 36 months.

Is online training enough to satisfy CQC?

For knowledge, yes; on its own, no. E-learning evidences what a person knows. For hands-on topics — moving and handling, basic life support, medication — competence must also be observed in the workplace, and Care2Learn lets you record a named, dated competency sign-off against the course. See the full answer in our FAQs.

Does this guide apply in Scotland and Wales?

The framework described here is England's. Scotland (Care Inspectorate and SSSC) and Wales (Care Inspectorate Wales and Social Care Wales) set their own induction frameworks, and some of the law differs — the Mental Capacity Act 2005, for example, does not apply in Scotland. Care2Learn adapts course wording to the nation an organisation operates in, and says plainly where a course should not be relied on.

What about managers and senior staff?

Everything above, plus the topics that come with running a service: safer recruitment, managing allegations against staff, leading and managing in adult social care and effective communication. Supervisors who sign off competence should hold the training they are assessing.

One platform for the whole list

Every topic above, £3.99 per person pay-as-you-go or from £1.99 per learner a month — with the training matrix and inspection evidence built in.

Get started

Mandatory training for care workers: the 2026 guide

Statutory or mandatory — what's the difference?

Does CQC publish a list?

The core topics, course by course

New starters: the Care Certificate

Training by care setting

Every course, by topic

Induction & Care Certificate

Safeguarding & mental capacity

Health, safety & environment

Clinical & medication

Wellbeing & daily living

Children & young people

Leadership & management

Free templates

Frequently asked

One platform for the whole list