Quick Answer: What Training Is Mandatory in Adult Social Care?

There is no single universal mandatory training course list that applies identically to every adult social care worker.

Skills for Care distinguishes between statutory and mandatory training requirements and additional training determined by employers according to the needs of their service and the people who draw on care and support.

CQC also takes a role-based approach.

Under Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, providers must ensure staff receive appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal to enable them to carry out their duties.

CQC guidance also expects providers to identify individual learning and development needs and review them at appropriate intervals.

So instead of simply asking:

“What courses does every care worker have to take?”

a more useful question is:

“What knowledge, training and competence does this worker need to perform their particular role safely and effectively?”

What Training Courses Should a Small Adult Social Care Provider Consider?

Using the three-layer approach above, the following provides a practical starting point for small adult social care employers when considering their training programme.

The courses are grouped into core statutory and mandatory training, role-specific mandatory training, and additional or recommended training.

Importantly, this is not a universal list of courses that every care worker must complete. The training required will depend on the worker’s role and responsibilities, the activities they undertake, workplace risks, the type of service provided and the needs of the people receiving care and support.

Employers should use the latest Skills for Care statutory and mandatory training guidance, CQC Regulation 18 guidance and other relevant official guidance when determining their own requirements.

Core Statutory & Mandatory Training

These subjects provide a core foundation for adult social care training. The appropriate course and level should be determined according to the worker’s role and the requirements of the service.

1. Health & Safety Awareness

2. Fire Safety – Level 1 & Level 2

3. Manual Handling at Work

4. Infection Prevention & Control – Level 1 & Level 2

5. Safeguarding Adults – Level 1 & Level 2

6. Learning Disability & Autism Awareness

Role-Specific Mandatory Training

These courses may be required depending on the employee’s duties and responsibilities. For example, a worker who administers medicines, assists people with mobility or handles food may need training relevant to those activities.

7. Basic Life Support

8. First Aid

9. Moving & Handling People

10. Safeguarding Children – Level 1 & Level 2

11. Food Safety & Hygiene – Level 1 & Level 2

12. Medication Awareness & Administration

Some activities may also require practical instruction, workplace competency assessment or additional specialist training. Completing an online course does not, by itself, demonstrate competence to undertake every practical activity.

Additional & Recommended Training

Additional training should reflect the nature of the service, the worker’s responsibilities and, importantly, the individual needs of the people receiving care and support.

Depending on your service, relevant subjects may include:

13. Mental Capacity Act

14. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

15. GDPR & Data Protection

16. Dementia Awareness

17. Nutrition & Hydration

18. Person-Centred Care

19. Privacy & Dignity

20. Communication

21. End of Life Care

22. Oral Health

23. Positive Behaviour Support

24. Care Planning

This list should be treated as a practical starting point rather than a compliance checklist. Your organisation may require other training because of the people you support, the activities your employees undertake, identified risks, commissioner requirements or other legal and regulatory obligations.

Want These Courses in One Training Package?

Caredemy’s Mandatory and Statutory Training for Adult Social Care bundle includes 29 online courses, bringing together core, role-specific and additional adult social care training in one package.

It is designed to make accessing relevant training simpler for individual learners and small care providers.

View the 29-Course Mandatory and Statutory Training Bundle →

The bundle provides access to training but does not determine which courses are mandatory for your organisation or individual workers. Employers remain responsible for assessing their own training and competency requirements and referring to current official guidance.

What Is Statutory Training in Adult Social Care?

Skills for Care describes statutory training as training that is usually required by law or where a statutory body has instructed organisations to provide training based on specific legislation.

Health and safety provides a useful example.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 places duties on employers concerning the health, safety and welfare of employees.

The Health and Safety Executive also provides guidance for employers on their responsibilities for providing appropriate information, instruction, training and supervision.

This does not necessarily mean legislation provides employers with a convenient list of named online courses that every worker must complete.

Employers need to understand their legal obligations and identify the information, instruction, training, supervision and competency requirements arising from them.

What Is Mandatory Training in Adult Social Care?

Mandatory training is training that an organisation requires workers to undertake.

Requirements can arise from:

• the worker’s role and responsibilities;

• the activities they perform;

• risks within the service;

• the needs of people receiving care and support;

• organisational policies and procedures;

• commissioner requirements; and

• regulatory requirements.

This creates an important distinction:

Mandatory does not necessarily mean “required by law for every care worker”.

A course may be mandatory within one organisation or for a particular role without being necessary for every employee in every adult social care service.

For example, someone responsible for administering medicines will need appropriate medication training and may also require workplace competency assessment.

An employee who does not administer or support people with medicines may have different requirements.

This is why simply assigning exactly the same training programme to every employee may not reflect what individual workers actually need.

The Three Layers of Adult Social Care Training

For a small employer, one of the simplest ways to approach training is to divide requirements into three layers.

1. Core Statutory and Mandatory Training

These are subjects that form part of the core training requirements relevant across the workforce.

Examples identified within current Skills for Care guidance include areas such as:

• Health and Safety Awareness

• Fire Safety

• Moving and Handling Objects / Manual Handling

• Infection Prevention and Control

• Safeguarding Adults

CQC Regulation 18 guidance also addresses training for staff in how to interact appropriately with autistic people and people with a learning disability, at a level appropriate to their role.

Employers should refer to the latest Skills for Care statutory and mandatory training guidance and CQC Regulation 18 guidance rather than treating a generic course list as a substitute for assessing their own requirements.

2. Role-Specific Mandatory Training

The second layer is training required because of what an employee actually does.

Depending on the worker’s responsibilities, this could include:

• Basic Life Support

• First Aid

• Moving and Handling People

• Food Safety and Hygiene

• Medication Administration

• Safeguarding Children

• Specialist clinical or care activities

These subjects will not necessarily apply in the same way to every employee.

For example, a care worker who regularly assists people with transfers or mobility may need appropriate moving and handling training, together with any practical training or competency assessment required by their employer.

Similarly, someone responsible for medicines will have different learning and competency requirements from a worker who does not handle medicines.

The worker’s actual duties should help determine their training requirements.

3. Additional and Service-Specific Training

The third layer is often overlooked.

Skills for Care explains that employers may need additional training according to the needs of their service and the people who draw on care and support.

Examples can include:

• Dementia awareness

• Mental capacity

• Equality, diversity and inclusion

• Privacy and dignity

• Nutrition and hydration

• Oral care

• Communication needs

• Positive behavioural support

• Person-centred care and support planning

• End-of-life care

• Specific healthcare needs

• Digital skills

• Data protection and GDPR

This is not an exhaustive list.

A provider supporting people living with dementia may have different training requirements from a service supporting adults with learning disabilities.

Likewise, a domiciliary care provider may identify different workplace risks and learning requirements from a residential care home.

Additional training should reflect the people you support, the activities your workers perform and the risks within your particular service.

Mandatory Training Checklist for a Small Care Business

The following table can be used as a starting point for considering training needs. It should not be treated as a universal compliance checklist.

The important phrase is “starting point”.

Employers should determine the exact requirements for their organisation rather than simply copying a generic online checklist.

Does CQC Have a Mandatory Training List?

This is one of the most common questions asked by care providers.

It is more accurate to think about CQC requirements in terms of training, skills and competence rather than looking for one universal CQC-approved list of courses.

CQC Regulation 18: Staffing requires providers to ensure they have suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff.

CQC guidance also addresses staff participation in:

• statutory training;

• other mandatory training defined by the provider for their role;

• additional training necessary to carry out regulated activities; and

• other learning and development required to fulfil their role.

That distinction matters.

CQC compliance is not simply about collecting training certificates.

Providers need to consider whether workers have the appropriate knowledge, skills and competence for their roles.

Training Certificate vs Competence: They Are Not the Same Thing

A course certificate can provide evidence that someone has completed training.

It does not automatically prove that an employee can safely and competently perform every practical activity associated with that subject.

This is particularly important in areas such as:

• medication administration;

• assisting and moving people;

• first aid;

• specialist care activities; and

• delegated healthcare activities.

Skills for Care highlights the employer’s responsibility for checking and evidencing worker competence.

Depending on the activity, this could involve:

• observation of practice;

• workplace competency assessments;

• supervision;

• discussions with the worker;

• knowledge checks;

• reflective practice; and

• reassessment following changes or concerns.

For a small care business, maintaining evidence of both learning and competence where required is therefore important.

Does Every Employee Need the Same Training?

Usually, no.

Consider a small domiciliary care agency with three employees.

Care Worker A

Provides personal care, assists people with mobility and administers medicines.

Care Worker B

Provides companionship, meal preparation and personal care but does not administer medicines.

Office Administrator C

Works in the office and does not provide direct personal care.

Giving all three employees exactly the same training programme may not reflect their responsibilities.

A more practical approach is to establish the appropriate core training and then map additional courses and competency requirements to individual roles.

Do Managers Need Different Training?

Potentially.

Registered managers, supervisors and senior care workers may require additional knowledge because their responsibilities extend beyond directly delivering care.

Relevant areas could include:

• leadership and management;

• supervision and appraisal;

• safeguarding responsibilities;

• medicines management;

• risk management;

• incident reporting;

• recruitment;

• data protection;

• mental capacity;

• complaints handling; and

• quality assurance.

Requirements should be based on the person’s actual responsibilities rather than their job title alone.

How Often Should Mandatory Care Training Be Refreshed?

A common misconception is that all mandatory training must automatically be repeated every year.

That is not necessarily the case.

Skills for Care’s current statutory and mandatory training guidance provides recommendations for different subjects.

For several core areas, the guidance identifies a minimum refresher period of three years while also identifying circumstances in which training may need to be repeated sooner.

Other subjects have different requirements.

Employers should therefore not automatically assume that every certificate needs a 12-month expiry date.

Instead, refresher requirements should be determined by considering factors such as:

• Skills for Care guidance;

• legislation and statutory guidance;

• regulator guidance;

• risk assessments;

• commissioner requirements;

• manufacturer guidance where relevant;

• changes in duties or equipment;

• incidents or concerns;

• competency assessments; and

• the needs of people receiving care and support.

When Should You Review Someone’s Training?

Don’t rely solely on expiry dates.

Training needs can change when:

• a worker starts a new role;

• responsibilities change;

• new equipment is introduced;

• new risks are identified;

• policies or procedures change;

• legislation or official guidance changes;

• the service begins supporting people with different needs;

• an incident occurs;

• a competency concern is identified; or

• supervision or appraisal identifies a knowledge or skills gap.

CQC guidance expects providers to assess individual learning and development needs and review them at appropriate intervals.

What Training Records Should a Small Care Provider Keep?

A training matrix can provide a central overview of workforce learning.

For each employee, consider recording:

This can make it easier to identify:

• overdue training;

• training gaps;

• new starter requirements;

• role-specific requirements;

• upcoming refresher dates; and

• competency assessments that still need completing.

It can also provide useful evidence of how your organisation manages workforce learning and development.

A Simple Five-Step Training Process for Small Care Providers

If you are starting a care business or reviewing your existing training programme, the following process can help.

Step 1: Identify the Role

What will the person actually do?

Don’t rely solely on their job title. Consider their duties, responsibilities and the people they will support.

Step 2: Identify Core Requirements

Establish the statutory and mandatory subjects applicable to the worker using current official guidance.

Start with the Skills for Care statutory and mandatory training guidance and relevant CQC guidance.

Step 3: Identify Role-Specific Requirements

Does the employee:

• administer medicines?

• move or assist people?

• prepare food?

• provide first aid?

• undertake specialist care activities?

• supervise other employees?

Identify the appropriate training and competency requirements.

Step 4: Consider the People You Support

What additional knowledge does the worker need to provide safe, person-centred care?

Depending on your service, this could include dementia, autism, epilepsy, diabetes, end-of-life care or specific communication needs.

Step 5: Record, Review and Update

Maintain appropriate training records and competency evidence and review requirements when circumstances change.

This creates a stronger training system than simply assigning the same annual collection of courses to every employee.

Online Mandatory and Statutory Training for Adult Social Care

For small care providers, purchasing and managing numerous individual courses can quickly become expensive and administratively difficult.

Caredemy’s Mandatory and Statutory Training for Adult Social Care bundle provides access to 29 online courses covering a broad selection of core, role-specific and additional adult social care training subjects.

The bundle has been designed to make it easier for individual learners and small care businesses to access relevant training in one package rather than purchasing numerous courses separately.

Does Buying the Bundle Cover All Your Compliance Requirements?

Not automatically — and this distinction is important.

The bundle provides access to relevant training, but the employer remains responsible for determining which courses each worker needs, whether additional training is necessary and whether workplace competency assessment or practical training is required.

A course bundle should support your training programme. It does not replace your organisation’s own assessment of training and competency requirements.

View the 29-Course Mandatory and Statutory Training for Adult Social Care Bundle

What If I Employ Several Care Workers?

As your workforce grows, managing individual course purchases, completion records and certificates can become less practical.

Employers training larger numbers of workers may benefit from a learning management system that enables managers to allocate training, monitor completion and maintain centralised records.

If you are training 10 or more staff across multiple courses, Caredemy’s Team Training provides a more scalable option for managing workforce training.

Depending on your requirements, this can help with:

• allocating courses to staff;

• monitoring learner progress;

• managing certificates;

• maintaining training records;

• identifying outstanding training; and

• managing learning across a larger workforce.

Training 10+ staff? Explore Caredemy Team Training

Common Mandatory Training Mistakes Small Care Providers Should Avoid

Assuming Every Course Is Mandatory for Everyone

Requirements vary according to roles, responsibilities, activities and service needs.

Treating a Certificate as Proof of Competence

Some activities require practical competency assessment in addition to knowledge-based learning.

Refreshing Everything Every Year Automatically

Check the appropriate guidance for individual subjects rather than automatically applying the same 12-month expiry period to every course.

Forgetting Service-Specific Training

Core mandatory training may not address the particular needs of the people your organisation supports.

Failing to Update Training When Roles Change

A worker taking on medication, moving and handling or supervisory responsibilities may require additional training and competency assessment.

Using a Generic Training Matrix Without Reviewing It

Your training matrix should reflect your actual service, workforce, risks and the people you support.

Treating an Online Training Package as Compliance Advice

Training providers supply learning resources. Responsibility for determining an organisation’s legal, regulatory, training and competency requirements remains with the employer.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Training Is Mandatory for Care Workers?

There is no single course list that applies identically to every adult social care worker. Employers need to determine statutory, mandatory, role-specific and additional training requirements based on legislation, official guidance, employees’ responsibilities, workplace risks and the needs of people receiving care and support.

The Skills for Care statutory and mandatory training guidance is an important starting point.

What Is the Difference Between Statutory and Mandatory Training?

Statutory training is generally associated with requirements arising from legislation or statutory bodies.

Mandatory training is training an organisation requires employees to complete because it considers the training necessary for their roles or service requirements.

The terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are not necessarily identical.

Does CQC Specify Mandatory Training Courses?

CQC’s Regulation 18 guidance focuses on providers ensuring workers have appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal to perform their roles.

CQC guidance distinguishes statutory training, provider-defined mandatory training and additional training necessary for staff to perform their duties.

Is Mandatory Training Required Every Year?

Not necessarily.

Different training subjects can have different refresher requirements. Skills for Care provides recommendations for individual subjects and identifies circumstances in which training may need to be undertaken sooner.

Employers should check the latest official guidance applicable to the individual subject.

Is Online Training Acceptable for Care Workers?

Online learning can be appropriate for many knowledge-based subjects.

However, some activities may also require practical instruction, workplace supervision or competency assessment. Employers should determine the appropriate learning and assessment method for each requirement.

Does a CPD Certificate Prove Competence?

No.

A certificate can evidence completion of learning, but competence may need to be demonstrated separately, particularly for practical activities.

Do New Care Workers Need the Care Certificate?

The Care Certificate is a set of standards relating to the knowledge, skills and behaviours expected of specific health and social care roles.

Employers should refer to the latest Skills for Care guidance when determining how the Care Certificate applies to their workforce.

Online learning can support the knowledge components, but workplace assessment and appropriate employer sign-off remain important elements of demonstrating competence.

Do Care Workers Need Medication Training?

Workers who administer or support people with medicines need appropriate training for the activities they undertake, together with competency assessment where required.

Employers should ensure that the training provided reflects the person’s actual medication responsibilities.

Do All Care Workers Need Moving and Handling Training?

Workers need appropriate training for the moving and handling activities they undertake.

Moving objects and assisting people are distinct areas, and training should reflect the worker’s actual responsibilities and workplace risks.

Caredemy provides Moving and Handling training for relevant workplace learning.

Do Care Workers Need Safeguarding Training?

Safeguarding is a core area of adult social care training, but the appropriate content and level should reflect the worker’s responsibilities.

Caredemy provides a range of Safeguarding Training Courses covering different roles and levels.

Do All Care Workers Need Learning Disability and Autism Training?

CQC Regulation 18 includes requirements relating to staff training in how to interact appropriately with autistic people and people with a learning disability, at a level appropriate to their role.

Employers should check the latest CQC Regulation 18 guidance and other applicable official guidance when determining their requirements.

What Additional Training Might Care Workers Need?

Additional training depends on the service and the people being supported.

Examples may include dementia, mental capacity, communication, nutrition and hydration, positive behavioural support, end-of-life care and specific healthcare needs.

How Should a Small Care Business Decide What Training Staff Need?

Start with current Skills for Care and CQC guidance.

Then assess:

1. the worker’s role and responsibilities;

2. core statutory and mandatory requirements;

3. role-specific activities;

4. workplace risks;

5. the needs of people receiving care and support;

6. additional service-specific training; and

7. practical competency requirements.

Key Takeaway for Small Care Employers

For small adult social care employers, a useful way to think about workforce training is:

Core requirements + role-specific requirements + service-specific requirements + competency.

Don’t assume that every employee needs exactly the same courses.

Don’t assume that every course needs refreshing every year.

And don’t assume that possessing a collection of certificates automatically demonstrates that workers are competent.

Instead, build your training programme around what each worker does, the risks associated with their role and the needs of the people they support.

For individuals and small businesses, Caredemy’s 29-Course Mandatory and Statutory Training for Adult Social Care Bundle provides a convenient way to access a broad selection of relevant online training in one package.

For organisations training 10 or more staff across multiple courses, Caredemy Team Training provides an alternative designed for managing training across a workforce.

Whichever approach you choose, training resources should be used alongside current official guidance and your own assessment of your workforce, service, risks and competency requirements.

Official Guidance and Further Reading

Employers should always check the latest official information rather than relying solely on third-party articles or training-provider content.

Skills for Care – Statutory and Mandatory Training

Guidance for adult social care employers on statutory, mandatory and additional training.

Care Quality Commission – Regulation 18: Staffing

CQC guidance covering staffing, training, competence, supervision and professional development.

Health and Safety Executive

Official UK workplace health and safety information and guidance.

GOV.UK

UK Government legislation, guidance and public information.

Disclaimer

This article is provided for general information and educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, regulatory, compliance, HR or professional consultancy advice.

Adult social care training requirements vary according to the organisation, regulated activities, workforce roles, workplace risks, commissioner requirements and the individual needs of people receiving care and support.

Caredemy does not determine an employer’s individual statutory or mandatory training requirements through this article. Employers remain responsible for identifying the training, supervision and competency requirements applicable to their organisation and workforce.

Always refer to the latest official guidance from Skills for Care, CQC, HSE, GOV.UK and other relevant authorities, and seek appropriate professional advice where required.