Care Certificate for overseas care workers: a 2026 UK onboarding guide

Applies to: England
Last verified: 18 August 2026
Review cycle: Every 90 days
Written by: [Author name and relevant credential]
Reviewed by: [Reviewer name and relevant credential]

Important: This guide provides general information for care providers in England. Caredemy is a training provider and does not provide immigration or legal advice. Immigration rules and individual circumstances can change. Always check current GOV.UK guidance and seek appropriately regulated immigration advice where necessary.

Since 22 July 2025, UK employers have no longer been able to sponsor new care workers and senior care workers in occupation codes 6135 and 6136 to come to the UK from overseas. However, transitional arrangements remain for certain workers who are already in the UK.

For care providers in England onboarding an internationally recruited worker in 2026, the question is therefore no longer simply “Can we recruit a care worker from overseas?” Instead, employers need to establish the worker’s current position in the UK, verify their right to work, understand their previous training and experience, and determine what Care Certificate learning and workplace competence they still need to demonstrate.

This guide explains how to approach that process.

First, the rule that changed everything

The immigration rules for recruiting care workers changed significantly on 22 July 2025.

Employers can no longer use the Skilled Worker route to bring new workers from overseas into jobs under occupation codes 6135 – care workers and home carers and 6136 – senior care workers.

This does not mean that international workers have disappeared from the adult social care workforce.

Thousands of internationally recruited workers are already living and working in the UK. Providers may therefore encounter workers who are:

already employed in UK social care and changing employer;
legally in the UK on another immigration route and seeking to move into sponsored care work; or
displaced after their previous employer lost its sponsor licence.

There are transitional immigration arrangements for some workers already in the UK.

In particular, one route allows a person already legally working for the proposed sponsor as a care worker or senior care worker to switch into sponsorship where they have worked legally for that employer in the relevant role for at least three months before the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned.

These transitional arrangements are currently due to end on 22 July 2028.

However, the three-month provision should not be applied indiscriminately to every care worker changing employer. Different provisions can apply to workers who already hold relevant Skilled Worker permission.

The practical lesson for care providers is simple: establish the worker’s immigration position first rather than assuming every internationally recruited worker follows the same route.

For current immigration requirements, providers should always check the Home Office’s current Skilled Worker sponsor guidance on GOV.UK.

The Care Certificate is not a right-to-work document

One of the most important distinctions for employers is between a person’s legal ability to work and their training and competence to perform a care role safely.

They are not the same thing.

A Care Certificate does not give someone permission to work in the UK.

Equally, having the legal right to work in the UK does not demonstrate that someone is competent to perform every aspect of a care role.

Employers need to consider several separate requirements:

Requirement	What it establishes
Right-to-work check	Whether the person is legally permitted to undertake the proposed employment
Visa/sponsorship requirements	Immigration conditions applying to the worker where relevant
DBS, references and safer recruitment	Information used to make an appropriate recruitment decision
Professional registration	Whether someone is registered to practise in a regulated profession where required
Care Certificate/induction	Knowledge, skills and behaviours relevant to the care role
Workplace competency assessment	Whether the worker can actually demonstrate required competence in practice

Employers must carry out the appropriate right-to-work check before employment begins and follow current Home Office requirements where a worker has time-limited permission.

Key point: The Care Certificate is evidence relating to learning and competence. It is not evidence of immigration status and is not a substitute for right-to-work checks, DBS checks, references or professional registration.

Which overseas care worker are you onboarding?

For a care provider in England in 2026, it is useful to think about three broad groups.

1. In-country switcher

This could include someone already legally living in the UK who is moving into adult social care.

They might previously have been in the UK as a student, graduate or dependant, for example, although the immigration rules applicable to an individual must always be checked.

Where a worker relies on the transitional provision for sponsorship under occupation code 6135 or 6136, current sponsor guidance requires them to have been legally working for the proposed sponsor in the relevant care role for at least three months before the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned.

An in-country switcher may have little or no previous professional care experience.

Alternatively, they may have extensive healthcare experience or qualifications gained outside the UK.

The employer should therefore establish what the worker already knows and can evidence rather than making assumptions based purely on their immigration history.

2. Existing sponsored care worker changing employer

A worker may already have worked in UK adult social care for some time and now be moving to another provider.

This is particularly important from a Care Certificate perspective.

The worker may already have:

completed the Care Certificate;
completed mandatory training;
undertaken workplace observations;
worked independently in a care role;
received supervision and competency assessments; and
accumulated substantial UK care experience.

A new employer should not automatically assume that all of this learning becomes invalid simply because the worker has changed employer.

Skills for Care’s guidance is that workers who have already achieved their Care Certificate should not need to retake it when moving jobs, although a new employer can consider whether previous learning meets its requirements and whether refresher or additional learning is needed.

That creates a much more sensible onboarding process:

verify → assess → identify gaps → top up → observe → sign off.

3. Displaced care worker

A displaced worker may have been working legally in UK adult social care but lost their employment because their sponsoring organisation lost its sponsor licence.

This does not automatically mean the worker did anything wrong.

Where an employer loses its sponsor licence, GOV.UK states that an affected worker’s visa is generally limited to 60 days, or the time remaining on their visa if that is shorter. Different consequences can apply where the worker was involved in the reasons for the sponsor losing its licence.

Displaced workers may already have significant UK care experience and may have completed their Care Certificate.

The difficulty can be evidencing it.

For example, records may have been held by a previous employer that has ceased trading or is no longer communicating effectively with former workers.

In these circumstances, employers should distinguish between:

“This worker has never demonstrated this competence”

and

“This worker may have demonstrated this competence previously, but we do not currently have sufficient evidence.”

Those situations may require different actions.

Overseas care worker onboarding matrix

Cohort	Typical position	Likely Care Certificate position	Employer approach
In-country switcher	Already legally in the UK and moving into care	May have no Care Certificate or previous UK care experience	Review previous experience, complete appropriate induction, identify learning requirements and assess competence
Existing sponsored care worker changing employer	Already working in UK care	Often has existing training and may already hold the Care Certificate	Verify evidence, assess gaps and provide employer-specific/refresher learning where required rather than automatically starting again
Displaced care worker	Previous sponsor has lost its licence	May already have significant UK experience and Care Certificate evidence	Obtain available records, verify previous learning, identify missing evidence and reassess gaps where necessary

Manager’s principle: Immigration status, overseas qualifications and Care Certificate status are three different questions. Check each separately.

Do overseas nurses and doctors need the Care Certificate?

This requires more nuance than simply asking whether someone has a nursing or medical qualification from another country.

The Care Certificate was developed primarily for the non-regulated health and social care workforce.

Skills for Care explains that regulated professionals such as doctors, nurses, occupational therapists and social workers develop comparable knowledge and skills through the education and training required for their regulated professional roles.

However, an overseas qualification and UK professional registration are not the same thing.

For example, someone who trained as a nurse outside the UK has to follow the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s process to join the UK register. Depending on the person’s circumstances and qualification, this can involve qualification and eligibility checks and a Test of Competence.

Therefore, employers should avoid two opposite assumptions.

Assumption 1: “They were a nurse overseas, so they’re automatically exempt.”

An overseas nursing qualification should not automatically be treated as establishing the person’s current UK professional status or every competence required for the role in which the employer is employing them.

Assumption 2: “Their overseas qualification doesn’t count, so they must start everything again.”

That can be equally unhelpful.

Someone who has worked clinically for many years may already possess extensive knowledge of infection prevention, basic life support, nutrition, communication, health and safety and other subjects covered by the Care Certificate.

The sensible approach is to examine the evidence.

An overseas nursing or healthcare qualification is evidence to assess. It should not automatically be treated as either a Care Certificate exemption or as irrelevant previous learning.

If the individual is joining the UK register as a nurse, the appropriate professional regulator’s requirements also need to be considered separately.

Don’t automatically make experienced workers start again

The Care Certificate is about more than watching training modules or passing online knowledge tests.

Skills for Care describes the standards as defining the knowledge, skills and behaviours expected of workers in health and social care.

The standards were updated in March 2025 and there are now 16 Care Certificate standards.

Skills for Care also provides a self-assessment tool that can be used to identify what a worker already understands and where further development may be required.

For an experienced international worker, this makes a gap-based onboarding approach particularly useful.

A practical six-stage approach

1. Gather evidence

Ask the worker for available evidence of:

previous Care Certificate completion;
qualifications;
previous training;
employment history;
competency assessments;
professional registration where relevant; and
other credible evidence of learning.

2. Verify what can reasonably be verified

A certificate should not simply be accepted because it exists.

Check relevant information where appropriate and make sure the evidence relates to the individual and the learning or competence claimed.

3. Map previous learning

Compare credible previous evidence against the worker’s new role and the current Care Certificate standards.

4. Identify genuine gaps

The important question becomes:

What does this worker still need to learn or demonstrate?

This is more useful than:

What courses can we make this worker repeat?

5. Provide appropriate learning and induction

Some areas may require organisation-specific learning even where the worker has extensive previous experience.

Examples include:

local safeguarding procedures;
reporting routes;
medication policies;
incident reporting;
record keeping;
escalation procedures;
emergency arrangements;
local systems and technology;
organisational values and policies.

6. Assess competence

Previous knowledge does not remove the employer’s responsibility to ensure that the worker is competent for their role.

Observation and workplace assessment remain particularly important.

The 16 Care Certificate standards in 2026

The Care Certificate was updated in March 2025.

The current standards are:

Understand your role
Your personal development
Duty of care
Equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights
Work in a person-centred way
Communication
Privacy and dignity
Fluids and nutrition
Awareness of mental health and dementia
Adult safeguarding
Safeguarding children
Basic life support
Health and safety
Handling information
Infection prevention and control
Awareness of learning disability and autism

Standard 16 is particularly important because it reflects the statutory requirement for staff working in CQC-regulated services to receive appropriate training on learning disability and autism at a level appropriate to their role.

Providers should therefore ensure they are using current 16-standard materials, not older Care Certificate resources referring only to 15 standards.

Care Certificate training and workplace assessment are not the same thing

This distinction is especially important when onboarding an experienced worker.

Online learning can provide knowledge.

It can explain:

safeguarding;
duty of care;
person-centred practice;
health and safety;
infection prevention;
privacy and dignity;
communication; and
other principles.

But employers also need to establish that workers can apply relevant knowledge safely in practice.

For example, knowing what person-centred care means is different from demonstrating person-centred care during a shift.

Knowing the principles of safeguarding is different from recognising a concern, responding appropriately and following the employer’s reporting procedure.

This is why an experienced overseas worker may move through theoretical elements quickly but still need workplace observation and employer-specific assessment.

The objective should be competence, not simply course completion.

The displaced worker pool: experienced people already in the UK

One of the most important changes in international recruitment has been the growth of the displaced-worker population.

A worker can become displaced when the organisation sponsoring them loses its sponsor licence.

This can happen because of sponsor non-compliance or unethical practices by the employer. It should not automatically be interpreted as misconduct by the worker.

The Government continues to fund support for displaced international care workers.

In April 2026, the Department of Health and Social Care confirmed that up to £7.5 million would be available during the 2026–27 financial year to continue funding 15 regional partnerships supporting international care workers affected by sponsor licence revocations into new ethical employment.

The Government currently expects 2026–27 to be the final year of this particular funding programme, with funded service delivery completed by 31 March 2027.

Regional partnerships can provide a point of contact for displaced workers and providers interested in recruiting them, as well as employment and pastoral support.

The previous “displaced worker first” requirement has changed

Care providers may encounter older guidance suggesting that they are required to attempt to recruit from the displaced-worker pool before sponsoring other workers already in the UK.

Providers should not rely on old articles or archived recruitment guidance when making immigration decisions.

Current Home Office sponsor guidance should always be checked at the point a sponsorship decision is being made.

The important point for this article is that displaced workers remain a potentially valuable part of the adult social care workforce, but recruitment decisions must still follow current immigration, sponsorship, safer recruitment and competence requirements.

What if a displaced worker cannot obtain their old Care Certificate records?

This is where a structured evidence process becomes valuable.

Suppose an experienced worker says:

“I completed my Care Certificate with my previous employer, but I can’t get my records.”

The new employer should not automatically conclude either:

“That’s fine; we’ll accept it without evidence.”

or:

“You have to start the whole Care Certificate again.”

Instead, investigate what evidence is available.

This might include:

the worker’s Care Certificate;
individual training certificates;
previous competency records;
employment records;
references;
previous training-platform records;
evidence held by the worker;
information available from the previous provider.

Where satisfactory evidence cannot be obtained, assess the relevant knowledge and competence again.

The employer should record:

what evidence was reviewed → what was accepted → what could not be verified → what gaps were identified → what additional learning or assessment was required → who signed it off.

This provides a much clearer audit trail than simply recording “Care Certificate complete”.

Ethical recruitment and worker protection

Displaced international care workers can be in a particularly vulnerable position.

Losing a sponsor can create uncertainty about employment, immigration status, income and accommodation.

Employers and recruitment organisations should therefore follow ethical recruitment principles.

Government guidance and the Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health and Social Care Personnel in England should be followed when international recruitment is involved.

Workers should not be treated as a source of cheap labour simply because they are displaced or have limited time to find alternative employment.

Care providers should also be alert to signs of exploitation, inappropriate recruitment fees or other unethical practices.

Where specialist immigration advice is needed, the worker or employer should obtain it from an appropriately regulated adviser rather than relying on a training provider, recruitment blog or informal social-media advice.

What CQC and UKVI each want to see

Care providers employing sponsored workers can face two distinct compliance perspectives.

CQC: is the person competent to provide safe care?

CQC Regulation 18 requires providers to have sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff.

CQC’s guidance also makes clear that providers must have an induction programme that prepares staff for their role and assess individual training, learning and development needs at the start of employment and at appropriate intervals afterwards.

For CQC purposes, therefore, the provider needs to be able to demonstrate that staff have received the support, training, supervision and development necessary to perform their roles.

UKVI: is the organisation complying with immigration and sponsorship requirements?

Where sponsorship applies, the employer also has responsibilities under the immigration system.

These can include maintaining appropriate records, complying with sponsor duties and ensuring that sponsored employment remains consistent with the relevant immigration requirements.

These are different regulatory functions.

A Care Certificate does not prove immigration compliance.

A Certificate of Sponsorship does not prove care competence.

One employee file, two compliance perspectives

Evidence	Primarily relevant to	Employer action
Right-to-work evidence	Home Office/UKVI	Complete and retain appropriate evidence
Visa/sponsorship information	Home Office/UKVI	Maintain required sponsor records
Employment details	Both	Keep accurate and current
References/safer recruitment evidence	CQC/employer	Retain recruitment evidence
Care Certificate evidence	CQC/competence	Verify and record
Training records	CQC/competence and potentially wider compliance evidence	Maintain current records
Workplace observations	CQC/competence	Record assessor, date and outcome
Supervision/appraisal	CQC	Maintain ongoing records
Professional registration	Relevant professional regulator/CQC	Verify where required

The goal is not to create two entirely separate onboarding processes.

It is to maintain a reliable employee record that clearly demonstrates the different checks and decisions the organisation has made.

A practical 12-week onboarding sequence

The Care Certificate has traditionally been associated with an expected completion period of around 12 weeks for new workers.

However, onboarding should be driven by the worker’s role, existing evidence and competence rather than treating week 12 as an arbitrary finishing line.

For an internationally recruited or internationally trained worker, a practical sequence might look like this.

Before employment starts

Complete the relevant pre-employment and safer-recruitment processes.

Depending on the role and circumstances, these may include:

right-to-work check;
immigration/sponsorship requirements;
references;
DBS processes;
employment-history checks;
professional registration verification;
qualification checks.

Care Certificate training should never be used as a substitute for these checks.

Weeks 1–2: induction and initial assessment

The worker should be introduced to the organisation, service and role.

This is also the time to establish what previous learning and experience can be evidenced.

Review:

previous Care Certificate evidence;
training records;
qualifications;
previous experience;
self-assessment against the current standards;
professional registration where relevant.

Identify immediate safety-critical learning and organisation-specific requirements.

For an experienced overseas worker, particular attention may need to be given to differences between previous practice and the worker’s new setting in England.

This might include:

local safeguarding procedures;
the Mental Capacity Act and consent;
escalation and whistleblowing procedures;
documentation expectations;
duty of care;
communication in the workplace;
local medication procedures;
organisational policies.

Weeks 3–8: targeted learning and supported practice

Training should now address identified gaps.

A new-to-care worker may need structured learning across most or all Care Certificate standards.

An experienced UK care worker changing sponsor may need much less.

An internationally trained healthcare professional may already possess extensive theoretical knowledge but need additional learning around the UK care context and the specific responsibilities of their employed role.

Workers should also receive supported practical experience.

Depending on the service, this could include:

shadowing;
buddying;
supervised shifts;
observation;
reflective discussion;
practice-based assessment.

For domiciliary care roles, employers should also resolve practical matters such as travel requirements and driving eligibility where driving forms part of the job.

Weeks 9–12: assessment and sign-off

By this stage, outstanding Care Certificate knowledge and practical competencies should be assessed.

Do not confuse completion of an online module with competence.

The assessor should be satisfied that the worker can demonstrate the required knowledge, skills and behaviours.

Any gaps should be documented and addressed.

At final sign-off, the employer should have a clear record of:

previous evidence accepted;
learning completed;
workplace assessments;
assessor decisions;
outstanding development needs;
Care Certificate status;
sign-off date.

This record becomes particularly valuable during inspection, supervision, future employment changes and internal audits.

Worked example: an experienced overseas care worker changing employer

Note for publication: Replace this illustrative framework with a genuine de-identified employer/worker case study where possible.

Consider an internationally recruited worker who has already spent 18 months working for a UK domiciliary care provider.

The worker changes employer and tells the new registered manager that they have completed their Care Certificate.

Stage 1: evidence check

The manager obtains the worker’s Care Certificate and available training certificates.

Employment dates are checked through the recruitment process.

Stage 2: mapping

The manager compares the evidence with the current role and current 16 Care Certificate standards.

The worker completed their original Care Certificate before the addition of Standard 16.

This immediately identifies a potential gap requiring review.

Stage 3: local induction

The worker completes the new provider’s induction covering:

policies;
safeguarding reporting routes;
medication procedures;
incident reporting;
care-record systems;
lone-working procedures;
emergency contacts.

Stage 4: targeted learning

Rather than repeating every subject, the provider assigns learning where evidence is missing, out of date or specific to the organisation.

Stage 5: supervised practice

The worker undertakes supervised visits and is observed in areas requiring practical competency.

Stage 6: sign-off

The manager records:

which previous evidence was accepted;
which additional training was completed;
observations undertaken;
competence decisions;
final sign-off.

The result is not a shortcut.

It is a documented, evidence-based onboarding process that recognises previous competence while ensuring the new employer is satisfied that the worker can perform their current role safely.

Common mistakes when onboarding overseas care workers

1. Believing care workers can still simply be recruited directly from overseas

The rules changed on 22 July 2025 for new overseas applications under care worker and senior care worker occupation codes 6135 and 6136.

Always check current Home Office guidance.

2. Applying the three-month rule to every worker

The three-month transitional provision is important, but it should not be treated as a universal rule covering every internationally recruited worker or every sponsor transfer.

3. Assuming an overseas nursing qualification automatically settles the Care Certificate question

Qualification, UK professional registration, previous learning and workplace competence are related but separate issues.

4. Ignoring credible previous learning

An experienced worker’s previous training and competence should be assessed rather than automatically disregarded.

5. Automatically making workers repeat the Care Certificate

Where satisfactory evidence exists, identify genuine gaps and employer-specific requirements rather than automatically restarting everything.

6. Treating the Care Certificate as a right-to-work document

It is not.

Right-to-work and immigration requirements must be checked separately.

7. Using the old 15-standard Care Certificate

There have been 16 standards since March 2025.

Providers should ensure their training, assessment and evidence processes reflect the current standards.

Overseas care worker onboarding checklist

Before allowing a worker to undertake duties without the appropriate level of supervision, managers should be able to answer the following questions.

Recruitment and status

Has the appropriate right-to-work check been completed?
Have any relevant sponsorship requirements been checked?
Have references and safer recruitment requirements been completed?
Has professional registration been verified where the role requires it?

Previous learning

Does the worker claim to have completed the Care Certificate?
Is evidence available?
Has previous training been reviewed?
Have relevant overseas qualifications been considered?
Has previous UK care experience been verified where appropriate?

Gap analysis

Has the worker been assessed against the current 16 standards?
Which standards are already adequately evidenced?
Which require additional knowledge?
Which require practical assessment?
What organisation-specific learning is required?

Competence

Has the worker received appropriate supervision?
Have practical competencies been observed?
Are assessment outcomes documented?
Has an appropriate person signed off the required competence?

Evidence

Is the evidence stored consistently?
Can the manager explain why previous evidence was accepted?
Can the manager explain why additional training was required?
Is there a clear audit trail?

Frequently asked questions

Can UK care providers still recruit care workers from overseas in 2026?

New overseas sponsorship for care workers and senior care workers under occupation codes 6135 and 6136 closed on 22 July 2025. Transitional provisions continue for certain workers already in the UK. Providers should check current GOV.UK sponsor guidance before making recruitment or sponsorship decisions.

Do overseas care workers need the Care Certificate?

It depends on the worker’s role, professional status, previous training and evidence. Someone new to an unregulated care role may need to work through the Care Certificate standards, while an experienced worker may already have relevant evidence. Employers should assess previous learning and workplace competence rather than make assumptions based solely on where someone trained.

Does an overseas nursing qualification exempt someone from the Care Certificate?

An overseas qualification should not automatically be treated as either an exemption or as irrelevant. UK professional registration is a separate issue. Employers should consider the person’s role, registration status, previous learning and competence and determine what additional induction, learning or assessment is required.

Does the Care Certificate transfer if a worker changes employer?

Skills for Care indicates that someone who has achieved the Care Certificate should not normally need to retake it simply because they change jobs. The new employer should verify available evidence and can identify employer-specific learning, refresher requirements or gaps that need addressing.

What is a displaced care worker?

In this context, a displaced care worker is typically an internationally recruited worker whose sponsoring employer has lost its sponsor licence. The worker may already have significant UK care experience and training but need to find alternative employment and, where applicable, a new sponsor.

Can I sponsor a student or Graduate visa holder into a care role?

Transitional provisions can allow certain workers already legally in the UK to move into sponsored care worker or senior care worker roles, subject to the current immigration requirements. The rules are detailed and can change, so employers should check the latest Home Office sponsor guidance rather than relying on general summaries.

How long is the three-month qualifying period and when does it start?

Under the relevant transitional provision, the worker must have been legally working for the sponsoring employer in the relevant care worker or senior care worker role for at least three months before the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned. This should not be confused with the date of the subsequent visa application.

Does the Care Certificate give someone the right to work in the UK?

No. The Care Certificate relates to knowledge, skills and behaviours relevant to care work. It does not confer immigration status or permission to work. Employers must conduct the appropriate right-to-work checks separately.

What happens after 22 July 2028?

The current transitional provisions for certain in-country care worker and senior care worker sponsorship arrangements are scheduled to end on 22 July 2028. Immigration rules can change, so providers should check current GOV.UK guidance as that date approaches.

How many Care Certificate standards are there in 2026?

There are 16 Care Certificate standards. The framework was updated in March 2025 with the addition of Standard 16, Awareness of learning disability and autism.

Does a care worker need to redo the Care Certificate when changing employer?

Not automatically. Existing evidence should be reviewed. A new employer may need to provide local induction, refresher learning or assessment of particular competencies, but changing employer does not in itself mean that credible previous Care Certificate learning should be discarded.

What evidence should I accept from an overseas care worker’s previous employer?

There is no single document that answers every situation. Employers can consider Care Certificate records, training certificates, competency assessments, references, employment evidence and other credible records. The important point is to verify evidence appropriately and document what was accepted, what remained uncertain and what additional assessment was completed.

Make overseas care worker onboarding easier to evidence

Internationally recruited workers can arrive at a new care provider with very different backgrounds.

Some are completely new to care.

Others have years of UK care experience.

Some have healthcare qualifications gained overseas.

Others may be displaced workers who have already completed extensive UK training but have difficulty accessing records from their former employer.

A good onboarding process recognises those differences while still ensuring every worker has the knowledge, skills and competence required for their role.

Caredemy’s online Care Certificate training can support the learning element of a structured induction and onboarding programme.

[CTA: View the Caredemy Care Certificate Online Training Course]

[CTA: Download the Overseas Care Worker Onboarding Decision Tool]

Sources and further guidance

Immigration and sponsorship information should link directly to current GOV.UK/Home Office Skilled Worker sponsor guidance and the applicable Immigration Rules.

Right-to-work information should link to the current GOV.UK Employer’s Guide to Right to Work Checks.

Care Certificate information should link to Skills for Care’s Care Certificate Standards 2025, including the current 16 standards and self-assessment resources.

Staffing, induction and competence requirements should link to CQC Regulation 18: Staffing.

Information concerning nurses trained outside the UK should link to the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s registration guidance for internationally trained applicants.

Information on displaced international care workers should link to the Department of Health and Social Care International Recruitment Regional Fund 2026–27 guidance.

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