Cheapest Online Care Training Providers UK: Price vs Value Compared 2026

Compare UK care training prices and find the best value for your team.

The cheapest online care training provider depends on how many employees you have, how many courses each person needs, whether you require the Care Certificate and whether you need an LMS to manage training compliance.

For a single course, providers advertising very low bulk rates include Careskills Academy from 99p per course, Social Care TV from £1.49 and Caredemy from £1.45 at sufficiently high purchasing volumes. These are “from” prices and are not necessarily available when buying one course for one learner.

For organisations requiring several courses per employee, an unlimited annual package can be cheaper. Current advertised options range from very low-cost restricted training packages to broader subscriptions covering large course libraries, Care Certificate training and compliance-management tools.

That means there is no meaningful answer to “who charges the least?” until you know exactly what training your organisation needs. A £5 course may be excellent value for someone needing one course. It could cost £75 per employee if that employee needs 15 courses.

This guide compares the lowest published prices we could verify in September 2026 and calculates what different purchasing models can actually cost. Prices and offers were checked in September 2026. Prices can change and some providers quote excluding VAT. “From” prices should never be assumed to apply to every organisation or purchasing volume. Obtain a current quotation before purchasing.

Cheapest online care training providers: quick comparison

Sources: current provider pricing pages checked September 2026. Caredemy publishes volume pricing down to £1.45 per course and team subscriptions with LMS functionality. Social Care TV currently starts at £9.49 for low-volume credits but advertises prices down to £1.49 at volume. Learn2Excel lists £5.99 PAYG, £3 at 500+ courses and subscription pricing from £4.19 per user/month at 100+ employees. The Mandatory Training Group currently advertises its Standard eLearning plan at £7.50 + VAT per user annually and Premium at £19.50, although buyers should compare the courses included with their actual training matrix rather than assuming either package covers every requirement.

Cheapest individual care courses

If you need only one or two courses, PAYG is usually the place to start. Learn2Excel currently advertises standard online eLearning at £5.99 per course. Social Care TV charges £9.49 per credit when buying 1–9 credits, although its bulk price can eventually fall to £1.49.

Caredemy’s standard individual course price is generally £15 + VAT, but its automatic bulk discounts reduce this significantly as more course enrolments are purchased:

This demonstrates why “cheapest course” and “cheapest provider” are different questions. For an individual buying one course, Caredemy’s £15 headline price will not be the cheapest option in this comparison. For an employer purchasing 1,000 course enrolments, Caredemy’s effective price falls to £1.99 each.

Cheapest training for small teams

For a small team, the number of courses required per employee matters more than headcount alone. Consider 10 employees:

• If each employee needs 5 courses, that is 50 course enrolments. Using Caredemy’s published PAYG volume pricing: 50 × £6.49 = £324.50 + VAT.
• If each employee needs 10 courses: 100 × £4.99 = £499 + VAT.
• At 15 courses: 150 × £4.99 = £748.50 + VAT.

Alternatively, Caredemy’s published 10–30 learner team subscription is £5 per learner/month: 10 × £5 × 12 = £600 + VAT annually.

Therefore, for 10 employees, Caredemy PAYG is cheaper at 5 or 10 courses per employee, while the unlimited package becomes much closer once each learner reaches around 15 courses. The subscription also adds features and protections that PAYG pricing alone does not measure.

Careskills Academy’s current main pricing page lists 5–10 staff at £6.67 per learner/month, equivalent to approximately £800.40 annually for 10 employees. The Mandatory Training Group’s £7.50 annual Standard plan would theoretically cost only £75 + VAT for 10 users, provided its defined course package contains all the courses those employees actually require.

Cheapest training for 25–50 staff

At 25–50 employees, bulk course purchasing becomes considerably more competitive.

For 25 employees requiring 10 courses each (250 enrolments), Caredemy’s 250+ rate is £3.99, producing an annual PAYG training cost of 250 × £3.99 = £997.50 + VAT.

For 50 employees completing 10 courses (500 enrolments), the applicable Caredemy published rate falls to £2.49: 500 × £2.49 = £1,245 + VAT.

By comparison, Caredemy’s unlimited team subscription would cost approximately:

• 25 employees × £5 × 12 = £1,500 + VAT
• 50 employees × £4 × 12 = £2,400 + VAT

Careskills Academy currently publishes £4.58 per learner/month for organisations with 21–50 employees. That produces annual costs of approximately £1,374 for 25 employees and £2,748 for 50 employees. For organisations in this range, therefore, bulk PAYG deserves serious consideration rather than automatically assuming an unlimited subscription is cheaper.

Cheapest training for 100+ staff

Volume changes the calculation again. At 100 employees completing 5 courses each (500 enrolments), Caredemy’s published £2.49 bulk rate equals £1,245 + VAT. At 10 courses each (1,000 enrolments), Caredemy's rate is £1.99 (£1,990 + VAT), and at 15 courses each (1,500 enrolments), it remains £1.99 (£2,985 + VAT).

Caredemy’s published team subscription rate for 51–100 learners is £3 per learner/month: 100 × £3 × 12 = £3,600 + VAT. Careskills Academy also currently lists £3 per learner/month for 51–100 staff, producing the same headline annual calculation of £3,600.

This produces a slightly counter-intuitive result: at sufficiently high purchasing volumes, PAYG can remain cheaper than unlimited training even when employees complete 15 courses each. But that is only true if PAYG provides everything else the organisation needs.

Annual cost examples: 10, 25, 50 and 100 employees

The following table uses Caredemy’s current published PAYG volume bands because these allow exact calculations without inventing quotation-only prices.

PAYG versus unlimited: annual comparison

These figures illustrate course cost rather than claiming every package is functionally equivalent. Unlimited plans may include Care Certificate training, additional courses and LMS features that PAYG purchases do not include on identical terms.

Cheapest unlimited online care training

“Unlimited” sounds simple, but there are two questions to ask:

1. Unlimited courses – but which courses?
2. Unlimited learners – or unlimited courses for a fixed number of licensed learners?

The Mandatory Training Group currently advertises a Standard eLearning plan at £7.50 + VAT per user/year and Premium at £19.50. The Standard healthcare package lists 15 courses, while Premium provides a much broader selection. Online Care Courses advertises subscriptions starting from 99p per user/month, although its website states that prices depend on the package and number of courses required.

Caredemy publishes team subscription pricing of £5 per learner/month for 10–30 staff, £4 for 31–50 and £3 for 51–100, with bespoke quotations for larger organisations. Its subscription provides access to the entire course library rather than a small mandatory-only bundle. Careskills Academy’s current pricing page advertises £6.67 per month for 5–10 employees, £5.83 for 11–20, £4.58 for 21–50, £3 for 51–100 and £2.92 for 101–150.

Interestingly, some Careskills marketing pages still advertise prices “from 47p” per user/month and PAYG courses “from 99p”, so organisations should obtain a current quotation rather than assuming those lowest advertised rates apply to their workforce size.

Why £5 per course isn’t necessarily £5 per employee

This is the most important calculation in this guide: a £5 course costs £5 per enrolment, not necessarily £5 per employee for their annual training.

For 100 employees completing 15 courses: 100 × 15 × £5 = £7,500 annually. That £5 headline price suddenly looks very different beside an unlimited package costing £35–£60 per employee annually.

Additional cost factors to consider:

• Multiple courses: Care staff commonly require combinations of safeguarding, infection prevention and control, moving and handling, health and safety, medication, food safety, equality, dementia, mental capacity and role-specific training. Employers must ensure compliance with guidance from regulators such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and health standards outlined by the NHS and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under UK law via Legislation.gov.uk.
• Renewals and refresher training: Training is not a one-off induction cost. Calculate the multi-year total cost, not simply onboarding today.
• Care Certificate charges: Some providers include the Care Certificate within unlimited training, while others charge separately.
• Staff turnover: If a 100-person care organisation replaces 30 employees a year, buying new £35 licences adds 30 × £35 = £1,050. Caredemy’s team subscription includes free learner replacement, preserving training value.
• LMS costs and administration: Spreadsheet management wastes manager time. Caredemy’s team platform includes LMS functionality, compliance reporting matrices, time reporting, and bulk certificate downloads.

Care Certificate pricing compared

The Care Certificate was updated in March 2025 and now contains 16 standards, including the new standard covering awareness of learning disability and autism.

Completing online learning is not, by itself, sufficient evidence that an employee has achieved the Care Certificate. Official guidance from GOV.UK and workforce bodies emphasizes that workplace assessment and practical competence remain essential.

Credits vs subscriptions: which is cheaper?

Credits work well when training demand is predictable but low. Social Care TV uses a credit system (from £9.49 down to £1.49 at high volume). Caredemy also offers credits from £1 per course per learner with no expiry date.

Subscriptions make budgeting easier because annual costs are fixed per employee. The strongest procurement strategy is calculating both:

• PAYG/Credits: Employees × Expected Annual Enrolments × Credit Price.
• Subscription: Employees × Annual Licence Cost + Any Additional Fees.

What is actually included in the advertised price?

Two providers advertising "£3 training" may sell completely different products. Always audit:

What about eCert Training?

eCert is positioned as a low-cost provider, advertising annual training "as low as £35 per learner annually". However, during our September 2026 check, eCert’s pricing page displayed £0 per seat alongside £15 per Care Certificate credit. Due to conflicting figures, confirm direct commercial quotes before committing.

Cheapest vs best value: they are not the same question

Choosing cheap training is rational if it meets all compliance and support needs. However, lowest advertised unit price rarely equals lowest total annual cost.

For single courses, Caredemy is not the absolute lowest upfront. But for volume purchases, Caredemy rates drop to £2.49 (500+), £1.99 (1,000+) and £1.45 (2,000+). Furthermore, Caredemy subscriptions include the full 200+ course library, Care Certificate, free learner replacement and compliance automation.

Which pricing model is likely to be cheapest for you?

Frequently asked questions

Final verdict

There is no universal cheapest online care training provider in the UK because business pricing models vary. For single courses, compare PAYG. For growing organizations (25–100+ staff), evaluate total annual costs, taking into account employee turnover, Care Certificate needs, and LMS management features.

Caredemy delivers exceptional high-volume value with PAYG rates down to £1.45 and full-featured team subscriptions designed to streamline care compliance.