What are the mandatory training requirements for care homes?
Mandatory Training Requirements for Care Homes in England
Plan the right training for every care home role.
Care homes in England must ensure staff have the training, support and competence needed to carry out their duties safely. Common training areas include safeguarding adults, infection prevention and control, fire safety, health and safety, moving and handling, and person-centred care. Additional requirements depend on each employeeโs responsibilities and the needs of residents.
There is no single course bundle that establishes compliance for every care home. Managers need to identify what each role requires, provide local induction and assess practical competence where necessary.
This guide explains how to build that plan for residential and nursing homes. For broader regulatory guidance and course options across care settings, see our CQC mandatory training guide.
What does mandatory training mean in a care home?
Three types of learning usually form the training plan:
- Statutory training: learning needed to meet duties arising from legislation, such as relevant workplace safety requirements.
- Mandatory training: learning the employer requires staff to complete to work safely and follow the homeโs policies.
- Role-specific training: learning linked to particular responsibilities, equipment or residentsโ needs, such as medicines administration or pressure ulcer prevention.
These categories overlap. A medicines course, for example, may be mandatory for staff administering medicines without being required at the same level for the kitchen team.
Under CQC Regulation 18: Staffing, staff must receive appropriate training, support, supervision and professional development. Providers must assess individual learning needs at the start of employment and review them at appropriate intervals. www.cqc.org.uk
The practical question is: what must this person know and demonstrate to carry out their actual duties safely?
Which training topics should care homes consider?
Start by reviewing these areas against your staff roles, risk assessments and residentsโ care needs:
- Safeguarding adults and reporting concerns.
- Infection prevention and control.
- Fire safety and the homeโs emergency arrangements.
- Health and safety, including relevant manual handling risks.
- Moving and handling people for staff assisting residents.
- Equality, diversity, dignity and person-centred care.
- Communication, confidentiality and secure record keeping.
- Consent, mental capacity and relevant deprivation of liberty procedures.
- Learning disability and autism training appropriate to each staff memberโs role.
- First aid and basic life support arrangements appropriate to the service.
- Food hygiene, nutrition and hydration where relevant to duties.
- Medicines training for staff with medicines responsibilities.
This is a planning list, rather than a legal checklist prescribing identical courses for everyone. Add training such as dementia care, falls prevention, pressure care, end-of-life care or specialist clinical skills where the service requires it.
Learning disability and autism training
CQC-registered providers must ensure staff receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their roles. The Oliver McGowan Code of Practice sets standards for meeting this requirement. Care Quality Commission
When choosing training, check its content and delivery against the Code. A general awareness module or Care Certificate standard should not automatically be treated as meeting the complete role-appropriate requirement.
Care-home training requirements by staff role
Use the table below as a starting point for your own training matrix. It gives illustrative planning examples; the final requirements must reflect the personโs duties and your service.
| Staff role | Training to consider | Local instruction or competence evidence | Basis for review |
|---|---|---|---|
| Care assistants and support workers | Safeguarding, infection control, fire safety, person-centred care, consent, moving people, nutrition and relevant resident needs | Observe assigned care tasks, including safe transfers and respectful personal care | Role or resident changes, observations, incidents and relevant guidance |
| Senior carers and medicines staff | Care-worker training plus medicines, accurate records, escalation and supervision responsibilities | Assess medicines competence and use of the homeโs records and procedures | Annual medicines competence review, plus earlier review when needed |
| Registered nurses | Relevant core learning plus clinical skills matched to residentsโ needs | Assess relevant procedures, equipment use and clinical responsibilities | Professional requirements, clinical guidance and changes in duties |
| Registered managers and deputies | Safeguarding oversight, training planning, supervision, risk management and medicines governance where relevant | Evidence of reviewing gaps, arranging assessments and following up actions | Service changes, audits, incidents and identified learning needs |
| Catering and kitchen staff | Food hygiene, allergens, infection control, fire safety and relevant workplace safety | Safe food preparation, cleaning and communication about residentsโ dietary requirements | Food-safety procedures, task changes and audit findings |
| Housekeeping, laundry and maintenance staff | Relevant infection control, hazardous substances, waste handling, manual handling, fire safety and safeguarding awareness | Safe use of chemicals and equipment, waste processes and reporting concerns | Risk assessments, equipment or product changes and observed practice |
Learning disability and autism training appropriate to the role should also be included across the staff groups. First-aid coverage and training should be planned for the whole service, including different shifts.
Find learning for your staffโs responsibilities: Browse Caredemyโs care home training courses.
Induction and the Care Certificate
New employees need an induction that prepares them for your home. Cover local policies, emergency procedures, reporting routes, equipment and the needs of the residents they will support.
For workers new to care, the Care Certificate provides a framework for induction learning and assessment. The standards were updated in March 2025 and now include 16 standards, with learning disability and autism awareness added as Standard 16.
Skills for Care explains that workers must be assessed on both what they know and what they do. Completing online learning can support the knowledge element; relevant workplace assessment must also be arranged. skillsforcare.org.uk
For experienced recruits, review previous learning and evidence, then identify gaps and local induction needs. Agency and bank staff also need appropriate checks and instruction before carrying out assigned duties.
Support induction learning: Explore Caredemyโs Care Certificate online course and plan the workplace assessment alongside it.
Do residential and nursing homes need different training?
Both need staff who can provide safe, person-centred care. The differences arise from the care delivered and the tasks staff perform.
A residential home supporting people with dementia may need learning focused on communication, distress, falls and nutrition. A nursing home may also require clinical competence in areas such as wound care or specialist equipment, depending on residentsโ assessed needs.
Build the plan from your serviceโs actual work. A clinical course belongs in a staff memberโs programme when it supports an authorised responsibility for which suitable assessment and supervision are available.
How often should care-home staff refresh their training?
There is no single annual renewal rule covering every care-home training topic. Set the review schedule using relevant legislation, topic-specific guidance, professional requirements, risk assessments and your training policy.
For example, CQCโs medicines guidance describes an annual review of the knowledge, skills and competence of staff supporting peopleโs medicines needs. This is a review of competence, rather than simply a requirement to collect another online certificate. Care Quality Commission
Earlier learning or reassessment may be needed when:
- An employee takes on a new responsibility.
- A residentโs needs or care plan change.
- New equipment, medicines processes or procedures are introduced.
- An incident, complaint or observation identifies a gap.
- Relevant guidance changes or a worker returns after a significant absence.
Record why each review interval has been chosen. Include practical assessment dates as well as course completion dates.
Can mandatory care-home training be completed online?
Online learning can support induction, refresher knowledge and awareness across many topics. It also allows staff on different shifts to complete learning at suitable times.
Practical tasks need appropriate instruction and assessment. For example, a worker helping a resident transfer needs to use the agreed equipment and follow the personโs handling plan safely. HSEโs moving and handling guidance connects training with risk assessment, equipment and monitoring of practice. HSE
Similarly, staff administering medicines need assessment of their ability to carry out that responsibility. Designated workplace first-aiders need training suitable for the homeโs first-aid needs assessment; an online awareness certificate alone should not be used as evidence of that practical preparation. Care Quality Commission
A course certificate records learning completed. Combine it with the local instruction, supervision and competence evidence relevant to the job.
Worked example: planning training for a residential care home
Imagine a 30-bed residential home supporting older people, including residents with dementia. Its manager is reviewing the plans for three employees.
| Employee | Learning assigned | Workplace follow-up |
|---|---|---|
| Amira, a new care assistant | Induction and Care Certificate learning, relevant core topics, dementia awareness and moving people | Supervised care practice and assessment of relevant Care Certificate outcomes and transfers |
| Ben, an experienced senior carer taking on medicines duties | A review of previous learning, medicines training and local administration procedures | Competence assessment before independent medicines duties, with an annual review scheduled |
| Claire, a new kitchen assistant | Food hygiene, allergens, infection control, fire safety, safeguarding awareness and relevant safety learning | Observation of food handling, cleaning and communication about dietary requirements |
The manager also checks that each employeeโs learning disability and autism training is appropriate to their role.
Amira and Claire have different responsibilities, so their full training programmes differ. Benโs completed medicines course is followed by a separate competence assessment.
The training matrix records course progress, practical assessment status, supervision arrangements and review dates. An employee can therefore show as having completed the learning while still awaiting assessment for a particular task.
A practical checklist for care-home managers
- List each role and the duties employees actually perform.
- Review residentsโ needs, service risks and relevant guidance.
- Assign core and role-specific learning.
- Check previous learning and identify induction gaps.
- Arrange local instruction, supervision and practical assessments.
- Record completion, competence decisions and review dates.
- Follow up outstanding actions and revisit the plan when circumstances change.
Keep certificates alongside assessment records, induction evidence and actions from supervision. Together, these help explain how training supports safe care in your home.
Frequently asked questions
Does CQC publish one mandatory course list for all care homes?
Regulation 18 requires appropriate training and support for staff to perform their duties. Your training plan must reflect the service, staff responsibilities and residentsโ needs, alongside any specific legal training requirements. A standard course list is a starting point for planning.
Must every care-home employee complete the same courses?
Training should match duties. Staff may share common learning, but a kitchen assistant, nurse and medicines lead will also need different instruction and competence checks.
Is the Care Certificate the same as mandatory training?
The Care Certificate is an induction framework covering knowledge, skills and behaviours. It overlaps with several common training areas, but the employer must also identify local, role-specific and ongoing learning needs. It is separate from the Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate qualification. skillsforcare.org.uk
Do all employees need medicines training?
Staff need learning appropriate to their responsibilities. Those managing or administering medicines need relevant training and assessed competence. Other employees need to understand the boundaries of their role and how to report concerns.
Is every course required annually?
Review intervals differ. Use topic-specific guidance and your serviceโs risks to set them, and arrange earlier learning or assessment where needed. Medicines competence has a specific annual review recommendation.
Do agency and bank workers need local induction?
Check their relevant training and competence, and provide instruction on the homeโs procedures, equipment and residentsโ needs before assigning duties. Previous certificates do not establish familiarity with your service.
Does completing a training bundle make a care home CQC compliant?
Training contributes to safe care, but course completion alone cannot establish compliance. Managers also need appropriate staffing, local procedures, supervision and evidence that employees can perform their responsibilities safely.
Plan and manage your care-home training with Caredemy
Caredemy provides CPD-accredited online courses to support care-home induction, refresher learning and role-specific knowledge.
For organisations, Team Training offers course allocation, progress reporting, a colour-coded training matrix and bulk certificate downloads. Subscription options also include free learner replacement when a staff member leaves. CPD Accredited
Use these tools to organise online learning alongside your homeโs workplace assessments and supervision records.
Explore Team Training for your care home or call 0203 488 7599 to discuss your requirements.
Sources and further reading
- CQC: Regulation 18 โ Staffing
- Skills for Care: Statutory and mandatory training
- Skills for Care: Care Certificate standards
- Department of Health and Social Care: Oliver McGowan Code of Practice
- CQC: Training and competence in medicines optimisation
- HSE: Managing moving and handling risks
- HSE: Employer first-aid responsibilities
Guidance checked: 4 October 2026.