Care sector
Mandatory training for care home staff: a practical UK guide
What care home training usually covers, how to decide what each role needs, and how to keep it current without a spreadsheet.
· 7 min read
Illustrative photo.
There is no single official list
Care home managers often search for 'the' mandatory training list. In practice, there isn't one list for every home. Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 requires registered providers to deploy enough suitably qualified, competent and experienced staff, with the training they need for their role.
That means each home decides what its staff need, based on the people it supports, its own risks and current guidance, and has to be able to show it.
Subjects most care homes include
Most care homes cover areas such as safeguarding adults, moving and handling, fire safety, infection prevention and control, health and safety, food hygiene, first aid awareness, medication awareness for staff who handle medicines, the Mental Capacity Act, equality and diversity, and information governance.
Many also include dementia awareness, falls prevention, nutrition and hydration, and end-of-life care, depending on who lives in the home.
Learning disability and autism training
The Health and Care Act 2022 introduced a requirement for CQC-registered providers to ensure staff receive training on learning disability and autism appropriate to their role. The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training is the government's recommended route. Check the latest guidance for what applies to your service.
Match training to roles, not people
List each role, such as care assistant, senior carer, nurse, kitchen, domestic, maintenance and management, and write down what each one must complete and when it needs refreshing. New starters then get the right training automatically, and gaps show up straight away.
A training matrix is the simplest way to see this at a glance.
Keep the evidence in one place
Inspectors and commissioners want to see that training is current, not just that it happened once. Keep completion dates, certificates and upcoming expiry dates in one record that a manager can produce on the day.
Common questions
- Is there a legal list of mandatory training for care homes?
- No single list applies to every home. Providers must make sure staff have the training they need for their role under Regulation 18, and decide this from their service's risks and current guidance.
- Do care home staff need learning disability and autism training?
- The Health and Care Act 2022 requires CQC-registered providers to ensure staff receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role. Check current government guidance for your service.
General guidance only, not legal advice. Check current guidance from your regulator for your service.