"Mandatory training" gets used loosely in care. Some of it is required by law, some is required by CQC's regulations, and some is training your agency or your commissioner decides is essential. Skills for Care's statutory and mandatory training guide separates these and sets out which topics every adult social care worker needs, which depend on the role, and how often to refresh them. Its current version is the December 2025 guide (PDF), and most of this post follows it.
This guide is written for home care agencies registered with CQC in England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own regulators and workforce bodies, covered in our guide to compliance in the four UK nations.
Statutory and mandatory: the difference
The Skills for Care guide defines the two terms.
- Statutory training is usually required by law, or by a statutory body under specific legislation. The guide names the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
- Mandatory training is compulsory training that an organisation or its commissioners decide is essential for delivering services safely. It includes training set out in the fundamental standards, such as Regulation 18.
The legal base is short. Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires an employer to provide such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of its employees. Regulation 13 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 adds that health and safety training must be given when someone is recruited and when they are exposed to new or increased risks, for example a change of responsibilities, new equipment or a new system of work, and that it must be repeated periodically where appropriate.
The "when someone is recruited" half of that is as much a recruitment question as a training one, because it only works if the new starter reaches their first shift with the induction already booked.
What CQC Regulation 18 asks for
CQC's Regulation 18 page says staff must receive the support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal necessary to carry out their role. Its guidance for providers says, among other things, that:
- providers must have an induction programme that prepares staff for their role
- training needs must be assessed at the start of employment and reviewed at appropriate intervals
- where appropriate, staff must be supervised until they can show they are competent to work unsupervised
- all staff must receive training in how to interact appropriately with people with a learning disability and autistic people, at a level appropriate to their role
- staff should be supported to take part in statutory training, other mandatory training defined by the provider, and any additional training needed for the people they support, including first aid training
- completed training should be monitored, and action taken quickly when requirements are not being met
That last point is the one that catches agencies out. Having a training policy is not enough. CQC expects you to know who is out of date and to have done something about it.
Training every care worker needs
Part 1 of the Skills for Care guide lists the topics required by all workers. For a home care agency these are:
| Topic | What it should cover, in summary | Refresher, per the guide |
|---|---|---|
| Health and safety awareness | Own and others' responsibilities, risk assessment, hazardous substances, security, own wellbeing. If no formal first aid or basic life support training, what to do in an accident or sudden illness. | When a new risk or activity is introduced, and at least every three years |
| Fire safety | Promoting fire safety in the work setting and what to do in a fire, relevant to the setting, which for home care is the person's own home | When a new risk is introduced, and at least every three years |
| Moving and handling objects | Moving and handling equipment and objects safely | When a new risk or activity is introduced, and at least every three years |
| Infection prevention and control | The chain of infection, hand hygiene, correct use of PPE, and procedures such as cleaning, spills and clinical waste, relevant to where the person lives | When a new risk or activity is introduced, and at least every three years |
| Adult safeguarding | Principles, reducing the likelihood of abuse, your policies, roles, how to respond, restrictive practices | When needs change or a new risk or activity is introduced, and at least every three years |
| Child safeguarding | What to do if a worker suspects a child or young person is being abused or neglected, as in Care Certificate Standard 11 | At least every three years, unless the worker has achieved the Care Certificate standards or a recognised qualification in that time |
| Learning disability and autism awareness | How to interact appropriately with people with a learning disability and autistic people, at a level appropriate to the role | As set out in the Oliver McGowan code of practice |
The child safeguarding topic surprises some adult-only agencies. Your carers go into homes where children live or visit, so they need to know what to do.
For learning disability and autism awareness, the guide points to the Department of Health and Social Care's Oliver McGowan code of practice, the code of practice on statutory learning disability and autism training. Skills for Care's frequently asked questions say this applies to all CQC-registered providers, even if they do not currently support people with these needs.
Training that depends on the role
The same part of the guide lists topics that are needed when a worker's duties include them. In home care, most of them usually are.
| Topic | When it is needed | Refresher, per the guide |
|---|---|---|
| Basic life support and first aid | The employer decides how many people need training and to what level | Basic life support when identified or at least annually; formal first aid every three years |
| Assisting and moving people | When the worker supports people to move, including with equipment | When needs change, a new risk, activity or piece of equipment is introduced, and at least every three years |
| Food hygiene | When the worker handles, prepares or provides food, including supporting people to prepare it | When a new risk or activity is introduced, and every three years |
| Medication administration | When the worker supports people with medicines | When needs, risks, activities or policy change. If there has been no further training within a year, review training needs and competence |
For first aid, the guide notes that it is the employer's responsibility to decide how many people need training and to what level. HSE's first aid needs assessment page sets out how to work that out. A carer working alone in someone's home cannot rely on a first aider in the office, which is worth reflecting in that assessment.
For assisting and moving people, HSE's moving and handling guidance for health and social care covers the employer's duties, including assessing the risk to the person being moved as well as to the worker.
The three-year rule and qualifications
Two points in the guide save agencies time and money.
First, for most part 1 topics the guide gives a minimum refresher period of three years, with earlier training when a new risk or activity is introduced. It does not ask for annual refreshers on everything.
Second, if a worker has completed a recognised adult social care qualification that included the topic, they do not need to refresh that topic for another three years from completion. Skills for Care says this is to reduce duplicated learning. A carer who has just finished a qualification covering infection prevention and control does not need to sit your annual e-learning on it as well.
For training outside part 1, the guide says there are no advised refresher periods and it is the employer's job to decide. It suggests reviewing when there is a new risk, when people's needs change, when the care environment or the team has changed significantly, when new care activities are required, when legislation or guidance changes, or when the worker is not judged competent.
Training for the people you support
Part 2 of the guide covers additional training that the employer defines, based on the service and the people who draw on it, including anything commissioners require in their contracts. The guide is clear that in CQC-regulated settings it remains the provider's legal responsibility to identify and provide it.
Its examples, which it says are not exhaustive, include communication needs, nutrition and hydration, positive behavioural support, personal care such as oral health, person-centred care and care planning, mental capacity, equality and dignity, end of life care, dementia and other specific conditions, digital skills, functional skills, and GDPR and data protection.
In practice, this list should come from your care plans. If you take on a client with a catheter, a PEG feed or epilepsy rescue medicine, the carers on that package need training for it before they go, not at the next annual update.
Training is not competence
The guide says employers must also check and evidence that workers are competent to carry out their role on an ongoing basis, and that this forms part of formal supervision. It describes formal competency checks as observations of practice while the worker carries out key tasks, such as assisting and moving or medication administration, alongside informal checks like discussions in supervision.
It adds two specific requirements:
- Fire safety: practice fire drills at least yearly. In home care that means each carer knowing what to do in a fire in a client's home, as well as in your office.
- Medicines: NICE guidance says designated staff should only administer medicines once they have had the necessary training and been assessed as competent by the employer. NICE NG67, on managing medicines for adults receiving social care in the community, includes assessment through direct observation.
How often to check competence is for you to decide and write into your training policy, based on how complex the task is and whether anything has changed. Our medication management guide covers the medicines side in more detail.
Where the Care Certificate fits
The Care Certificate is the induction framework for new care workers in England. Its standards overlap with several statutory and mandatory topics, such as safeguarding, infection prevention and control, and health and safety. It does not replace them. A new carer still needs, for example, assisting and moving training for the equipment they will use, and medication training and a competency check before they give medicines. Our Care Certificate guide explains how to run it in home care.
A practical setup for a home care agency
- Write your list down. Take the part 1 topics, add the role-dependent ones that apply to each job role, and add anything your care plans and commissioner contracts require. Record it in your training policy, as the guide recommends.
- Set a refresher period for each course. Use the guide's periods for part 1 topics, and set your own for part 2 topics with a reason you could explain to an inspector.
- Record qualifications. Note what each recognised qualification covered and when it was completed, so you do not book training the guide says is not needed.
- Plan competency checks. Decide which tasks need an observed check, who does it, and how often. Tie it to supervision.
- Watch expiry dates. Review who is due before they lapse, and decide what happens if someone is out of date, for example taking them off visits that involve that task until they are refreshed.
- Keep the evidence. Certificates, observation records and supervision notes should be easy to find for any carer, not spread across inboxes.
How homecareOS helps
homecareOS does not sell or deliver training courses. It records the training your carers complete, whoever provides it. On the training features page you can see what is included today:
- you choose which courses are mandatory for your agency, add your own courses, and apply the list to existing staff in one step
- certificates are flagged as expiring from 30 days before the expiry date, and as expired once it passes, on the carer record and the staff compliance screen
- a training matrix report shows every carer against every course
- a five-stage induction checklist on each carer's file, with each task signed off
- the Care Certificate tracker lists all sixteen standards, each with a status, assessor and notes
- training sits alongside DBS, right to work, references and supervisions, so one screen shows whether a carer is ready to work
Book a 15-minute demo to see the training matrix with a full team of demo carers, or call Phil on 01905 674704.
Sources
- Skills for Care: Statutory and mandatory training and the Statutory and mandatory training guide, December 2025 (PDF), for the definitions, the topic tables, refresher periods, the qualification rule, part 2 and competency checks.
- CQC: Regulation 18, Staffing, for the regulation and CQC's guidance on induction, training, supervision and monitoring.
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 2 and Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 13, for the statutory duty to train.
- Skills for Care: Frequently asked questions and GOV.UK: Oliver McGowan code of practice, for learning disability and autism training.
- HSE: First aid needs assessment and HSE: Moving and handling in health and social care, for first aid and moving people.
- NICE NG67 recommendations, for medicines training and competency.
- Skills for Care: Care Certificate, for the induction framework.