What Is the Care Certificate?
The Care Certificate is a set of 15 standards that all new care workers in England are expected to complete within their first 12 weeks of employment. Introduced in 2015 following the recommendations of the Cavendish Review, it replaced the previous Common Induction Standards and replaced the National Minimum Training Standards for Healthcare Support Workers.
The Care Certificate is not a qualification — it is an induction framework. Completing it demonstrates that a new care worker has the fundamental knowledge, skills, and values needed to provide safe, compassionate, person-centred care.
The 15 Standards
The Care Certificate covers the following 15 standards:
- Understand your role
- Your personal development
- Duty of care
- Equality and diversity
- Work in a person-centred way
- Communication
- Privacy and dignity
- Fluids and nutrition
- Awareness of mental health, dementia, and learning disability
- Safeguarding adults
- Safeguarding children
- Basic life support
- Health and safety
- Handling information
- Infection prevention and control
Who Needs to Complete the Care Certificate?
The Care Certificate applies to all new health and social care support workers in England — whether you work in a hospital, a care home, a domiciliary care agency, or a community service. This includes:
- Care workers and home carers
- Healthcare assistants
- Support workers
- Personal assistants employed through direct payments
Registered nurses, occupational therapists, and other regulated professionals do not need to complete the Care Certificate, as their professional registration covers equivalent requirements.
How Is It Completed?
The Care Certificate is completed through a combination of:
- Knowledge: Learning the underpinning knowledge for each standard, usually through e-learning, workbooks, or guided study
- Skills: Demonstrating the practical skills in the workplace, signed off by a competent assessor
- Workplace evidence: Completing evidence templates that show you have applied the learning in practice
The Care Certificate must be assessed in the workplace. Online learning alone is not sufficient — your employer or a qualified assessor must sign off each standard following workplace observation.
Why Does It Matter for CQC?
CQC inspectors assess staffing under Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Under the Single Assessment Framework, evidence of staff induction and the Care Certificate maps directly to Quality Statement 6 (Safe and effective staffing).
During inspections, CQC will ask to see evidence that new staff have completed the Care Certificate — and providers who cannot produce this evidence risk poor ratings against the “Safe” and “Well-Led” key questions.
Getting Started
Custoris Academy offers a comprehensive online Care Certificate programme covering all 15 standards with guided learning, assessment activities, and workplace evidence templates. Our programme is designed to be completed alongside your work, with your employer or a designated assessor signing off your competency.
Ready to begin your Care Certificate? Browse our Care Certificate course or contact us to discuss organisational enrolment for your team.