Overview
The Care Certificate is the agreed starting point for anyone new to health and social care. It sets out the knowledge, skills and behaviours new workers need to deliver safe, compassionate, person-centred care, and is expected by employers and the CQC across care homes, domiciliary care, supported living and NHS settings. This course covers the knowledge element of all 15 standards, from understanding your role and duty of care through to safeguarding, infection prevention, basic life support and person-centred working, giving new starters a consistent, inspection-ready foundation.
What you’ll learn
By the end of this course your team will be able to:
- Describe your role, responsibilities and the values that underpin good care
- Work in a person-centred way that protects each individual's privacy and dignity
- Communicate effectively and handle personal information correctly and securely
- Recognise your duty of care and how to safeguard adults and children
- Apply the essentials of health and safety, infection prevention and control, and basic life support
- Support fluids, nutrition, mental health and your own ongoing personal development
Who is this course for?
New care assistants, support workers and healthcare assistants beginning an induction in a care home, domiciliary care, supported living or NHS setting, plus existing care staff refreshing their knowledge of the 15 standards and providers inducting teams to a consistent standard. No prior experience or qualifications are needed.
Legal & compliance context
The Care Certificate was developed jointly by Skills for Care, Skills for Health and Health Education England as the agreed induction standard for the sector. It supports the fundamental standards set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 and the expectations of the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This online course covers the knowledge element of all 15 standards; practical competence is observed and signed off in the workplace by the employer.
Course content
- Standard 1 – Understand your role
- Standard 2 – Your personal development
- Standard 3 – Duty of care
- Standard 4 – Equality and diversity
- Standard 5 – Work in a person-centred way
- Standard 6 – Communication
- Standard 7 – Privacy and dignity
- Standard 8 – Fluids and nutrition
- Standard 9 – Awareness of mental health, dementia and learning disability
- Standard 10 – Safeguarding adults
- Standard 11 – Safeguarding children
- Standard 12 – Basic life support
- Standard 13 – Health and safety
- Standard 14 – Handling information
- Standard 15 – Infection prevention and control
Format & certification
- CPD-accredited eLearning
- Self-paced, approximately 6 hours
- Works on any device (desktop, tablet, mobile)
- Personalised certificate to download instantly on completion
Frequently asked questions
What is the Care Certificate?
The Care Certificate is a set of 15 nationally agreed standards that define the knowledge, skills and behaviours expected of new workers in health and social care, giving every new starter a consistent foundation for safe, person-centred care.
Who needs to complete the Care Certificate?
It is designed for new care assistants, support workers and healthcare assistants during their induction, and is widely expected by employers and the CQC across care homes, domiciliary care, supported living and NHS settings.
Do I need any experience or qualifications to start?
No. There are no entry requirements. The course is written for people new to care and starts from the basics, so you can begin with no prior experience or qualifications.
Does this course cover the workplace assessment?
This course delivers the knowledge element of all 15 standards online. The Care Certificate also requires your competence to be observed and signed off in the workplace by your employer or assessor, which sits alongside this training.
Is this course CPD accredited?
Yes. It is CPD accredited and awards a personalised certificate worth 6 CPD hours on completion.