What is the Care Certificate?

What is the Care Certificate?

The Care Certificate is used by providers of social care to induct and assess members of staff. It is made up of the agreed set of 15 care certificate standards that define the knowledge, skills and behaviours that are expected from people performing different roles in health and social care. It doesn’t replace your own induction, it just forms an important part of it.

How to get Care Certificate

In order to achieve the Care Certificate you will need to undergo training, including the opportunity to practice certain skills. Then, you will be assessed on your knowledge, skills and behaviours by a CQC Care Certificate Assessor.

Although this may sound daunting, if you follow the training and try your best you should find earning your Care Certificate an interesting experience that makes you feel more confident and equipped in your new caring profession. 

Care Certificate assessment methods vary depending on what is being assessed. For example if it is a case of you needing to know something to meet the standards, you may simply be asked and your answer assessed. On the other hand, meeting another standard may require you to show that you know how to do something. 

It is up to the employer to determine and tell you when and how you will be assessed, and to provide you with the necessary learning for each of the Care Certificate Standards. 

As we explore below, while the Care Certificate may not be mandatory in a formal sense, care providers are still expected to use it. In order to stay on the right side of regulations, if you are running a care home, hospice, home care service or similar, we would highly recommend you adopt the Care Certificate in your organisation.

People working in non-caring roles in social care settings, for example cooks, maintenance personnel and other people in similar roles can also earn the Care Certificate. 

How Long Does a Care Certificate Last?

The Care Certificate is designed to be ‘portable’, i.e. it can be taken by a care worker from one employer to another. This means once you have it, is does not expire, so in theory your Care Certificate lasts for your whole career without you needing to renew it.

However, employers are expected to assess that candidates that already have a Care Certificate still have retained the knowledge they acquired as part of completing the Care Certificate.

Likewise, if you feel you no longer have the competencies and knowledge that you got when first earning your Care Certificate (for example if you left the care sector for a long period of time) you may want to do a refresher course to be safe. 

Do Existing Employees Need the Care Certificate?

You may assess existing employees (those employed by your organisation prior to April 2015) as already having the necessary knowledge, behaviours and skills to the level of the Care Certificate and decide they don’t need to complete it. Similarly, if a employee has obtained the Care Certificate at a previous organisation they do not need to re-take it.

While the Care Certificate was originally rolled out to new employees first and is very much still seen as part of new employee induction, it is still advisable for all care workers to complete the Care Certificate. It can help refresh and strengthen their knowledge and ensure uniform standards across a service.

How Long Does the Care Certificate Take to Complete?

It should take a staff member with no previous experience of care work around 12 weeks to complete the Care Certificate. However, this is not mandatory and just a guideline. Other duties, shift patterns and demands may get in the way, while other learners will be able to progress and complete the Care Certificate in less than 12 weeks. 

When was the Care Certificate Introduced and Why?

The Care Certificate was introduced in April 2015, following the Cavendish Review (2013), which proposed common training standards across health and social care, with a certificate, written in plan English, to reduce complexity and make it easier to ensure a fundamental standard of training in social care.

The Care Certificate was developed and introduced by Skills for Care, Health Education England and Skills for Health to address inconsistencies in training and competencies in the care workforce. It replaced the Common Induction Standards (CIS) and National Minimum Training Standards (NMTS).

Is the Care Certificate Mandatory?

There is no statutory requirement to implement the CQC Care Certificate. As such the Care Quality Commission cannot completely enforce its use. 

However, CQC inspectors do have powers to enforce regulations covering how staff are trained. This means if you do not use the Care Certificate, inspectors will need to confirm that you have staff inductions and training that are up to the same standards as the Care Certificate.

The Care Certificate is also cited and linked to some statutory requirements contained in the Health and Social Care Act (2008), which the CQC enforces:

(Extracts from Regulation 18(2)(a):

“Providers must ensure that they have an induction programme that prepares staff for their role. It is expected that providers that employ healthcare assistants and social care support workers should follow the Care Certificate standards to make sure new staff are supported, skilled and assessed as competent to carry out their roles.”

And guidance on Regulation 19(1)(b):

“It is expected that providers that employ healthcare assistants and social care support workers should follow the Care Certificate standards to assess their competence.”

During CQC inspections, the Care Certificate is especially relevant to the standard of ‘is the service effective? Inspectors may cite use (or lack of, or improper use) of the Care Certificate to assess:

• Do staff have the right qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience to do their job?
• How are learning needs identified?
• Is there a workforce development plan to encourage staff to develop and promote good practice?
• Do staff have appropriate induction, support, training, supervision?
• How are staff supported and managed?

15 Care Certificate Standards

The Care Certificate is made up of 15 minimum standards that everyone working in social care is expected to understand and maintain. The 15 standards of the care certificate are:

1. Understand your role
2. Your personal development
3. Duty of care
4. Equality and diversity
5. Work in a person centred way
6. Communication
7. Privacy and dignity
8. Fluids and nutrition
9. Awareness of mental health, dementia and learning disability
10. Safeguarding adults
11. Safeguarding Children
12. Basic Life Support
13. Health and Safety
14. Handling information
15. Infection prevention and control

Full guidance on the 15 Care Certificate Standards can be found here in concise format, and full guidance is also available from Skills for Care. and in a more concise form here.

Where Can I Find Care Certificate Answers?

I have seen some training providers offering documents and videos labelled as Care Certificate Answers. While titling these resources as such, they simultaneously state clearly that they should be used only as a guide, and not used in the workbooks of people completing the Care Certificate.

I think it is best to steer clear of these resources. It is better to approach the Care Certificate properly, to obtain it by building the underpinning knowledge that relates to the 15 Care Certificate Standards above.

To strengthen this, you can use training or eLearning, resources and advice from your employer, and of course the resources provided by Skills for Care too.

Employers and managers should be mindful of this too. Use the Care Certificate is an opportunity to strengthen the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours that will help your service deliver safe, high-quality, person-centred care. Don’t see it as a tick box or compliance exercise.

Care Certificate Training

Most training providers operating in social care will provide some form of course to support learners attaining the Care Certificate. However, you will find that eLearning is a preferable, flexible and better value alternative to these training providers.

Access’ Learning for Care includes a Care Certificate Course, to give your new starters the underpinning knowledge they need in their role and ensure they meet the Care Certificate Standards. Upon completing the course learners are issued with a certificate.  

Here are some quotes from learners that have completed the Care Certificate Training with Access Learning for Care:

"This was a very helpful course with valuable information that I am sure will help to achieve a higher level of professionalism in my role as a carer." - Alice Waller, Accomplish & Lakeside, Thompson House

"Since completing the course, I have much more confidence in my role as a carer. The information was very relevant and refreshed my knowledge." - Cathy Aziba, Right at Home.

Getting training right in your care service isn't always easy. Whether it's choosing the right learning method for a good price, or getting all the members of your team motivated to complete their modules, you may be faced with several challenges that could make things difficult for you. To help you overcome these hurdles, we have put together a guide covering learning and development for care workers, which takes a look at the most common challenges and how to overcome them. 

Find out more about the Care Certificate Course in Access Learning for Care, which is also available as a Care Certificate (Scotland) Course.

Care Certificate Workbook

Access Learning for Care even offer a free Care Certificate Workbook that you can download with no forms to fill in, or any obligation to provide details.