Mandatory training in the UK: what to track and how

Statutory training is required by law. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 says employers must provide the information, instruction, training and supervision staff need to work safely. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 add training when people start and when they face new or increased risks, repeated periodically where appropriate.

Mandatory training is made compulsory by the organisation, a regulator or a commissioner for safe and effective work, such as the training CQC Regulation 18 expects care providers to give. Skills for Care's guide for adult social care employers uses these definitions.

The labels often overlap, so record the source of each requirement, who it applies to and who approved it. Don't label every optional course as mandatory, or the tracker becomes noise.

Every employer must give staff the information, instruction and training they need to work safely. What that means in practice comes from your risk assessments, so the list differs between an office, a kitchen and a warehouse.

First aid training follows your first aid needs assessment. HSE guidance says first aid at work certificates are valid for three years, so they are one of the few items with a clear renewal date.

CQC Regulation 18 says staff must receive the support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisals they need to carry out their role. CQC looks at whether training suits each role, not at a fixed national course list.

Skills for Care's statutory and mandatory training guide for adult social care employers, updated in December 2025, sets out what to cover and when to refresh it. Health and safety awareness, fire safety, moving and handling objects, infection prevention and control and adult safeguarding each have a minimum refresher period of three years, with training again when a new risk or activity is introduced. A recognised adult social care qualification that covered the topic counts for three years from completion.

Other topics depend on the role. Assisting and moving people, food hygiene and medication training are needed when the worker does that work, and the employer decides how many people need first aid and to what level. The guide's timings for these:

Since the Health and Care Act 2022, CQC-registered providers must make sure staff receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role. The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training is the standardised programme for this.

People new to care usually complete the Care Certificate, an agreed set of standards that Skills for Care updated in March 2025. Track its start date, completion and assessor sign-off like any other requirement.

Skills for Care also expects employers to check and evidence that workers stay competent, for example by observing key tasks such as giving medication. Any additional training is for the employer to decide from the needs of the service and the people it supports, and the guide sets no refresher periods for it.

NHS organisations set their own statutory and mandatory training, and NHS England's national framework helps them agree what applies and how learning is recognised between employers. Many align their core subjects with the Core Skills Training Framework.

Because staff move between NHS employers, record the provider and completion date clearly so earlier training can be recognised instead of repeated.

Keeping children safe in education says all school and college staff should receive safeguarding and child protection training at induction, with updates at least annually. The designated safeguarding lead's training should be refreshed at least every two years.

In early years, the EYFS statutory framework requires a person with a current paediatric first aid certificate to be on the premises whenever children are present. Paediatric first aid training must be renewed every three years.

Some mandatory training has a defined renewal cycle; other requirements should be refreshed when risks, guidance, equipment or roles change. Do not invent an annual expiry merely because a spreadsheet needs a date.

Where a cycle is justified, set a warning period that gives enough time to book and complete the training. Due soon and overdue records should be visible before managers are asked for reports.

If a certificate or proof is needed, track evidence status as part of the record.

Decide whether attendance, a passed assessment, observed competence or another record is required. These are not interchangeable forms of proof.

SkillProof keeps mandatory training requirements, evidence and reports connected. It does not decide which training is legally mandatory for your organisation.