Healthcare Assistant Training UK 2026: Care Certificate & CSTF
/Healthcare assistant training in the UK has grown from a few days of induction into a clear framework. Here is what you need in 2026, which courses NSUK helps you book at a discounted rate, and where your career can go next.
The HCA training framework at a glance
Healthcare assistants (HCAs) and support workers are one of the largest staff groups in UK health and care, and demand for them keeps growing across the NHS and the independent sector. The training around the role has grown with it. If you are starting out in 2026, or moving to a new setting, three types of training matter:
The Care Certificate, the agreed induction standard for new HCAs and support workers
The Core Skills Training Framework (CSTF), the statutory and mandatory subjects you refresh throughout your career
Practical mandatory courses, such as moving and handling and basic life support, which NSUK asks you to renew every year
The Care Certificate: the starting point for every HCA
The Care Certificate is the agreed set of standards that new healthcare assistants and support workers should meet. It was developed by Skills for Care, Skills for Health and Health Education England (now part of NHS England). It is not a legal requirement or a formal qualification, but most NHS trusts, care homes and agencies expect new HCAs to complete it, usually within their first 12 weeks.
Since the 2025 update, the Care Certificate covers 16 standards. They include duty of care, equality and diversity, safeguarding, communication, basic life support, and infection prevention and control. The newest standard, Standard 16, covers awareness of learning disability and autism.
The Care Certificate is workplace-based, not a classroom course. An assessor signs off each standard by observing how you work, so you complete it alongside paid shifts.
Statutory and mandatory training: the CSTF
The Core Skills Training Framework, run by Skills for Health, sets the standard for statutory and mandatory training across the NHS, many independent hospitals and most agency providers. It covers 11 subjects, each with its own recommended refresher period:
| CSTF subject | Recommended refresher |
|---|---|
| Resuscitation (basic life support) | Every year |
| Information governance and data security | Every year |
| Infection prevention and control | Every year (Level 2, direct patient care) |
| Moving and handling | Every 2 years (patient handling) |
| Fire safety | Every 2 years |
| Safeguarding adults | Every 3 years |
| Safeguarding children | Every 3 years |
| Equality, diversity and human rights | Every 3 years |
| Health, safety and welfare | Every 3 years |
| Conflict resolution | Every 3 years |
| Preventing radicalisation (Prevent) | Every 3 years |
Some employers and clients ask for shorter refresher periods than these, so always check their requirements.
CSTF-aligned training is recognised between organisations that use the framework, which helps you avoid repeating courses when you change employer. Keep digital copies of every certificate. An agency HCA who arrives with current certificates can usually start booking shifts much sooner than one who needs to redo their training.
Moving and handling and basic life support: renewed every year
Every NSUK agency HCA must renew two practical courses every year: Moving and Handling and Basic Life Support. These are face-to-face sessions run by accredited providers, not online modules, and almost every client we work with asks for them. Without current certificates, you cannot be booked for shifts.
To make this easier, NSUK and the wider A24 Group have partnered with five accredited training providers, so registered agency staff can book at discounted rates across the UK.
Where to book your mandatory training
You can book Moving and Handling and Basic Life Support through Staffshift with whichever partner suits you best:
The Health & Safety Group, our preferred partner: 47 venues nationwide, with an e-learning bundle included
Direct Training Academy: nationwide
Healthier Business: nationwide, including All-in-One-Day courses and PMVA
Train Healthcare: nationwide
Trained-Up: London, covering ILS, PMVA, mandatory training, manual handling and basic life support
You book through each partner’s dedicated portal, linked from our Training for Healthcare Support Workers page.
Important: when you book partner training, use the exact email address linked to your Staffshift profile. That way your certificates upload automatically and your compliance status updates without delay.
Optional online courses that open more shifts
Beyond the CSTF and your practical mandatory courses, NSUK gives registered agency staff discounted access to a wide library of CPD-accredited online courses through The Healthier Business Group. Popular courses include:
Mental Capacity Act 2005, including Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)
Safeguarding Children and Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults, Levels 1 and 2
Infection Prevention and Control, and NEWS2
Dementia Awareness, Epilepsy Awareness and Anaphylaxis Management
Dysphagia Care and Tissue Viability
Lone Working, Privacy and Dignity, RIDDOR and COSHH
Every course carries CPD points. The Staffshift Compliance Passport shows which courses unlock particular shifts in your area, so you know which one to book next.
Extra training for specialist settings
Some settings ask for more training before you can work there:
Mental health units usually need PMVA or PSTS training. Healthier Business runs a three-day PMVA course, certified under the BILD Association of Certified Training (ACT) scheme, through the NSUK partnership.
Endoscopy units need training in decontamination and patient positioning.
Paediatric settings need a higher level of safeguarding children training.
Learning disability and autism services expect Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training. Since July 2022, the law has required every CQC-registered health and social care provider in England to train its staff in learning disability and autism. The Oliver McGowan training is the government’s recommended way to meet that duty, and a code of practice setting the standard for it was finalised in 2025.
Completing this training before you need it means you can accept shifts that other HCAs cannot.
How the Staffshift Compliance Passport works
The Compliance Passport in Staffshift turns a long list of certificates into clear prompts. Once you are registered, it sends you three types of notification:
Basic compliance, which tells you when you are cleared for entry-level shifts
Documents due to expire, which reminds you to renew before a certificate lapses
Shift eligibility, which shows exactly which course would make a particular open shift bookable
The third type is the one most HCAs underuse. Browse the open shifts in your area, note which courses come up most often, and book those next. It is the quickest way to widen the work you can accept.
Career routes beyond HCA
The traditional path ran from HCA to senior HCA, then into nurse training. That path still exists, and two newer roles now sit alongside it:
Assistant practitioner (Band 4): a role between HCA and registered nurse, usually reached through a Level 5 apprenticeship or foundation degree studied over about two years while you work.
Nursing associate: a registered role in England, regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) since January 2019. Training is usually a two-year apprenticeship, and qualified nursing associates can go on to a shortened route to registered nurse.
If you want to stay hands-on without becoming a registered nurse, senior HCA and team leader roles remain open to you. On the NHS Agenda for Change pay scales for 2026/27, Band 3 pays £25,760 to £27,476 and Band 4 pays £28,392 to £31,157, with extra high cost area supplements in and around London. Pay in independent settings varies.
How to choose your next step
Three questions help you decide:
Which setting do you want to work in over the next two years?
How much clinical responsibility do you want?
How much study can you fit around your shifts and your life outside work?
Pay follows responsibility, but only loosely. Building depth in one specialty often does more for your career than climbing a band.
Where NSUK fits
NSUK places HCAs in acute, community, mental health, learning disability, endoscopy and care home settings. Every HCA on our register completes the Care Certificate and holds current CSTF and practical mandatory training. We offer discounted training through five partner providers, and the Staffshift Compliance Passport keeps your file up to date as you work.
Frequently asked questions
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It is not a legal requirement, but almost every NHS trust, care home and agency expects new HCAs to complete it, usually within their first 12 weeks.
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It depends on the subject. Under the CSTF, basic life support and information governance are renewed every year, and most other subjects every two or three years. NSUK asks agency HCAs to renew moving and handling and basic life support every year.
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Yes. Registered NSUK staff can book discounted mandatory and CPD courses with five partner providers through Staffshift.
Ready to book your training?
Already registered with NSUK? Book your discounted training through Staffshift, or message our 24/7 Compliance team on WhatsApp at 0772 3559 602.
Not registered yet? Register to work with NSUK and we will help you get set up.
