How do you keep your carer certificates current?

Before your profile goes live, we check your identity, your right to work, an enhanced DBS check kept current on the Update Service, and an online interview. Enhanced DBS and the Update Service sets out exactly how that works. What we don't check is your training, whether you've done a single online module or a full Level 3 Diploma, and that's true of every certificate on this page.

None of that means training doesn't matter. A family reading two similar profiles reads the training section as a sign of how seriously you take the work, in the same way a current first aid certificate reassures them more than an expired one from three placements ago. If you haven't started any training yet, carer training for private carers covers the Care Certificate and the Level 2 and 3 Diploma in Care that replaced the old NVQs, and I want to be a carer, but how? covers the three routes into paid care work generally.

1. 1

   First aid at work (EFAW or FAW)

   Every 3 years

   A one or two-day requalification course keeps a certificate valid for three years. Most providers recommend an informal refresher part-way through rather than waiting until it lapses.

2. 2

   Basic life support and CPR

   Every year

   Resuscitation Council UK recommends practising CPR at least once a year, since the physical skill fades faster than the theory behind it. Resuscitation Council UK's guidance on refresher practice.

3. 3

   Moving and handling

   No fixed rule, annual is common

   There's no law setting a renewal date, only a duty to stay competent. Most care employers refresh it every year anyway, because poor technique is one of the few places in this work where a bad habit causes a real injury. Moving and handling when working for private clients.

4. 4

   Food hygiene (Level 2)

   Doesn't legally expire

   A Level 2 Food Hygiene and Safety certificate has no expiry date in law. Training providers commonly suggest going through it again after three years, which is a convention rather than a rule.

5. 5

   Infection prevention and control

   Annual refresher is common practice

   There's no single mandated interval, but an annual refresher is what most care-sector guidance points to, given how often official advice on this changes. Infection prevention and control resource for adult social care, on gov.uk.

6. 6

   Safeguarding adults and children

   Commonly every 1 to 3 years

   Guidance points to a refresher within about three years, sooner if your work brings you closer to higher-risk situations. It sits alongside, not instead of, knowing where to report a concern if one comes up. the Care Act's safeguarding guidance, on gov.uk.

The DBS Update Service works differently again. The enhanced check itself doesn't expire, but the subscription that keeps it current does, at £16.00 a year. Let it lapse and a family or a new platform can no longer check your certificate's status instantly, and getting back on means a fresh application rather than a renewal. Enhanced DBS and the Update Service covers keeping that subscription running.

The Care Certificate sits at the opposite end. It has no renewal date at all, because it's a one-off induction framework rather than a course with a sell-by date. Skills for Care did expand it from fifteen standards to sixteen in March 2025, adding awareness of learning disability and autism, so if you completed it before then it's worth checking your own copy against the current sixteen standards.

All three are aimed at somebody paying for their own training rather than an employer buying it for a team, which is the position a self-employed carer is usually in. If you're choosing a course for a qualification rather than a quick refresher, for example your first Level 2 Diploma, carer training for private carers covers how to check a provider is properly accredited before you pay anything.

1. 1

   Keep the certificate or a clear photo of it

   When you finish a course

   Most providers issue a PDF or a printable certificate straightaway. Save it somewhere you can find it again, since a family or a future agency may ask to see it.
2. 2

   Upload it to your profile

   A few minutes

   Your PrimeCarers profile has a section for training and qualifications, separate from the checks we carry out. Add the certificate, the date and what it covers.
3. 3

   Update the date, not just the document

   Every renewal

   A dated entry does more for a family reading your profile than an undated one, since it shows the training is current rather than something from years ago that happens to still be on file.
4. 4

   Remember this is what you show, not what we verify

   Always

   We don't check the content or the date of anything you upload here, in the same way we don't check qualifications generally. What we verify is your identity, right to work, DBS and an online interview, covered on the page above.

Self-employed carer documents lists the wider set of paperwork worth having ready as a self-employed carer, training certificates included.

HMRC's rule, set out in its Business Income Manual, is that training which updates or maintains knowledge and skills you already use in your existing work is an allowable expense, while training that gives you an entirely new qualification or specialism is treated as capital expenditure and isn't deductible. Check if the cost of training could be an allowable business expense, on gov.uk, sets this out in plain terms, and HMRC's internal manual on training costs is the underlying guidance if you want the detail.