Safeguarding training: a free Level 1 and 2 pack for your staff
The free pack gives you a Level 1 session for all staff, a Level 2 session for staff in regular contact with patients, people who use services and their families or carers, a quiz with a training record and a rollout guide. We built it on CQC's Regulation 13 guidance and the intercollegiate adult safeguarding competencies, and it's free by email. Or have us tailor it and run it for you, on a branded company site, from £399.
Every CQC-registered provider must give new staff safeguarding training at a level that suits their role, as part of their induction, and should keep it up to date.
Take the free pack and run it yourself, or have us tailor it and run it for you: a branded company site with your training content, every member of staff invited and reminded by email, and a certificate for every completion, from £399 per company.
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| Is training required? | Yes. Regulation 13 guidance makes it part of every new starter’s induction, at a level that suits their role. |
| Who needs it? | Every member of staff at Level 1, and staff in regular contact with patients, people who use services or their families at Level 2. |
| What should it cover? | How to recognise the different types of abuse, and the ways to report a concern. |
| When? | Within 6 weeks of starting, alongside your own safeguarding induction. |
| How often? | At appropriate intervals. The competencies suggest about 2 hours at Level 1 and 3 hours at Level 2 over each three years. |
| What to keep | A record of who has completed the training, and at which level. |
What the law expects of your training
Regulation 13 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 requires systems that prevent the abuse of people who use your service. CQC’s guidance on it sets out what that means for training:
- At induction, staff must receive safeguarding training that is relevant and at a suitable level for their role.
- At appropriate intervals, you should update it so staff can recognise the different types of abuse and know the ways to report a concern.
- Each person’s part: staff must know their own responsibility to prevent, identify and report abuse, and understand your policies and the local procedures.
- The Mental Capacity Act: providers and staff must understand and work within it whenever they support people who may lack the capacity to make some decisions. Our Mental Capacity Act and DoLS training pack covers it in more depth.
Regulation 18 adds that staff must receive the training they need to carry out their duties. The regulator’s guidance on it says to monitor completed training, and to act quickly when someone hasn’t done the training they need.
The intercollegiate adult safeguarding competencies (second edition, 2024) set out who needs which level:
- Level 1, every member of staff in a health or social care setting, including agency staff and volunteers. New starters should complete it within 6 weeks, alongside your own safeguarding induction, with about 2 hours of training over each three years.
- Level 2, staff in regular contact with patients, people who use services, their families or carers, or the public. They complete Levels 1 and 2, reach Level 2 within 6 weeks of starting the role, then refresh at Level 2 only, with about 3 hours over each three years.
- Level 3, the minimum for registered health care staff in regular contact with patients, such as nurses, and for care home managers. This pack covers Levels 1 and 2.
The competencies are guidance: you decide how long and how often your training runs, to suit your staff and the people they support. In adult social care, Skills for Care lists adult and child safeguarding as training every worker needs, with a minimum refresher of three years.
What you’ll get
Run the free pack yourself, or have us tailor it to your organisation and run it for you.
| Free pack | Tailored and run for you, from £399 | |
|---|---|---|
| The content | Complete the general training template | Tailored to your organisation for you |
| How staff complete it | Level 1 and Level 2 slides with speaker notes, a quiz and a rollout guide, to deliver however suits you | A branded company site with your training content loaded for all staff to complete |
| Getting it to staff | You organise it | Every member of staff emailed for you |
| Reminders and chases | No automation included | Reminders and chases automated for you |
| Certificate of completion | Not included | A dated certificate for every person who completes it |
| Format | PowerPoint slides and Word documents | Audio and video, or a format to upload into your own learning or training hub |
| Level 1 and Level 2 | A Level 1 session and a Level 2 session | Distinct Level 1 and Level 2 training |
| Cost | Free | From £399 per company |
The free pack, file by file
- Level 1 session. PowerPoint, with speaker notes, for all staff: spotting abuse and neglect, and who to tell.
- Level 2 session. PowerPoint, with speaker notes, for staff in regular contact with patients, people who use services, their families or carers.
- Quiz and training record. Word: questions with an answer sheet for the presenter, and a training record for everyone to sign.
- Rollout guide. Word: how to tailor, deliver, record, refresh and check the training.
You fill in the gaps with your safeguarding policy and local contacts, present the sessions and keep your own records. It doesn’t include a certificate of completion.
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The tailored training, part by part
- Tailored to your organisation. We tailor the training content to your organisation, its processes and likely scenarios, with distinct Level 1 and Level 2 training.
- A branded company site, or your own learning hub. Your training content in audio and video, with an understanding check, ready for all your staff to complete; or in a format to upload into your own learning or training hub.
- Distribution taken care of. Invite all your staff, and each person gets an email to complete the training.
- Reminders and chases, automated. We remind anyone who hasn’t finished until they complete it.
- A certificate for every completion. A dated certificate for each person who completes it, to save for your records.
Our team will be in touch with follow-up questions to tailor the content to your organisation.
Request received
Thanks. Our team will be in touch within one working day with follow-up questions to tailor the training to your organisation.
Could not send that request
Something went wrong on our side. Please try again, or use our contact form and our team will be in touch.
What the training covers
Level 1 session:
- Why safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility
- The types of abuse, harm and neglect, and the signs to look for
- Who counts as an adult at risk
- What to do if you’re worried: who to tell, and how to record it
- When no one acts on a concern: how to escalate it
- Sharing information, and when you can share it without consent
- The Mental Capacity Act and deprivation of liberty: the basics
- What to do if you suspect someone is abusing or neglecting a child
- Your safeguarding policy, local contacts and referral routes
Level 2 session:
- Keeping the person safe now, with a protection plan when the risk is high
- When and how to refer a concern to social care
- Recording a concern: the person’s own views, and fact versus opinion
- The person’s wishes, advocacy and help to communicate
- When to act on a concern against the person’s wishes
- Carers and children at risk alongside the adult
- Concerns about a colleague or someone in a position of trust
- Financial abuse, modern slavery and Prevent
After the training
Check it worked. The competencies suggest reviewing each person’s safeguarding competence every year, at their appraisal. Skills for Care adds informal checks, such as a quiz in a team meeting or talking through practice in supervision.
Keep staff up to date. When national or local safeguarding arrangements change, tell your staff, as CQC’s guidance asks.
Train again when things change. Skills for Care says to refresh adult safeguarding training when people’s care and support needs change, or when a new risk or activity comes in.
Learn from incidents and complaints. The regulator asks providers to use them to spot possible abuse and act to prevent it. Our guide to the safe key question lists the safeguarding evidence to have ready for an assessment.
Our free medication and Mental Capacity Act training packs work the same way.
Common questions
Is safeguarding training mandatory?
Yes, for CQC-registered providers. The regulator's guidance on Regulation 13 says staff must receive safeguarding training at induction that is relevant and at a suitable level for their role, and that providers should update it at appropriate intervals. In adult social care, Skills for Care lists adult and child safeguarding as training every worker needs.
How often should staff refresh safeguarding training?
CQC's guidance says to update it at appropriate intervals, without a fixed period. The intercollegiate adult competencies suggest about 2 hours of training at Level 1 and 3 hours at Level 2 over each three years. Skills for Care sets a minimum refresher of three years in adult social care.
What's the difference between Level 1 and Level 2 safeguarding training?
Level 1 is the minimum for every member of staff in a health or social care setting: spotting abuse, harm and neglect, and knowing who to tell. Level 2 is for staff in regular contact with patients, people who use services, their families or carers, or the public. It adds acting on a concern: keeping the person safe, referring the concern and recording it well.
Does the pack cover Level 3 safeguarding?
No. The pack covers Levels 1 and 2. Level 3 is the minimum for registered health care staff in regular contact with patients, such as nurses, and for care home managers. The competencies suggest 8 hours over three years at Level 3, half of it through discussion with experienced colleagues.
Who needs safeguarding training?
Every member of staff needs Level 1, including agency staff and volunteers, from receptionists, caterers and maintenance staff to board members. Staff in regular contact with patients, people who use services, their families or carers, or the public need Level 2.
Can staff do safeguarding training online?
Yes. The competencies say you can deliver Levels 1 and 2 face to face, online, by e-learning or a mix. You can deliver the free pack however suits you.
Does the pack cover safeguarding children?
The Level 1 session covers what to do if you suspect someone is abusing or neglecting a child, which Skills for Care lists as training for every adult social care worker. Staff who work with children and young people follow the children's competencies, whose fifth edition came out in autumn 2025.
What's in the free safeguarding training pack?
Four editable files: a Level 1 session (PowerPoint, with speaker notes), a Level 2 session (PowerPoint, with speaker notes), a quiz with answers and a training record to sign (Word), and a rollout guide (Word).
What's the difference between the free pack and the tailored training?
The free pack is the template: four editable files you fill in, present and record yourself, with no certificate of completion. We tailor the training to your organisation and run it for you: a branded company site with your training content, every member of staff invited by email and reminded until they complete it, and a dated certificate for every completion.
References
- CQC: Regulation 13, safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment
- CQC: Regulation 18, staffing
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, regulation 18: staffing
- Royal College of Nursing and partner colleges: Adult safeguarding, roles and competencies for health care staff, second edition (2024)
- Royal College of Nursing: Adult safeguarding competencies, summary of changes (August 2024)
- RCPCH: Safeguarding children and young people, roles and competencies
- Skills for Care: Statutory and mandatory training guide (December 2025)
General information, not legal advice. It reflects our understanding of the law and official guidance as of October 2026, so check the sources above for the current position.