Core skills

Core skills are vital to help social care workers deliver high quality and safe care.

Every worker in adult social care needs English, number, digital and employability skills, including team work, and problem solving skills. These are collectively known as core skills.

Different roles will require a different level of skill, and it’s an employer’s responsibility to ensure their staff have the right core skills. Developing core skills in the workplace guide will help managers assess and develop the core skills of their workers.

Core skills in social care

Core skills ensure social care workers can complete everyday tasks such as communicating with the individuals they support, counting medication, using a computer and writing a care plan.

What are core skills in social care? explains what core skills are needed by social care workers.

Learning activities to develop English, number, digital and employability skills

We've developed learning activities to check social care workers have the right core skills to work safely and meet quality standards. They're aimed at front line care staff and can be used in recruitment, induction, supervision and ongoing learning and development. There are also links to resources to help workers develop their core skills.

Read Using the core skills learning activities to find out how you can use them in your workplace.

If you have new workers who are doing the Care Certificate, read our guidance on how you can assess core skills as part of the Care Certificate.

Tell us what you think of our resources

English skills

Activities for learners

Guidance for supervisor or manager to assess English skills

Managers assessment: English skills

Develop English skills: resources to help

Communication skills in social care - a guide to help you communicate with the people you work with
Reporting and care work writing - part of the Learning through Work range available to purchase from our bookshop
Writing skills for care workers - part of the Learning through Work range available to purchase from our bookshop
Support for overseas staff who have English as a second language (ESOL)

Other useful resources

Communicating with people with dementia, Alzheimers Society
BBC Skillswise - free online factsheets and tasks to help adults with reading, writing, spelling and grammar
Excellence Gateway - free online resources for everyone working in the learning and skills sector
Skills workshop - free resources to develop literacy, numeracy and ICT skills for workers at all levels

Qualifications and training

You can find training providers who we have endorsed, who deliver training in English skills on our online directory.

Found them useful? Tell us what you think

Number skills

Activities for learners

Guidance for supervisor or manager to assess number skills

Managers assessment: number skills

Develop number skills: resources to help

Number skills for care work - part of the Learning through Work range available to purchase from our bookshop
Using numbers in care work - part of the Learning through Work range available to purchase from our bookshop

Other useful resources

A guide to developing mathematics skills in the adult social care workplace, Niace - this online guide is for learning providers who want to help social care workers develop their maths skills
Strength in Numbers: National Numeracy Challenge - you can sign up to this website and take the challenge to see what number skills you need to develop, do activities to learn and then retake the challenge
National Numeracy - free online assessment and development activities to help adults with numeracy skills
BBC skillswise - free online factsheets and tasks for to help adults with numbers, calculations, measuring and graphs
Excellence Gateway - free online resources for everyone working in the learning and skills sector
Skills workshop - free resources to develop literacy, numeracy and ICT skills for workers at all levels

Qualifications and training

You can find endorsed training providers who deliver training in number skills on our online directory.

Found them useful? Tell us what you think

Digital skills

Activities for learners

Guidance for supervisor or manager to assess digital skills

Managers assessment: digital skills

Develop digital skills: resources to help

Getting digital in social care: resources to help you - this leaflet links to resources to help social care workers improve their digital skills
Learning technologies: a guide for learners - overview of the ways technology can improve your knowledge and skills as a worker, and provides a list of free online learning resources relevant to social care

Other useful resources

Ability Net - online factsheets, webinars and resources to help disabled people use digital technologies
Helping people get online, Age UK - guide for beginners about how to make the most of the internet and stay safe online
BBC Webwise - online videos and guides to help you get connected and develop online skills
Digital Unite - guides and supports to help with computer basics, creating a document, smartphones and tablets, internet security and shopping and banking
Learn my way - free courses on using a computer, browsing the web and sending an email

Found them useful? Tell us what you think

Employability skills and additional learning activities

Develop employability skills: learning activities

We've also developed a set of additional learning activities to help you assess and develop core skills further.

They address employability skills such as team work, understanding policies and procedures and problem solving, as well as English and communication skills.

Developing employability skills: resources to help

Adult social care qualifications - guidance to help you find learning and development
Building your own health, resilience and wellbeing - this resource helps social care workers develop their own mental health and wellbeing at work. You can request a paper copy by emailing marketing@skillsforcare.org.uk
Resilience in social care - guidance to help managers support the resilience and mental wellbeing of their staff
Learn more about stress in work - this resource can be used to help social care workers identify stress, put plans in place to help you cope and reduce the impact of stress on you

Found them useful? Tell us what you think

Reflect on the learning

It’s important you and the learner reflect on the core skills activities to check what they’ve learnt and identify any further development needed.

After a learner has completed an activity ask them to complete the

Learner checklist

You, the employer, should complete the

Supervisor or manager learning checklist

Or if you’re a learning or training provider delivering training, complete the

Learning and training provider checklist

Group activities for team meetings

These group activities use real-life scenarios from social care settings to help you assess and develop the core skills of your workers.

Read the guidance notes to see how you can use them in the workplace.

Core skills

Core skills in social care

Learning activities to develop English, number, digital and employability skills

English skills

Activities for learners

Develop English skills: resources to help

Qualifications and training

Number skills

Activities for learners

Develop number skills: resources to help

Qualifications and training

Digital skills

Activities for learners

Develop digital skills: resources to help

Employability skills and additional learning activities

Develop employability skills: learning activities

Developing employability skills: resources to help

Reflect on the learning

Group activities for team meetings

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