• Regulated members of the ASC workforce (including registered nurses, nursing associates, allied health professionals and occupational therapists)
• Personal assistants, whose employers may not meet the criteria above. These employers should seek funding for training through the Individual Employer Funding scheme administered by Skills for Care
• Courses and qualifications completed as part of an apprenticeship. These employers may wish to seek funding through the apprenticeship levy

No there is no requirement, but they must legal right to work in the UK (have a national insurance number). 

VAT information – Companies within the UK recoup VAT payments automatically as part of their VAT returns. This is done automatically by accounting software used to submit the return. Therefore, you will recoup 100% of your investment back from these training pathways. Organisations that are not VAT registered should contact us for advice.

You can refer back to the guidance which will give you a list of the roles eligible for funding. Employers must provide adult social care to qualify. 

There is no cap on the number of staff members that you can claim for but the maximum amount you can claim is £400,000, any claims over this amount will not be reimbursed so you must keep track your own spending. 

If you claimed the 60% before they left then you won’t need to pay back the funding but you then won’t be able to claim the 40% completion as you will be unable to provide the necessary evidence to submit.

Yes, but you must have applied before the deadline for the additional 40% and had the initial 60% approved before the funding pot was exhausted. 

Yes, you will get a notification and explanation of why it was rejected. There will be  actions required before you can resubmit.

The turnaround for claims once onboarded to the system is around 2-3 weeks maximum.

No this is additional funding that is allocated separately to any apprenticeship.

You can only claim back money for the cost of the training  

As long as the course is paid for and started inside the financial year, you simply claim the 60% by the cut-off date but the remaining 40% can be claimed up to 31st December 2026.

There is no restriction on the length of time the provider has been running or size of provider. There is also no restrictions on the age of the participants, however they must be over the age of 18. 

The Learning and Development Support Scheme or LDSS was launched in September 2024 by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The scheme supports the non-regulated ASC workforce to advance their careers, develop new skills and specialisms and gain recognition for their existing expertise.

One of the requirements of the funding is that you are registered on the Adult Social Care Data set. Creating an ASC-WDS account is really simple and takes just five minutes.

The ASC-WDS service is completely free and exists so that you can manage staff training needs and get access to funding for staff training.

If you’re having any difficulties logging in or setting up an account, please contact our support team for help

Call: 0113 241 0969 | Email: ascwds-support@skillsforcare.org.uk 

Book whichever courses you or your team would like to complete, there is a maximum funding cap of £400,000 per company account and you are responsible for monitoring this spend. 

Note – our company name is The Root Of It Ltd, you need this to make the payment and claim the money back. 

You will need this data: 

• The start date of the training
• The learners details; full name and national insurance number
• Payment date; the date that the training was paid for (use our remittance form)
• The completion date of the training

The core course covers what you need to be compliant on mental health in your provision – the role of the mental health worker and the process and approaches involved in the care and support of those with mental ill-health.

The specialist courses describe in detail numerous mental health conditions, along with their causes, effects and management.

We recommend training at least one mental health ambassador per provision for compliance and excellence in mental health support.

The only way for you to claim your funding is to provide proof of payment. don’t worry – you’ll get your money back!

One in four adults experience mental health problems, with it estimated that there are over half a million jobs in adult social care which support those with mental ill health.

Training your team to better understand the issues facing them and their clients in the workplace, will enable them to offer a far higher standard of person-centred support.

Staff trained on mental health enable a virtuous cycle which shifts your approach from reactive crisis management to proactive support and prevention, benefiting the entire care ecosystem at your setting.

We have estimated that if you allow the team members attending the training to extend their break time by half an hour each day then the training will take approximately:

Core course: 2 months

Specialised course 1: 3 months

Specialised course 2: 4 months

Mental Health Ambassador: 5-6 months

This is based on an average time that it would take for them to complete the training videos and coursework involved. 

Each course has core modules which are delivered online via our learning portal. Once you have ordered and paid for your training, your learners will be given access to our Skills for Progress website.

They then log on to watch the videos for each module (10-15 minutes long) and complete the tasks in the workbook. At the end of each module there are test questions for them to complete.

Once all of the modules are complete and marked, they will achieve their passing grade and we will deliver their certificate so you can claim the remaining 40% of your payment.

The simple answer is – whatever support you want! Your learners are able to contact our training team Mon-Thurs between 9am and 4pm to have a support session. They can do this over the phone or via email, Live online face to face sessions must be prebooked subject to availability.

We also have a support line during office hours for any questions your team might have – they will not be left alone.

We have a range of courses available, so if you would like further training we can offer specialist courses for larger groups (20+) on:

• Dementia;
• Stroke Awareness;
• Autism

Just contact our team to enquire about these courses – they are still fully funded and you can claim up to £400,000 per provision for training.

Your learners will receive a personal account on our learning portal on Skills for Progress. The courses that you have paid for are available on their Dashboard. They simply access the course and watch the videos, as they progress through each unit they will be required to submit assessment questions which are marked by our central team.

We provide a workbook and all of the course materials, which your learners will have access to for up to a year following on from registration.

We have estimated course timings based on how long we think it will take but if it takes longer that is not a problem. Your learners have to complete the training to receive their certificate and this can take a up to a month to arrive. The cut off for claims on the final 40% is the 31st December 2026, therfore we advise that your learners complete the training before the start of September 2026 to allow ample time for you to finalise your claims.

We have two main trainers who deliver support and training:

• Richard Daniel Curtis
• Helen Rathborne