Infection control training online in the UK: where to train and what employers look for

What employers look for in an online infection control certificate

Your employer decides what infection control training you need. In England the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice expects registered providers to make sure staff are trained in infection prevention and control, and the Care Quality Commission inspects against it. Health and safety law across the UK expects employers to control the risk from biological agents at work. When an employer checks a certificate, they usually look for:

• Content that follows current law and guidance. The Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice and the 2014 Regulations in England, and the Health and Safety at Work Act and COSHH across Great Britain.
• A clear, verifiable record. The course name, hours of learning and completion date, with a way to confirm the certificate.
• The essentials every worker needs. The chain of infection, standard precautions, hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, cleaning and decontamination, waste and sharps, spillages and what to do in an outbreak.
• A refresh date. Most care and health employers refresh infection control every year, so a refresh date matters.

Lift College's certificate does each of these. It records Infection Prevention and Control Training, 1.5 hours of learning, your completion date and a recommended refresh date 12 months on, with a unique certificate number and a verification link. Your employer will also show you the infection control policy, cleaning schedules and reporting route for your own setting, and the course prepares you to follow them.

What the Lift College course covers

There are 5 short modules, each with a knowledge check, then a multiple choice final test with an 80% pass mark and unlimited free retakes.

1. How infection spreads. Bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites, how they are transmitted, who is most at risk, and the six links in the chain of infection and where to break it.
2. Standard precautions and hand hygiene. Why precautions apply to everyone, the moments for hand hygiene, soap and water against sanitiser, technique, nails, jewellery and skin care.
3. Personal protective equipment. Gloves, aprons, masks and eye protection: when each is needed, how to put on and take off in the right order, and disposal.
4. Cleaning, decontamination and the environment. Cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation, colour coded equipment, cleaning schedules, laundry, and dealing with blood and body fluid spills.
5. Waste, sharps and outbreaks. Waste streams and bags, sharps safety and injuries, recognising an outbreak of diarrhoea, vomiting, flu or a respiratory infection, reporting and isolation.

By the end you can describe how infection spreads and where to break the chain, apply standard precautions and good hand hygiene, choose and use personal protective equipment correctly, clean and deal with spillages safely, handle waste and sharps, and recognise and report a possible outbreak.

The law and guidance it is written around

• Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections (England). The code that registered health and adult social care providers must have regard to. Criterion 6 expects providers to have systems to ensure that all care workers are aware of and discharge their responsibilities in preventing and controlling infection, which includes training.
• Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, regulation 12 (England). Care and treatment must be provided in a safe way, which includes assessing the risk of, and preventing, detecting and controlling the spread of, infections. The Care Quality Commission inspects against it.
• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 2 (England, Wales and Scotland). The general duty on employers to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees, including information, instruction, training and supervision.
• Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, regulation 12 (England, Wales and Scotland). Biological agents are substances hazardous to health, so employers must assess the risk, control exposure and give suitable information, instruction and training.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own care regulators and national infection control manuals; the standard precautions the course teaches are the same across the UK.

How Lift College compares with other UK providers

Details below are as each provider shows them on its own course page, checked 16 October 2026. "Check provider" means the page did not state it.

With Lift College the £19.99 is the full price for one learner, with nothing added at checkout, and the refresher is free when your recommended refresh date arrives. Retakes of the final test are free and unlimited.

Who it suits

Infection Prevention and Control Training is for anyone who works in a care, health, childcare or cleaning role in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is for you if:

• you work in a care home, home care, hospital, clinic or GP surgery
• you work in a nursery, school or childminding setting
• you clean or cater in a care, health or education setting
• you are new to care and the Care Certificate standards apply to you
• your annual infection control refresher is due

New to care? Read free versus paid Care Certificate courses. If you move and assist people, see our moving and handling of people guide. If you handle food, see our food hygiene level 2 guide. See every course on the safeguarding and care courses page or browse all Lift College CPD courses. Buying for a team? Ask about team enrolment.

Enrol on Infection Prevention and Control Training for £19.99 and start module 1 the minute you pay. Ask within 14 days of paying and we refund you in full.