Care assistant jobs and recruitment
Care assistants give most of the hands-on care in a care home: helping people wash, dress, eat, move about and settle for the night, and noticing when something is not right. It is skilled work, even when the job title makes it sound simple.
We place care assistants in temporary shifts and permanent posts, and recruit them for care providers across the UK.
Register for care assistant work Send a care assistant vacancy
The care assistant role at a glance
- Duties
- Personal care, help with meals and drinks, moving and handling, activities and company, care notes and handover.
- Shifts
- Earlies, lates, long days and waking nights.
- Checks
- Identity and right to work, the adults’ criminal record check for the nation, references from recent work, training records and registration where the nation requires it.
- Pay basis
- Hourly. The legal floor is the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over.
- Qualifications
- Care Certificate standards for new starters in England; registration with the SSSC, Social Care Wales or NISCC in the other nations.
What a care assistant does
A care assistant’s shift starts with handover: who slept badly, who is not eating, who has a visitor today. The rest of the shift is personal care, meals, drinks, moving and handling, and the small conversations that make a care home feel like a home.
Care assistants keep notes on the care they give and pass on anything that worries them to the senior or nurse in charge. In a nursing home they work alongside nurses and follow their direction on clinical needs.
People start as care assistants from many backgrounds. What matters most is kindness, patience, reliability and a willingness to learn the right way to do things.
Qualifications for care assistants in each nation
What a service asks for depends on the nation it is in, because three of the four nations register care workers and England does not.
- England
- New starters work through the Care Certificate standards, which were updated to 16 standards in March 2025. Experienced care assistants often hold the Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate, which replaced the Level 2 Diploma in Care, or the Level 3 Diploma in Adult Care.
- Scotland
- Registration with the SSSC, usually within six months of starting, with a condition to gain the qualification the role needs, often an SVQ in Social Services and Healthcare at SCQF level 6.
- Wales
- Registration with Social Care Wales within six months of starting in a care home. New workers follow the All Wales Induction Framework and gain the Level 2 Health and Social Care: Core qualification, then a Level 2 or 3 Practice qualification.
- Northern Ireland
- Registration with NISCC within six months of starting. There is no mandatory qualification for care workers, and the Level 2 Certificate in Safe and Effective Practice is available.
Checks we run for care assistants
Before we introduce or supply a care assistant, we check:
- identity and right to work in the UK
- an enhanced DBS check with the adults’ barred list in England and Wales, PVG membership in Scotland, or an enhanced AccessNI check in Northern Ireland
- two references, including the most recent care employer, and why any previous care job ended
- a full work history with any gaps explained in writing
- training in moving and handling, safeguarding, infection prevention, fire safety and basic life support
- registration with the SSSC, Social Care Wales or NISCC where the nation requires it
Shifts care assistants usually cover
Most care assistant work is in care homes and nursing homes, which need staff around the clock. You can tell us which of these patterns you can work, and we only offer you those.
- Early to or
- Late to
- Long day to
- Waking night or to or
How care assistant pay is set
Care assistants are paid by the hour. The rate depends on the service, the area, the shift and your experience, and we tell you the rate before you accept any work.
No worker can be paid less than the legal minimum. From 1 April 2026 the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour, according to GOV.UK. Nights, weekends and bank holidays often carry a different rate, which we agree with the service in advance.
Where care assistants work
Care assistants are needed wherever people live with care around the clock, and in services that give people and families a break.
- Care homes Residential homes where people live with care and support around the clock.
- Nursing homes Care homes that provide nursing care, with registered nurses on the rota day and night.
- Respite and day services Short breaks for people and their carers, and daytime support and activities.
- Learning disability and autism Support for autistic people and people with a learning disability, in any setting.
Questions about care assistant work
Do I need a qualification to start as a care assistant?
Not always. Many services take on caring people without qualifications and train them, starting with the Care Certificate standards in England or the induction framework in Wales. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland you will also need to register with the care workforce regulator within six months of starting.
Can I choose which care homes I work in?
Yes. Tell us where you can travel to and any homes you would rather not work in, and we only offer you shifts that fit.
Is care assistant the same as healthcare assistant?
They overlap. Healthcare assistants usually work in hospitals and the NHS, and care assistants in care homes and social care. The personal care skills are much the same.
Register for care assistant work
Send us your details or phone the office. We never charge you a fee for finding you work.