Qualification Options

We currently offer the following City & Guilds qualification:

  • Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare – England

This qualification is specifically designed for individuals who work in a care role within residential childcare. In line with the Children’s Homes Regulations; residential care workers need to achieve this qualification if they don’t have an existing relevant qualification and new workers need to achieve the diploma within the first two years of their employment.

This is a competency-based qualification for learners who work or volunteer in children’s residential services and is designed to be assessed in the place of work, as part of their normal work role. The qualification enables learners to demonstrate and develop the skills and knowledge required within their role and be formally accredited for them.

The qualification consists of mandatory units, covering core knowledge and skills competencies, plus a number of optional specialism units, which can be combined in flexible ways to reflect the real working context of each learner and their work setting.

Age Group – 18 or older

It is applicable to a variety of roles, where workers have key responsibilities for delivery of care and support and/or a level of supervisory responsibility for others, such as;

  • residential childcare worker
  • team leaders
  • aspiring residential childcare managers
  • deputy and assistant managers

To complete the Level 3 Diploma learners must achieve the required mandatory and a selection of optional units (61 credits)

You will need to complete sixteen mandatory units, (57 credits), these are:

  • Understand the development of children and young people in residential care
  • Understand how to safeguard and protect children and young people in residential childcare
  • Understand how to support children and young people who have experienced harm or abuse
  • Promote effective communication and information handling in residential childcare settings
  • Support risk management in residential childcare
  • Assessment and planning with children and young people in residential childcare
  • Support group living in residential childcare
  • Understand how to support positive outcomes for children and young people in residential childcare
  • Support attachment and positive relationships for children and young people in residential childcare
  • Support the well-being and resilience of children and young people in residential childcare
  • Support children and young people in residential childcare to achieve their learning potential
  • Support children and young people in residential childcare to manage their health
  • Support the development of socially aware behaviour with children and young people in residential childcare
  • Engage in professional development in residential childcare settings
  • Support the rights, diversity and equality of children and young people in residential childcare
  • Participate in teams to benefit children and young people in residential childcare

Plus a minimum of 3 units to achieve a minimum of 8 credits from a range of optional units

Full qualification guidance - Qualification handbook Level 3 Diploma Residential Childcare v4.4 4340-31

All learners vary on the timescale to complete their qualification.
When you register, you will be given a specified target date in which to achieve your qualification, you can complete your qualification sooner than the target date if you are able to submit work regularly and at a good pace. Specific target dates can be discussed and agreed with your Assessor.

Total Qualification Time (TQT) ranges from 460 - 580 hrs, depending on the qualification being undertaken, these are based on the average amount of time taken to achieve these qualifications, over an average completion period of 12 - 18 months.

Complete qualification (including Registration, Learner Pack, Assessment and Certification) prices start from:

• Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare - £3,368.00.

These prices are reduced significantly for learners and organisations with their own in-house assessor support.
Registration only prices start from:

• Level 3 Diploma in Adult Care – £808.00.

*ARC members benefit from reduced costs

WDF is not available for Childcare qualifications.

WDF information

To register for any of these qualifications, you need to complete the necessary registration forms. This will prompt support for you to consider all the aspects involved in undertaking the qualification and ensure the right one is selected for you. You will also need to seek permission from your organisation to collect evidence in the workplace.

To find out more about registering please click here ‘How to Register’.

All ARC learner documentation is included in our learner portfolios, these can also be accessed via our ‘’Documentation, Guidance & Policies’ section in word and .pdf format.

Awarding Organisation guidance is available via the same page.