How to Write a Training Needs Analysis (Without Making It a Box-Ticking Exercise)

10th April 2026

Written by Stephanie Austin — Owner & Lead Trainer, Prima Cura Training
Last reviewed: April 2026 | Next review: April 2027

A training needs analysis sounds more complicated than it is. Strip it back, and the question is simple: what do your people actually need to know, to do their job safely and well?

The problem is that too many organisations never really ask that question. They buy a suite of training courses, put staff through them, tick the boxes, and call it done. Compliant on paper. Possibly. But genuinely fit for purpose? That’s a different question entirely.

The suite problem

Packaged training suites are everywhere, particularly in care and health and safety. The appeal is obvious: one purchase, multiple subjects, everyone gets certificates. Job done.

But a suite is built around what a provider thinks most workplaces need, not around what your workplace actually needs. The two things are often quite different. A care home, a domiciliary agency, a construction site, and a school all have different hazards, different client groups, different legal obligations, and different risks. A one-size bundle can’t account for any of that.

Buying a package doesn’t mean you’ve assessed your training needs. It means you’ve bought some training. Those aren’t the same thing.

	Packaged training suite	Training needs analysis
Built around	What most workplaces need	What your workplace actually needs
Starting point	Provider’s course list	Roles, risks, and individuals
Who it covers	Everyone, the same way	The right people, for the right reasons
Risk profile	Generic to the sector	Specific to your setting and service users
Result	Certificates. Possibly compliant on paper.	Genuine competence. Fit for purpose.

A story that makes the point better than I can

I was once commissioned to deliver dysphagia awareness and pressure ulcer prevention training to a group of Personal Assistants. The commission came via a clinical manager in a local NHS authority, as part of an individual’s Personal Health Budget care package. I don’t always receive detailed information about the person being supported in advance, so I arrived at the client’s home ready to deliver.

The individual was a fully mobile, active 25-year-old man. No dysphagia. No history or risk of dysphagia. Not under a Speech and Language Therapy team. No pressure ulcer risk whatsoever.

The training was on the care plan because someone had ticked boxes on a standard list without stopping to ask: Does this person actually need this? Does it reflect their life, their risks, their support needs?

I delivered the training because it was commissioned and required under his package. But I also sat down with him and his PAs to work through their own TNA, looking at what they actually needed to know to support him well. They put it to the clinical manager. To their credit, the clinician conducted a full review and changed the training programme to something genuinely appropriate for that individual.

The training wasn’t wrong because it was bad training. It was wrong because nobody had matched it to the person.

Why bother doing a TNA properly?

The most obvious answer is legal compliance, and we’ll get to that. But there are practical reasons too, and they’re worth spelling out.

A proper TNA lets you identify gaps before something goes wrong. That might sound obvious, but most organisations only notice a training gap after an incident, a complaint, or a CQC inspection finding. By that point, you’re firefighting. Getting ahead of it means you can address problems when they’re still manageable, not when they’ve turned into something serious.

It also tells you who actually needs what. Not everyone in your organisation needs the same training. Sending experienced staff through basic induction content they completed three years ago doesn’t maintain competence. It wastes their time, wastes your money, and if it happens repeatedly, it switches people off to training altogether. Staff disengage when the sessions they’re put through have no relevance to their actual work. That’s a problem in itself.

And it helps you prioritise. Some training is urgent because of regulatory requirements, because of a specific risk on site, or because a team is picking up new responsibilities. Other training can wait. Without a clear picture of what your people actually need, everything ends up feeling equally pressing, which usually means the most important things get buried.

What a proper TNA actually involves

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers are required to ensure workers are competent to carry out their work safely. Competence comes from training, but the right training. The HSE’s guidance on training is clear that training should be determined by the risks in the workplace, not by a generic list of subjects.

In social care, Skills for Care sets out the expectation that training is person-centred and role-specific, not just sector-generic. The people supporting a wheelchair user with complex health needs require different skills from those supporting an ambulant adult with a learning disability who lives independently.

What a proper TNA covers

Five things to assess before you book a single course

1	The work environment Physical hazards, substances, equipment, and activities — assessed against your sector and setting, not a generic list.
2	The job roles, not job titles — the actual tasks people carry out. A care home worker and a PA supporting someone at home have very different risk profiles.
3	The individuals being supported In care settings, health conditions, clinical needs, and care plans must inform what support workers are trained to do.
4	Existing competencies What do your people already know? A TNA identifies genuine gaps — it doesn’t rerun training people completed years ago.
5	Regulatory and contractual requirements: Know the difference between legally required, contractually required, and best practice. They’re not always the same list.

A TNA worth doing covers at a minimum:

• The work environment. What are the physical risks? What substances, equipment, or activities are involved? What does the HSE’s own health and safety training brief guide describe as relevant to your sector and setting?
• The job roles. Not just job titles, but the actual tasks people carry out day to day. A care worker in a nursing home has a completely different risk profile from a PA supporting someone in their own home. Generic training that conflates the two serves neither well.
• The individuals being supported. In care settings, especially, training must reflect the people being cared for. Their health conditions, clinical needs, risk assessments, and care plans should all inform what their support workers are trained to do. A PA supporting someone with a complex swallowing disorder absolutely needs dysphagia training. A PA supporting an active young adult with a physical impairment almost certainly doesn’t.
• Existing competencies. What do your people already know? Identifying gaps means looking at what’s actually missing, not just running through a checklist of subjects. Good training builds on what someone already understands rather than retreading ground they’ve already covered.
• Regulatory and contractual requirements. Some training is mandated by legislation, by CQC requirements, by commissioner contracts, or by your insurance. Know the difference between what’s legally required, what’s contractually required, and what’s best practice. They’re not always the same list.

Review it. Actually review it.

●	New starter joins Induction training should be role-specific, not a generic suite run through on day one and forgotten.
●	Role changes A change in responsibilities means a change in risk profile. Training should follow the role, not the job title.
●	New client or service user In care settings, the individual’s health conditions and care plan directly determine what support workers need to be trained in.
●	Regulatory update Legislation, CQC guidance, and commissioner requirements change. Your training matrix should keep pace.
●	Incident or complaint A gap that surfaces after something goes wrong was always there. Review the TNA to find what was missed, not just what needs fixing now.
●	Annual review If your training matrix hasn’t been touched since the last inspection, that’s a signal worth paying attention to.

A TNA isn’t a document you produce once and file. Roles change. People change. The individuals being supported change. New risks emerge. The HSE expects employers to review training arrangements when circumstances change, and in care settings, care plans should be reviewed regularly in any case.

If your training matrix hasn’t been touched since your last CQC inspection, that’s a signal worth paying attention to.

The point of all this

Training is only useful if it changes what people can do. A certificate doesn’t make someone competent; the knowledge and skill behind it do. And the only way to get to the right knowledge and skills is to start by asking the right questions about the work, the roles, and the people involved.

If you’d like a conversation about what a sensible training programme looks like for your team, get in touch. We’ve been doing this across care, health and safety, and everything in between for over a decade.

The legislation referenced in this post, including the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 were accurate at the time of writing (April 2026). Training requirements vary depending on your setting, sector, and the individuals you support. If you’re unsure what applies to your organisation, get in touch, and we’ll point you in the right direction.