What should a nursery training matrix include?

One row per person and one column per course, with the date completed, the refresh date, whether you hold the certificate and a red, amber or green status. For an early years setting the usual columns are paediatric first aid, safeguarding and child protection, designated safeguarding lead training, Prevent, food hygiene and safer eating, safer sleeping, fire safety and evacuation, health and safety, SEND, manual handling and induction.

How often is paediatric first aid renewed?

Paediatric first aid certificates are valid for three years under paragraph 3.37 and Annex A paragraph 3 of the EYFS framework for group and school-based providers. Annual refreshers are something providers should consider, not a statutory requirement. Staff qualified at Level 2 or 3 since 30 June 2016 must gain paediatric first aid within three months of starting work if they are to count in the ratios.

Does Ofsted ask to see a training matrix?

There is no statutory requirement to keep training in a matrix. Inspectors do ask how you know staff are suitably trained, and they ask for evidence about individuals, so a single sheet that shows who has done what and when is the quickest honest answer. It is a management record, not a statutory one.

Is a training matrix the same as a single central record?

No. The single central record is the vetting record: identity, enhanced DBS and barred list, right to work, references, qualifications and suitability for each person. The training matrix tracks courses and refresh dates. They overlap on things like paediatric first aid expiry, which is why the two need updating together whenever somebody joins or leaves.

§ Free resource

Staff training matrix template for nurseries

A training matrix is one sheet showing every member of staff down the side and every course across the top, with the date each was completed and the date it needs doing again. An inspector uses it as a shortcut: it answers who is first aid trained, whether safeguarding training is current, and whether anyone has slipped through. If the sheet is honest and up to date, the conversation about training takes two minutes instead of twenty.

Open the free fillable matrix

Staff down the side, training across the top. Each cell holds the date completed, the expiry or refresh date, whether you hold the certificate, and a red, amber or green status. Add or remove courses to match your setting, then print it or save it as a PDF.

What the matrix comes set up with

The default columns are the ones an early years setting is usually asked about: paediatric first aid, safeguarding and child protection, designated safeguarding lead training, Prevent, food hygiene and safer eating, safer sleeping, fire safety and evacuation, health and safety, SEND, manual handling and induction completed. Every heading can be renamed, and you can add or remove courses, so a setting with a forest school lead or a room running an intervention programme can track those too.

Twelve rows are there to start with and you can add more. The status column is deliberately blunt: green for in date with the certificate held, amber for anything expiring in the next three months or missing its certificate, red for expired or never done. Colour is what makes a matrix useful at a glance, and it is the first thing people leave out when they build their own.

How often does each one need refreshing?

This is where most matrices quietly go wrong. Some intervals are set in law, some come from guidance, and a fair few are simply what the sector has settled on. The difference matters when an inspector asks why you chose a date. Each row below says which is which.

EYFS paragraph references below are to the DfE statutory framework for group and school-based providers dated 13 July 2026 and effective from 1 September 2026. The childminder framework uses different paragraph numbers.

Training	Typical refresh	Source of the requirement
Paediatric first aid	Statutory: every 3 years	Paragraphs 3.37 to 3.40 and Annex A. Certificates are valid for three years under paragraph 3.37 and Annex A paragraph 3. Annual refreshers are something providers should consider under Annex A paragraph 7, not a statutory requirement. Paragraph 3.39 gives Level 2 and 3 staff qualified since 30 June 2016 three months from starting work to gain PFA if they are to count in ratios. Paragraph 3.64 says providers should have a PFA holder in the room while children are eating. EYFS framework for group and school-based providers
Safeguarding and child protection	Statutory: every 2 years	Paragraphs 3.31 and 3.33 and Annex C. All practitioners must receive safeguarding training in line with Annex C, refreshed every two years. Paragraph 3.33 says providers may consider annual refreshers, so annual training is not a statutory requirement. EYFS framework for group and school-based providers
Designated safeguarding lead	Statutory: every 2 years	Paragraph 3.4 requires a practitioner to be designated. Paragraph 3.32 and Annex C paragraph 3 require the DSL to attend a course that meets Annex C. The statutory two-year refresh in paragraph 3.33 applies. Annual refreshers may be considered, but are not compulsory. EYFS framework for group and school-based providers
Prevent duty awareness	No statutory interval. Commonly every 2 to 3 years	Duty to have due regard under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015. The duty is ongoing. The refresh interval is sector convention, not a statutory requirement. Prevent duty guidance
Food hygiene and safer eating	No statutory interval	Paragraph 3.72 requires providers to be confident that people responsible for preparing and handling food are competent to do so. This includes receiving training in food hygiene. The framework gives no refresh interval. EYFS framework for group and school-based providers
Safer sleeping	No statutory training interval	Safer sleeping is a practice requirement, not a statutory training course. Paragraph 3.86 requires practitioners responsible for children under two to read the NHS advice on reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. The framework sets no training or refresh interval. EYFS framework for group and school-based providers
Fire safety and evacuation	Induction, then periodically. Drills each term	Training and periodic refreshers are required of the responsible person under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The EYFS requires emergency evacuation procedures to be practised and recorded. Termly drills are convention, not a stated frequency.
Health and safety	No statutory interval	Employers must provide adequate health and safety training under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. No refresh period is fixed in law.
SEND awareness	No statutory interval	The EYFS requires a SENCO in group settings and staff who can identify and support children with SEND, informed by the SEND code of practice. Refresh intervals are a local decision.
Manual handling	No statutory interval. Commonly every 2 to 3 years	Required where the work involves a risk of injury, under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992. The refresh interval is convention.
Induction completed	One-off. No statutory refresh interval	Paragraph 3.34 requires induction training covering emergency evacuation procedures, safeguarding, child protection and health and safety issues. It does not specify a refresh interval. EYFS framework for group and school-based providers

Where a spreadsheet version breaks

A matrix is a good discipline and a poor alarm clock. Four things go wrong, and they go wrong in the same order every time.

Nobody chases the expiry dates. The file is accurate on the day it is filled in and drifts from there, because nothing in a spreadsheet raises its hand three months before a first aid certificate lapses. One person owns the file, usually the manager, so when they are on leave the answer to a simple question waits for them to come back. Leavers and starters fall out of step with the single central record, since the two documents are updated in different moments and rarely on the same day. And on the day it matters, a spreadsheet cannot produce evidence. It says a course was done; it does not hold the certificate, the attendance record or the date you were told about the change.

DullDocs does the same job with the chasing built in: every certificate is stored against the person, expiry dates are tracked for you, reminders go out before something lapses, and the inspection-day view is one click rather than an afternoon of cross-checking. It is the boring end of the work, done quietly.

See how staff compliance works

Questions we get asked

What should a nursery training matrix include?: One row per person and one column per course, with the date completed, the refresh date, whether you hold the certificate and a red, amber or green status. For an early years setting the usual columns are paediatric first aid, safeguarding and child protection, designated safeguarding lead training, Prevent, food hygiene and safer eating, safer sleeping, fire safety and evacuation, health and safety, SEND, manual handling and induction.
How often is paediatric first aid renewed?: Paediatric first aid certificates are valid for three years under paragraph 3.37 and Annex A paragraph 3 of the EYFS framework for group and school-based providers. Annual refreshers are something providers should consider, not a statutory requirement. Staff qualified at Level 2 or 3 since 30 June 2016 must gain paediatric first aid within three months of starting work if they are to count in the ratios.
Does Ofsted ask to see a training matrix?: There is no statutory requirement to keep training in a matrix. Inspectors do ask how you know staff are suitably trained, and they ask for evidence about individuals, so a single sheet that shows who has done what and when is the quickest honest answer. It is a management record, not a statutory one.
Is a training matrix the same as a single central record?: No. The single central record is the vetting record: identity, enhanced DBS and barred list, right to work, references, qualifications and suitability for each person. The training matrix tracks courses and refresh dates. They overlap on things like paediatric first aid expiry, which is why the two need updating together whenever somebody joins or leaves.

Keep the rest of the paperwork in step

Single central record template - the vetting record that sits beside this one, with a row per person.
Safer recruitment checklist - the new starter sequence, including the induction row this matrix expects you to have completed.
Ofsted readiness checklist - the 26 records inspectors ask for, training evidence included.

Last updated 2026-09-19.