CQC GP Training Gap Index 2026: What Inspectors Found About Staff Training in GP Practices

We read what CQC inspectors wrote about staff training in the latest reports for 1,234 GP practices in England. At 1 in 3 (439), inspectors recorded a staff training gap. Safeguarding was the subject named most often.

Key findings

• Inspectors recorded a staff training gap at 35.6% of GP practices (439 of 1,234), about 1 in 3.
• Including practices where inspectors said the systems for tracking training weren't working, the figure is 37.6% (464).
• Safeguarding was the subject named most often, at 146 practices, about 1 in 8 of all practices. Then infection prevention and control (103), fire safety (68), sepsis (66), clinical competence such as vaccines and patient group directions (61), learning disability and autism (59) and the Mental Capacity Act (57).
• 1 in 23 practices (54) had a gap in life support or anaphylaxis training.
• 31% of practices rated Good overall had a staff training gap recorded (335 of 1,073), against 81% of those rated Requires improvement or Inadequate (102 of 126).
• 108 practices had gaps in three or more named subjects at once.

What training was missing

Safeguarding was named at 33% of practices with a gap. Infection prevention and control came next (24%), then fire safety (16%), sepsis (15%) and clinical competence (14%). At 46% of practices with a gap, inspectors recorded that mandatory training wasn't complete without naming a subject.

Example wording from CQC reports (no practice named):

• "We identified that a non-clinical staff member working on-site during opening hours had not completed Level 1 safeguarding training."
• "Managers had not ensured all staff had received sepsis awareness training."
• "Evidence of qualifications such as training in vaccination and immunisation and cervical screening was not available for the nurse."

More on safeguarding adults training, sepsis awareness, infection control and vaccination and immunisation.

Life support and anaphylaxis

At 54 practices, inspectors found that some staff hadn't done basic life support, resuscitation or anaphylaxis training, or that the practice couldn't show it. More on basic life support training.

Practices rated Good

A Good rating doesn't mean inspectors found nothing. Among the 1,073 practices rated Good overall, inspectors recorded a staff training gap at 335 (31%), about 3 in 10. Among the 126 practices rated Requires improvement or Inadequate, it was 102 (81%), about 8 in 10. Of the 35 practices rated Outstanding, 2 had a gap recorded.

By region

Share of GP practices with a staff training gap recorded by inspectors:

• Yorkshire and the Humber: 50% of 115 practices
• South West: 43% of 91
• London: 39% of 249
• East of England: 39% of 78
• North East: 37% of 65
• West Midlands: 37% of 200
• East Midlands: 30% of 89
• South East: 27% of 136
• North West: 26% of 208

Some of the difference between regions may come from how different inspection teams write their reports, so treat these as a guide rather than a ranking. Confidence intervals are in the download below.

What practice managers can do

Built from what inspectors wrote, not from Kasorb's courses:

• Training matrix up to date, with completion and expiry dates for every member of staff, including locums and staff employed through the primary care network.
• Safeguarding training at the level set for each role, for clinical and non-clinical staff.
• Certificates on file and easy to find on the day. Evidence sent after the inspection still gets written up.
• Competency checks recorded for vaccines, patient group directions and non-medical prescribers.
• Sepsis awareness, infection prevention and control, and fire safety training for the whole team, including reception staff.
• Basic life support and anaphylaxis training for everyone, with hands-on practice.
• Learning disability and autism training at the right level for each role, required since July 2022.

How we did it

1. Took every GP practice in CQC's ratings data (October 2026) with a rating published between December 2023 and September 2026: 1,608 locations. 229 had no report under CQC's current assessment approach that we could read, and 145 had Safe, Effective and Well-led all not assessed, leaving 1,234 practices.
2. Read the overall, Safe, Effective and Well-led pages of each practice's latest report on cqc.org.uk, and pulled every sentence mentioning training, competence, induction, CPD, life support, resuscitation, sepsis, learning disability, autism or chaperones. Where only some key questions were assessed, we coded from the pages that were.
3. Coded each practice: a staff training gap recorded by inspectors (training missing, out of date, overdue or not evidenced, competency checks missing, or induction not done or not recorded); weak oversight of training (systems for tracking training not working); and whether the gap involved life support. Where a report said only "most" or "the majority" of staff had done the training, we counted it as a gap. Gaps fixed after inspectors raised them count. Gaps fixed before the assessment, suggestions and CQC's standard positive wording don't.
4. Every practice was coded twice, independently, using AI-assisted text analysis against the same written guide. The two codings agreed on 99.4% of practices for a training gap (kappa 0.99), 98.9% for weak oversight (kappa 0.96) and 99.8% for life support (kappa 0.98). The 21 disagreements were reviewed against the guide, with a reason recorded for each.

Limits. CQC doesn't inspect every practice each year, so these figures describe inspected practices, not all GP practices. Reports cover what inspectors chose to write about, so no training finding doesn't prove training was complete. A training gap doesn't mean a practice is unsafe, and the data shows where gaps were recorded, not that they caused a rating. England only.

Data and credits

• Download the data (CSV): figures by measure, rating, subject and region, with confidence intervals. No practice is named.
• Cite as: Kasorb (2026), CQC GP Training Gap Index 2026, kasorb.com/blog/cqc-gp-training-gap-index. Reports read 26 October 2026.
• Contains CQC data and report text, © Care Quality Commission, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
• Author: Steve van de Worp, Head of Learning, Kasorb.
• See also: CQC Dental Training Gap Index 2026, CQC Training Gap Index 2026 for care homes and CQC Home Care Training Gap Index 2026.

FAQs

What is the most common staff training gap CQC finds in GP practices?

Safeguarding training: the subject named most often, at 146 of the 439 practices with a gap (33%).

How many GP practices have gaps in life support training?

54 of 1,234 inspected practices (4.4%), about 1 in 23, had a gap in basic life support, resuscitation or anaphylaxis training.

Do GP practices rated Good have training gaps?

Some do. Inspectors recorded a staff training gap at 31% of practices rated Good overall (335 of 1,073).

Does a training gap mean a GP practice is unsafe?

No. It means inspectors recorded a shortfall in staff training, competency checks, induction or training records at that assessment.

Will this be updated?

Yes, every year, at the same address.