Charity Trustee Training: What Trustees Need to Know

There is no mandatory training requirement for UK charity trustees. The Charities Act 2011 requires trustees to meet their legal duties — but how they develop the knowledge to do so is left to the board. In practice, this means trustee development varies enormously: some charities run structured inductions and annual training plans; others rely on trustees learning as they go, with occasional guidance downloaded from the Charity Commission website.

The Commission's Charity Trustee Welcome Pack is explicit on this point: trustees should "have the information you need to perform your role, and read it." That is a floor, not a ceiling. The question for most small charity boards is how to go beyond that floor in a way that is realistic for volunteer trustees with limited time.

What the Charity Commission recommends

The Commission does not prescribe specific training courses. Its guidance focuses on what trustees need to understand rather than how they acquire that understanding. The core requirement is familiarity with:

• The six main duties set out in CC3 (The Essential Trustee) — covering public benefit, governing document compliance, acting in the charity's interests, managing resources responsibly, exercising care and skill, and ensuring accountability. See our guide on charity trustee roles and responsibilities for a full breakdown.
• The governing document — every trustee should read their charity's constitution or trust deed.
• Recent accounts and trustees' annual reports — to understand the charity's financial position and any current issues.

The Commission publishes a Trustee Welcome Pack for new trustees, which links to summaries, infographics, and five-minute guides on key topics: finances, decision-making, conflicts of interest, and reporting.

The Charity Governance Code 2025 and Board Effectiveness

The Charity Governance Code 2025 includes Board Effectiveness as its eighth principle. The expected outcomes include that the board has the right mix of skills, knowledge and experience to serve the charity's purposes, and that the board is committed to trustee development including induction, individual learning and whole board learning. Under "apply or explain," a board with no trustee development activity would need to explain how it meets this principle another way.

For most small charities, the practical implication is a modest annual commitment: an induction for new trustees, and one or two hours of relevant reading or training per year for experienced ones.

What new trustees should do in the first six months

A structured induction does not need to take long. A new trustee should:

1. Read the Welcome Pack — the Charity Commission's own introduction, with links to all key guidance.
2. Read the governing document — even if it is not light reading. Key sections: the charity's objects, trustee appointment and removal rules, quorum requirements, decision-making powers.
3. Read the latest accounts and trustees' annual report — to understand income, expenditure, reserves, and any current financial pressures.
4. Read the key policies — especially safeguarding, conflict of interest, and data protection. These are the policies where trustee behaviour matters most. See our guide to charity policies required by law.
5. Check for disqualification — the Charity Commission maintains automatic disqualification rules under the Charities Act 2011. New trustees should confirm they are not disqualified (the Trustee Welcome Pack includes a link to the checker).
6. Have a conversation with the chair — about the charity's current priorities, board dynamics, and how the new trustee can contribute.

A 30-minute conversation with the chair plus three hours of reading covers most of this. It is a higher bar than many small charities currently set, but a realistic one.

Free training resources

Most trustee training in the UK is free at the point of use:

Charity Commission: Trustee Welcome Pack with five-minute guides on governance, finance, and accountability. Available to any trustee without registration.

NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations): NCVO's governance resources include practical guides for smaller charities and sample templates for codes of conduct, board evaluations, and trustee job descriptions. Some content requires a free membership.

ICAEW Trustee Training Modules: A series of free online modules from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, covering legal responsibilities, financial governance, and decision-making. Suited to trustees with a financial background or those wanting a structured introduction to charity law. See the ICAEW charity trustee resources.

Ongoing development for experienced trustees

Once a trustee has the basics, ongoing development is more about staying current than learning fundamentals. Useful annual habits:

• Read the Commission's annual report and research — the Commission publishes data on regulatory action, common governance failures, and emerging issues. Knowing what the regulator is concerned about helps trustees ask the right questions.
• Review the governance code self-assessment — the Charity Governance Code 2025 includes a self-assessment tool. An annual pass through the eight principles is practical ongoing governance education. Use our free Charity Governance Code Self-Assessment tool to work through it interactively.
• Attend one external event per year — CVS networks, diocesan training days, or sector conferences provide sector-specific context that internal training cannot.
• Use the Charity Commission's compliance toolkit — when regulation changes (SORP, reporting thresholds, safeguarding requirements), the Commission updates its guidance. Checking for relevant changes once a year takes thirty minutes.

Building a trustee development plan

For boards that want a more structured approach, a simple development plan covers:

• Skills gaps — what skills does the board need that it currently lacks? A brief skills audit at the start of each year surfaces these. See our guide on how many trustees a charity needs for the governance reasons why board composition matters.
• Required training — any training required by a funder, regulator, or governing document (safeguarding training is the most common).
• Individual interests — trustees who develop in areas aligned with their professional background or personal interests tend to remain engaged and effective.
• Review date — annually, alongside the board's effectiveness review.

A single column in a spreadsheet is enough. The goal is that the board has thought about development, not that it has produced a document.

---

This guide applies to charities registered in England and Wales. Training requirements may differ for Scottish charities (OSCR) or those operating in Northern Ireland. This is general guidance, not legal advice.

Sources

• Charity Trustee Welcome Pack — GOV.UK
• The Essential Trustee (CC3a) — GOV.UK
• Board basics — NCVO
• Charity Governance Code 2025