Out of school care staff, as social service workers must be registered with and regulated by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), unless they are registered with another professional regulatory body such as the General Teaching Council Scotland. Staff must have or be working towards a qualification appropriate to their level of work and in the case of managers, they must hold a degree-level qualification usually in Childhood Practice.

Once registered with the SSSC, if the worker has yet to complete the appropriate qualification they will be registered on the condition they achieve the qualification within 5 years. Staff members must also undergo continuing professional development and are required to undertake a minimum of 10 days or 60 hours of Post Registration Training and Learning over the course of their 5-year registration period.

Since June 2024 new staff need to apply for SSSC registration within three months of starting their role. This is one of the changes to registration that came into effect on 3 June 2024.

If registration isn't complete within six months, they may not be able to continue working.