diff --git a/app/controllers/locations_controller.rb b/app/controllers/locations_controller.rb
index 156f1cd97..7effcc33d 100644
--- a/app/controllers/locations_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/locations_controller.rb
@@ -15,15 +15,29 @@ class LocationsController < ApplicationController
     @location = Location.new
   end
 
-  def create
-    @location = if Date.valid_date?(location_params["startdate(3i)"].to_i, location_params["startdate(2i)"].to_i, location_params["startdate(1i)"].to_i)
-                  Location.new(location_params.except("startdate(3i)", "startdate(2i)", "startdate(1i)"))
-                else
-                  Location.new(location_params) end
+  def validation_errors(scheme_params)
+    scheme_params.each_key do |key|
+      if key == "support_services_provider"
+        @scheme.errors.add("support_services_provider_before_type_cast".to_sym) if scheme_params[key].to_s.empty?
+      elsif scheme_params[key].to_s.empty?
+        @scheme.errors.add(key.to_sym)
+      end
+    end
+  end
 
-    if @location.save
-      location_params[:add_another_location] == "Yes" ? redirect_to(new_location_path(id: @scheme.id)) : redirect_to(scheme_check_answers_path(scheme_id: @scheme.id))
+  def create
+    if valid_date_params?(location_params)
+      @location = Location.new(location_params)
+      if @location.save
+        location_params[:add_another_location] == "Yes" ? redirect_to(new_location_path(id: @scheme.id)) : redirect_to(scheme_check_answers_path(scheme_id: @scheme.id))
+      else
+        @location.errors.add(:startdate) unless Date.valid_date?(location_params["startdate(3i)"].to_i, location_params["startdate(2i)"].to_i, location_params["startdate(1i)"].to_i)
+        render :new, status: :unprocessable_entity
+      end
     else
+      @location = Location.new(location_params.except("startdate(3i)", "startdate(2i)", "startdate(1i)"))
+      @location.valid?
+      @location.errors.add(:startdate)
       render :new, status: :unprocessable_entity
     end
   end
@@ -49,6 +63,15 @@ class LocationsController < ApplicationController
 
 private
 
+  def valid_date_params?(location_params)
+    is_integer?(location_params["startdate(1i)"]) && is_integer?(location_params["startdate(2i)"]) && is_integer?(location_params["startdate(3i)"]) &&
+      Date.valid_date?(location_params["startdate(1i)"].to_i, location_params["startdate(2i)"].to_i, location_params["startdate(3i)"].to_i)
+  end
+
+  def is_integer?(string)
+    string.to_i.to_s == string
+  end
+
   def find_scheme
     @scheme = if %w[new create index edit_name].include?(action_name)
                 Scheme.find(params[:id])
diff --git a/app/models/location.rb b/app/models/location.rb
index 7200b9081..0d5bf1a76 100644
--- a/app/models/location.rb
+++ b/app/models/location.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 class Location < ApplicationRecord
-  validate :validate_postcode, :validate_startdate
+  validate :validate_postcode
   validates :units, :type_of_unit, presence: true
   belongs_to :scheme
 
@@ -49,13 +49,6 @@ private
 
   PIO = PostcodeService.new
 
-  def validate_startdate
-    unless startdate.nil? || (startdate.is_a?(ActiveSupport::TimeWithZone) && !startdate.year.zero?)
-      error_message = I18n.t("validations.date.invalid_date")
-      errors.add :startdate, error_message
-    end
-  end
-
   def validate_postcode
     if postcode.nil? || !postcode&.match(POSTCODE_REGEXP)
       error_message = I18n.t("validations.postcode")
diff --git a/config/locales/en.yml b/config/locales/en.yml
index 032cf7d4e..895bf023e 100644
--- a/config/locales/en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/en.yml
@@ -69,6 +69,9 @@ en:
               invalid: "Select who provides the support services used by this scheme"
         location:
           attributes:
+            startdate:
+              invalid: "Enter a date in the correct format, for example 1 9 2022"
+
             units:
               blank: "Enter total number of units at this location"
             type_of_unit:
diff --git a/spec/requests/locations_controller_spec.rb b/spec/requests/locations_controller_spec.rb
index f4b0b6840..0ff43e5f7 100644
--- a/spec/requests/locations_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/locations_controller_spec.rb
@@ -202,7 +202,19 @@ RSpec.describe LocationsController, type: :request do
       end
 
       context "when invalid time is supplied" do
-        let(:params) { { location: { "startdate(3i)" => "1", "startdate(2i)" => "1", "startdate(1i)" => "w" } } }
+        let(:params) do
+          { location: {
+            name: "Test",
+            units: "5",
+            type_of_unit: "Bungalow",
+            wheelchair_adaptation: "No",
+            add_another_location: "No",
+            postcode: "ZZ1 1ZZ",
+            "startdate(3i)" => "1",
+            "startdate(2i)" => "1",
+            "startdate(1i)" => "w",
+          } }
+        end
 
         it "displays the new page with an error message" do
           expect(response).to have_http_status(:unprocessable_entity)