What is safer recruitment in education?

Safer recruitment is the set of practices that organisations such as schools follow to ensure that the staff they hire are suitable to work with children and young people. It is a fundamental aspect of a school’s statutory obligation to keep their students safe from harm. 

Guidance around safer recruitment in schools is detailed in the government’s  guidance, which says a school’s recruitment procedures should “deter and prevent people who are unsuitable to work with children from applying for or securing employment”. 

It is important that a school’s safeguarding lead, along with all staff involved in recruitment, understand the safeguarding requirements when appointing new employees.

The single central record 

KCSIE guidance states that all schools and colleges in England and Wales must keep and maintain a single central record. There are strict guidelines in terms of the information that needs to be recorded and retained in the single central record.

Essentially, the single central record is a register that records all essential recruitment checks that are undertaken prior to a person being appointed. These would include checks on the following:  

• The applicant’s identity 

• Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check 

• Prohibition from teaching check 

• Right to work in the UK 

• Professional qualifications 

The single central record checks are a critical part of the recruitment process and apply to all persons appointed by the school including teaching staff, support staff, supply staff, contractors, volunteers, school governors and trustees.

The checks themselves will vary dependent on the role the person is carrying out at the school but for every individual, a separate entry is made on the single central record which maintains a complete record of the checking process. 

Safer recruitment at the application stage

The first experience you have of a candidate is typically their application form. Unless they are specifically applying for a pastoral or safeguarding role it is unlikely that safeguarding will feature on their application statement. 

However, some things important to check if a candidate is called for interview – such as if a candidate has moved quickly from previous jobs, or if they have had several roles in a short space of time. There might be a perfectly good explanation, but it is worth questioning during an interview to make sure.

Similarly, if there are any unexplained gaps in employment this should also be explored at the interview to obtain further information.

Even more importantly, it is vital to thoroughly check references requested for a candidate. While you would hope that any former employers will be very clear if there have been any safeguarding-related issues, referees can sometimes be ambiguous with their wording – particularly if there was a concern but nothing conclusive emerged. 

If it is at all unclear then ensure you contact the referee directly. 

Allegation investigations 

There is very clear wording in : 

• Substantiated: there is sufficient evidence to prove the allegation 

• Malicious: there is sufficient evidence to disprove the allegation and there has been a deliberate act to deceive or cause harm to the person subject of the allegation 

• False: there is sufficient evidence to disprove the allegation 

• Unsubstantiated: there is insufficient evidence to either prove or disprove the allegation (so this term does not imply guilt or innocence) 

• Unfounded: to reflect cases where there is no evidence or proper basis which supports the allegation being made 

Remember that referees are the people that a candidate is most confident will be positive about them. 

If you remain concerned about, for instance, a very short appointment in one particular role, you may want to call them yourself and ask for their opinion on the candidate. 

Safer recruitment during interviews

It is vital that anyone working at your school has the right checks and documents completed before they are appointed. 

If you need to ask about any concerns that arise from a candidate’s application form, the interview process will sometimes form part of this check.

An interview is also the ideal opportunity to ensure a candidate fully understands the importance of safeguarding and will be a positive and engaged part of a whole-school, proactive safeguarding culture. 

Prior safeguarding knowledge 

Whatever their role, anyone looking to work in a school should understand the importance of safeguarding and should know that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.  

However, this doesn’t mean every successful candidate for a job should have an encyclopaedic knowledge of safeguarding policy – what they should understand is its importance. 

They should also be positive about developing their understanding of safeguarding where necessary. 

Understanding their safeguarding experience 

You can gauge a candidate’s experience from their application form, and by asking them open questions such as: 

• What experience do you have of dealing with safeguarding issues with children? 

• When did you last have safeguarding training? 

This allows you to judge what level of safeguarding knowledge you can expect from the candidate. For example, when interviewing a candidate who has recently finished their teacher training, ask them what they would do if a student came to them with a safeguarding concern. 

They should be able to go through the key points, such as making it clear they cannot promise confidentiality. However, those applying for a safeguarding or pastoral role in a school should know the school’s policy in more detail. 

In contrast, if there is a candidate looking to work in the catering department coming from a non-school position, they might be unaware of the process for dealing with a disclosure. 

However, you still would expect them to understand why safeguarding is important and that they have a part to play in that, along with every member of the department. 

Essentially, you are looking for a positive mindset towards safeguarding – and a confidence that where there are gaps in knowledge, the candidate will be proactive about participating in safeguarding training appropriate to their role. 

Robust reporting systems are at the heart of safer recruitment in schools

It is critically important for you to record the recruitment checks that you have undertaken as part of the process – and for you to be able to retrieve that information easily when you need to.  

The data that you are recording should be kept secure and only made available to those who have the authority to access it. It’s essential to have systems in place that enable you to manage data in line with the . 

It’s also worth bearing in mind that the process for recruitment checking can be quite complex, so having an effective system in place that guides users through the process is also important for schools. 

The single central record and school inspections 

The accuracy and efficacy of a school’s single central record is also important for inspection bodies such as Ofsted (in England) and Estyn (in Wales). 

Therefore, it’s essential that the data being inspected: 

• Is easy to access and interpret 

• Presents information in a logical format 

• Doesn’t rely on paper records 

The benefits of a digital safer recruitment system 

As safeguarding dangers increase and safer recruitment legislation develops, more and more schools are realising that paper records or Excel spreadsheets are just not good enough. 

Purpose-built digital systems provide peace of mind, help to reduce admin time with streamlined processes and provide a secure central vault where all elements of the safer recruitment checks can be stored. 

91���� HR stores your single central record securely, so you can record safer recruitment checks and track when staff checks need renewal, keeping your students safe and ensuring compliance with KCSIE and GDPR. 

When the time comes for your Ofsted inspection, you can download a report of all staff information in the correct format to evidence compliance.

Better safeguarding with 91���� 

Keep students safer at your school with unlimited access to our safeguarding training, including a course on safer recruitment in schools. 

Similarly, our purpose-built safeguarding reporting platform MyConcern enables staff to easily record concerns, providing a top-level view of trends and patterns, supporting data-driven decision-making and helping you evidence safeguarding practices.

Our free guide explores how MyConcern can help you with: 

• A complete view of student safety at school or trust level 

• Simplified safeguarding record-keeping and case management 

• Anonymous reporting 

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Originally published 25/07/2024