OVERVIEW
Safer recruitment is one of the most powerful tools a school or college has for keeping children safe. Most people who apply to work in education do so for the right reasons, but a small number seek out roles that give them access to children in order to harm them. Safer recruitment is the structured, end-to-end approach designed to deter such people from applying, to reject unsuitable candidates and to identify anyone who might pose a risk before they are ever appointed. It is not a single check — it is a mindset and set of safeguards that run through every stage.
This course explains safer recruitment, why it is a statutory part of safeguarding under Part 3 of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), and how to apply it in practice. It covers planning and advertising a role, application forms rather than CVs, gaps in employment history, shortlisting, taking up and verifying references, safeguarding-focused values-based interviews, the pre-employment checks every school must carry out including identity and right-to-work, qualification checks, the enhanced DBS check with a barred-list check, prohibition and overseas checks, the Single Central Record, induction and probation, ongoing vigilance, the LADO and the legal duty to refer to the DBS.
