Nationally accredited safeguarding training in schools
IICSA · The Residential Schools Investigation Report · Issued 1 March 2022 · Addressed to: Department for Education
Government responseNo response yet
DeliveryNo statement from Department for Education found
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, E
The Department for Education and the Welsh Government should: set nationally accredited standards and levels of safeguarding training in schools; make the highest level of safeguarding training mandatory for headteachers, designated safeguarding leads in England or designated safeguarding persons in Wales, designated safeguarding governors, or the proprietor or head of the proprietorial body; and undertake an urgent review in order to improve the provision and effectiveness of relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) for children with special educational needs and disabilities, both for children who are in mainstream settings and for those in special schools.
IICSA, The Residential Schools Investigation Report · 1 Mar 2022 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
The Inquiry asked the Department for Education to establish accredited school safeguarding training standards. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, in a summary of June 2022 published in July 2022, recorded that the UK Government pledged to consider setting accredited standards and had strengthened guidance for headteachers and designated safeguarding leads (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022). The summary noted that the government also planned an evaluation of relationships and sex education, including in special schools, though training for school governors or proprietors was not mentioned (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022). It also reported that the Welsh Government was developing training standards through Social Care Wales for independent schools and considering reviewing its Relationships and Sexuality Education Code for children with additional learning needs (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Jul 2022).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 5 Oct 2026.
Government response
●No formal government response recorded
The Index has not yet recorded a verbatim government response to this recommendation.
Delivery
No statement on delivery from Department for Education has been found in the sources searched. This is separate from the response above.
What other bodies have found
●Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse · 25 Jul 2022
On 30 June 2022, the UK government stated that it will further consider setting nationally accredited standards and levels of safeguarding training in schools. It also stated that Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance was strengthened and sets a ‘strong framework’ for a higher level of training to be undertaken by designated safeguarding leads and headteachers. The UK government also stated a national evaluation of Relationships and Sex Education implementation, including in special schools, is planned and that it would consider the options for a specific piece of work to support teachers of Relationships and Sex Education in special schools. On 30 June 2022, the Welsh Government stated National Minimum Safeguarding Training Standards and a framework training requirements by role are being developed by Social Care Wales. This will apply to independent schools. It also stated that as part of the strengthening of the independent school regulations, options for strengthening the requirements for safeguarding training and prescribing the levels of training for those identified in the recommendation will be considered. In addition, it will consider the provision and effectiveness of its new Relationships and Sexuality Education Code for children with additional learning needs in Wales.
From: Recommendations - Residential schools investigation report
How this page is built
The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.