Overview

It is a statutory requirement (Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023, Paragraph 268) for all schools and academies to keep and maintain:

• a single central record (SCR) of recruitment
• vetting checks for their whole workforce (including volunteers, supply staff and teacher trainees on salaried routes)

Academies will also need to keep the same information for all members of the proprietor body.

The SCR is a key element of safer recruitment.  During an Ofsted Inspection, the inspector will ask to view the record.   The DfE Statutory Guidance for Schools and Colleges, ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education, requires all schools to produce and maintain a Single Central Record of Recruitment and Vetting Checks (SCR).  This requirement has been in place since 2007.

The following guidance has been produced to assist Headteachers, Governing Bodies, and staff in schools who have responsibility for maintaining a Single Central Record (SCR).  This guidance is not comprehensive and should be read in conjunction with the document ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education – September 2023’ (KCSIE) and the more detailed information contained in the Safeguarding in Employment and Proof of Right to Work information pages.

Who should be included on the SCR?

• All staff employed by the school – e.g. teachers, teaching assistants, cleaners, administrative staff etc
• Trainee teachers on salaried routes
• Supply teachers / casual workers – either employed through the school or through an agency
• All those in regular contact with children including volunteers
• All Governors
• Contractors who visit the school frequently or intensively**
• All people brought into school to provide additional teaching / training / instruction e.g. sports coaches and music teachers

** Definition of frequent and intensive:

• Frequently is defined as once a week or more often
• Intensively is defined as four or more times in a month or overnight

All the above should be included in the same record: separate SCRs should not be held for different categories of employees/volunteers.  Leavers however can be moved to a separate ‘archive SCR’ on an optional basis. 

All fields on the SCR must be completed.  Where any information is not relevant to that individual/role this should be indicated as ‘N/A’ eg qualifications for a Midday Supervisor.   All information inserted in each field/column should be consistent.

Each school needs to keep a SCR in place at all times, but it does not need to be a ‘physical’ record i.e. it could be an electronic record.  Buckinghamshire Council has been advised that it is acceptable to hold the SCR electronically as long as a printed copy is available for inspection. 

Where a person has multiple roles in a school, s/he only needs to appear on the SCR once showing the role which gives them the most contact with/responsibility for children.  For example if a Learning Support Assistant is also a volunteer in an additional capacity, then they would only need to be included on the SCR as an LSA.

The name of the person checking information/documents and completing the SCR, along with the date checked, should always be included.  This can be in the form of initials although where initials are used a key should added to the SCR for ease of reference.

Volunteers

Volunteers who are wholly supervised and who do not work frequently i.e. more than 3 times a month with children do not need to be added to the SCR e.g. a parent accompanying children on a school visit. 

Volunteers who are unsupervised and work frequently or intensively and are therefore working in Regulated Activity must have an Enhanced DBS Check with a Children’s Barred List Check in place and must be added to the SCR in the same way as other members of staff.

For volunteers not engaged in “regulated activity” a written risk assessment should be undertaken to determine whether an Enhanced DBS Check (excluding a Barred List Check) should be obtained.  (KCSiE 2023’, paragraphs 304 - 307) The completed Risk Assessment should be kept in a school’s local personnel records.

Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) 

MATs must maintain a SCR detailing checks carried out in each academy within a MAT. There is not a requirement for MATs to have separate SCRs for each academy however the information should be recorded in such a way that it allows for details for each individual academy to be provided separately and without delay to those entitled to inspect that information. (KCSiE, Paragraph 275)

Confidentiality

A school’s SCR should be kept securely on a confidential basis with access limited solely to those staff and Governors who need to have access.