Safer Recruitment: Getting the Basics Right

Safer recruitment is the set of practices care and education employers use to reduce the risk of employing someone unsuitable to work with children or vulnerable adults – it’s a legal and regulatory expectation, not simply good practice.

The core elements: verifying identity and the right to work, an enhanced DBS check appropriate to the role, references obtained directly from an applicant’s most recent employer rather than relying only on the ones an applicant chooses to provide, satisfactorily exploring any gaps in employment history, and verifying qualifications rather than taking them at face value.

Structured interviews built around specific safeguarding-focused questions – not only competency questions – are just as much a part of safer recruitment as the paperwork, since they’re the point where an assessor can actually probe someone’s judgement and attitudes rather than only their experience.

Last updated: 19 August 2026