Course Details

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT · ENGLAND AND WALES

Safeguarding Children

Recognition, response and escalation for practitioners already working with children and families.

TEN MODULES · 20-QUESTION ASSESSMENT · PRACTITIONER LEVEL

CPD HOURS

25 hours

ACCREDITED BY

CPD Standards Office

FORMAT

Blended self-paced

SLIDES

PPT Deck

LISTEN

Audio Podcast

QUIZ

Audio Quiz

VISUAL

Infographic

Overview

This course is written for practitioners who are already working with children and families, and who already carry safeguarding responsibility as part of their role. It assumes you know what a referral is. It is concerned with the harder part of the job: noticing what is in front of you, deciding what it means, and doing something about it when the picture is incomplete and the pressure is to wait.

Ten modules move from the statutory framework outwards: what the law requires, how harm presents, where harm now happens that it did not a decade ago, and what to do when you are the person who has noticed. Each module opens with its own learning outcome and closes with an Apply and Reflect scenario drawn from patterns that recur in national reviews. Every module is grounded in the law and statutory guidance as it stands in England and in Wales, with the jurisdiction stated wherever the two diverge, and every figure carries its source and year.

Who this course is for

Not for people with no current role working with children — an introductory awareness course would serve better. It also does not replace the role-specific training required of designated safeguarding leads, or the induction and refresher training your employer is obliged to provide.

▸ Teachers, school staff and early years practitioners

▸ Health visitors, school nurses, social work assistants and newly qualified social workers

▸ Youth and community workers, and police staff in public protection roles

▸ Housing officers, sports and faith-setting staff

▸ Foster carers and residential care workers

Learning outcomes

One outcome per module. Each is assessed by the twenty-question assessment at the end of the course:

✓
Apply the statutory framework that governs your work, and state accurately which parts of it apply in England, in Wales, or in both.

✓
Recognise indicators across all four categories of abuse, and distinguish an isolated indicator from a pattern that requires action.

✓
Identify neglect and cumulative harm early, using chronology rather than incident, and recognise disguised compliance without losing the working relationship.

✓
Recognise extra-familial harm and exploitation, and describe the offences and orders introduced by the Crime and Policing Act 2026.

✓
State the mandatory reporting duty for suspected child sexual abuse in England: who it binds, what triggers it, what it requires, and what follows a failure to comply.

✓
Respond to online and technology-assisted harm without compromising evidence or breaching the law on indecent images.

✓
Assess the whole household where domestic abuse, parental mental ill-health or substance use are present, including adults who are not named in the record.

✓
Respond to a disclosure in a way that protects both the child and any future evidence, and record a child’s account in their own words.

✓
Make a referral that contains a decision-maker’s information, judge whether the response is proportionate, and escalate when it is not.

✓
Recognise when a concern about an adult meets the harm threshold, and describe the route it must take in your nation.

Career path

▸ Where this sits — continuing professional development that refreshes and extends practice for people already working with children and families — not an entry route into a profession and does not qualify anyone to practise

▸ Roles it supports — teachers and school staff, early years practitioners, social work assistants and NQSWs, health visitors and school nurses, youth and community workers, police public protection staff, housing officers, sports and faith-setting staff, foster carers and residential care workers

▸ Progression from here — practitioners commonly move on to the designated safeguarding lead role, deputy DSL cover, specialist practice in exploitation or domestic abuse, or formal qualifications — a social work degree, a specialist community public health nursing qualification, or a management route

▸ What it will not do — it will not make you a designated safeguarding lead — DSL competence requires role-specific training, ongoing supervision, and appointment by your organisation

Most professional bodies accept structured CPD against their own frameworks, but each sets its own rules on hours, evidence and reflection. Check your regulator’s requirements before you record this course against them.

Course structure

1
The Statutory Framework in England and Wales

2
Recognising Abuse and Neglect

3
Neglect and Cumulative Harm

4
Extra-Familial Harm and Exploitation

5
Child Sexual Abuse and the Duty to Report

6
Online and Technology-Assisted Harm

7
Harm in the Home: Domestic Abuse, Mental Ill-Health and Substance Use

8
Hearing Children: Disclosure, Voice and Lived Experience

9
Referral, Thresholds, Escalation and Information Sharing

10
Allegations, Safe Culture and Learning from Reviews

Apply and Reflect

Each module closes with an Apply and Reflect scenario drawn from patterns that recur in national reviews, using composites with no identifiable children or families. Modules 5 and 7 are preceded by a practitioner support slide and are pitched at recognition, response and referral only, with no procedural or method detail, plus a 20-question assessment with a full answer key and sources.

Frequently asked questions

Q. Will this qualify me to practise as a safeguarding professional?

No. This is CPD. It builds and evidences knowledge; it is not a licence, a registration, or a qualification. No course of this kind can authorise you to conduct assessments or enquiries, chair conferences, or act outside your role and your organisation’s policy.

Q. Will it make me a designated safeguarding lead?

No. The DSL role requires training specific to that role, ongoing supervision and formal appointment by your organisation. This course will make you better at the practitioner half of the job, which is the half most DSL referrals depend on.

Q. Is it accredited?

That depends entirely on the provider delivering it, and this package does not state it. If a provider cannot name the accrediting body and show you the certificate, treat the claim as unsupported.

Q. Does it satisfy my statutory training requirement?

Not on its own, and not automatically. Schools and colleges in England must follow Keeping Children Safe in Education; other sectors have their own requirements. This course supports those obligations but does not discharge them.

Q. Does it cover Scotland or Northern Ireland?

No. It covers England and Wales, and it says so on every slide where law appears. Scotland and Northern Ireland operate different legislation, guidance and terminology throughout.

Q. How current is the content?

Content is stated as at 22 August 2026. That date matters more than usual: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 replaced the 2023 edition in March 2026, Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 comes into force on 1 September 2026, and other 2026 Acts are being commenced in stages.

Q. Is the content distressing?

Some of it is. Modules 5 and 7 cover child sexual abuse and harm in the home. Both are pitched at recognition, response and referral, and contain no procedural or method detail. Each is preceded by a practitioner support slide.

Q. What if it contradicts my organisation’s policy?

Follow your policy, and raise the difference with your safeguarding lead. Local thresholds, referral routes and out-of-hours arrangements vary between authorities, and your local threshold document is the operative one.

SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN · 25 CPD HOURS · ACCREDITED BY CPD STANDARDS OFFICE · TEN MODULES

£25.00

Course Features

Lectures 12
Quizzes 2
Duration Lifetime access
Skill level All levels
Language English
Students 2
Certificate Yes
Assessments Self