No 2: Single Central Record

What is the Single Central Record?

The single central record (SCR) is an essential safeguarding document and must be maintained, reviewed and audited on a regular basis. Schools and colleges must keep a single central record as the register of recruitment and it should be used to log all safer recruitment checks, including details of DBS checks. It will probably be one of the first documents that Ofsted will ask to see. It is important that any guidance is read in conjunction with the current version of Keeping Children Safe in Education (Part 3).

Who should be included?

all employees (including supply staff, and teacher trainees on salaried routes) who work at the school. In colleges, this means those providing education to children; and
for independent schools, including academies and free schools, all members of the proprietor body.

It should also include:

any volunteer who is in regulated activity
people brought into the school to provide regular additional teaching or instruction but who are employed by another organisation such as peripatetic music teachers, sports coaches etc.
supply teachers
contract staff such as cleaners or caterers
Governors
Members of the proprietor body (trustees or directors) in independent schools including academies

Who should not be included?

Ad hoc visitors
Parents attending occasional events such as sports day or meeting with teachers
Work experience students under the age of 16
Contractors with no possible contact with children
Those using the school as a venue before or after school hours

What information must be included (linked to most current KCSiE)?

Generally, the information to be recorded by schools or other providers on individuals is whether or not the following checks have been carried out or certificates obtained and the date on which each check was completed. These are mandatory:

an identity check – keep copy on file
a barred list check
an enhanced DBS check/certificate – the original must be checked but not copied or retained.
a prohibition from teaching check
a check for a section 128 direction (for management positions, governor and trustee positions in independent schools including academies and free schools)
a check of professional qualifications (where required). For teachers you can verify their qualified teacher status (QTS) via Employer Access Service.
a check to establish the person’s right to work in the UK. For further advice/guidance visit GOV.UK
An additional check if the candidate has lived or worked outside of the UK – for further guidance visit GOV.UK

Supply staff: schools and other providers should also include whether written confirmation has been received that the employment business supplying the member of supply staff has carried out the relevant checks and obtained the appropriate certificates, whether any enhanced DBS check certificate has been provided in respect of the member of supply staff and the date that confirmation was received. This can be confirmed through a Letter of Assurance (this option is not available for self-employed).

Best practice

There is no defined format for the SCR. Most schools hold it electronically as a password protected Excel document. Records should all be on one Excel spreadsheet although they may be held across worksheets in different ‘tabs’ such as employees, volunteers, supply staff, leavers etc. Most settings delegate the process of updating the SCR to a member of the Admin support team but it is in fact up to each setting to decide who is best placed to do this. Overall responsibility lies with governors (or equivalent) and delegated to Headteachers.

The Headteacher should have the password.
It is intended to be a single record, so the same columns should be used for everyone, regardless of role or employer.
It should also be a live record and in some schools it requires updating regularly; staff maintaining it can ‘make it work for them’ such as by highlighting rows or using colour codes whilst waiting for checks to be returned, for example.
Do not leave columns/cells blank. Write ‘N/A’, ‘Pre 2002’, ‘waiting for certificate’, for example or leave a comment
There is no need to print out the SCR, this should not be requested by inspectors but will be reviewed alongside a sample of personnel files.
Leavers should be deleted no longer than 6 months after leaving in accordance with Data Protection principles. Most schools do this as soon as they leave.
A named Governor who has had some training and/or SLT should be regularly checking the SCR and recording that they have done so and identify any actions to follow-up.

Key things to check and questions to ask

Are all the mandatory columns there?
Are there any gaps on the spreadsheet with empty cells?
Who regularly checks the SCR?
Are staff files sampled to see if the mandatory information is held?

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