Almost every provider in this market states “annual safeguarding training is required” without saying by whom. Here is where each interval actually comes from, so you can answer an auditor properly.
Where each interval comes from
| Source | What it actually says | Status |
|---|---|---|
| KCSiE 2026, para 153 | Training at induction, and "the training should be regularly updated" | Statutory guidance, a should, on the school |
| KCSiE 2026, para 154 | Regular updates “as required, and at least annually”, with examples given as email, e-bulletins and staff meetings | Statutory guidance, a should, on the school |
| APSCo Compliance+ 26A | Safeguarding training “within the last 12 months” before placement, evidenced by the certificate | Voluntary membership standard, audited |
| APSCo Compliance+ 26B | Prevent training “not less than once every 12 months”, flagged as best practice | Voluntary, and explicitly best practice rather than required |
| Prevent duty guidance 2023, para 158 | "It is for each setting to determine who the appropriate members of staff are and how frequently training should occur" | Statutory guidance, no interval set |
| Prevent duty guidance 2023, para 159 | DSL or Prevent lead training "updated at least every two years" | A recommendation, and the only interval named |
| Allergy safety in schools, July 2026 | Staff “should receive regular (at least annual) allergy awareness training”, expressly including supply teachers and agency workers | Statutory guidance, a should, training duty still forthcoming |
| The school | A current dated certificate before the booking | Contractual, and the one that stops you working |
The claim to avoid
Why annual is still the right answer
- APSCo Compliance+ 26A asks for it and audits it. If you are a member, or want to be, that is the standard you are held to.
- Schools ask for a dated certificate, and a year old is the threshold most of them apply.
- KCSiE is republished every September, so a certificate against last year’s edition genuinely is out of date.
- It is administratively simpler. One renewal date across the whole candidate list is a diary entry. A hundred anniversaries is a job.
When should the year run from?
Align it to the school year rather than to the date someone happened to take the course. DfE republishes KCSiE at the start of September, and a certificate expiring on 31 August means your whole list renews against the current edition at the same moment, just before the autumn term. That is why Supply Safe certificates are valid to 31 August rather than to twelve months from completion.
What about someone who has a certificate from another agency?
A supply teacher on three agencies’ books may already hold a current certificate. Whether you accept it is a commercial and risk decision for you, and it turns on whether you can see what it covered, whether it is in date, and whether you are content to rely on a document you did not commission. Under reg 19 the obligation is to confirm the worker has the training the hirer considers necessary, and a certificate from another provider can satisfy that if it genuinely covers what the school asked for.