That is the short answer. The longer answer is that three different things get called “safeguarding training for agency staff”, and they are not the same, which is why compliance managers end up buying the wrong one.
The three things people mean
| What it is | Who it is for | Who needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Safeguarding and child protection awareness | Anyone working with children in a school | Every candidate you place, without exception |
| Safer recruitment training | The people at the agency doing the vetting | Your own consultants and compliance staff, not your candidates |
| Designated safeguarding lead training | The school’s DSL and deputies | Nobody you place on supply, and not you |
If a provider sells you “safeguarding training for recruitment agency staff”, check which one they mean. Search engines tend to read that phrase as safer recruitment, which is a course for your office, not for your candidates.
What KCSiE 2026 expects of a supply teacher
KCSiE is statutory guidance addressed to governing bodies and proprietors, not to agencies. What it asks them to ensure is what your candidate needs to arrive with.
- Read Part One in full. The condensed Annex A was withdrawn in the 2026 edition, so there is no shorter version for temporary staff any more.
- Safeguarding and child protection training at induction, including online safety, and that training regularly updated (para 153).
- Regular updates as required, and at least annually (para 154). The examples the guidance gives are emails, e-bulletins and staff meetings.
- Know who the designated safeguarding lead is, and how to raise a concern in that building, today.
Read paragraph 154 carefully
The bit written for the agency, which most courses miss
Two duties sit on the agency itself rather than on the school, and a course written for school staff will not mention either.
- Regulation 19 of the Conduct Regulations 2003: before supplying a work-seeker you must confirm they have the training the hirer considers necessary. Once a school treats safeguarding training as necessary for the booking, that confirmation is a legal obligation on you.
- Section 36 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006: personnel suppliers, which expressly includes employment agencies and employment businesses, have a duty to refer prescribed information to the DBS. KCSiE 2026 points at it at paragraph 458.
So how often, in practice?
The twelve month interval that everyone works to does not come from KCSiE. It comes from APSCo Compliance+ requirement 26A, which asks that all candidates have undertaken safeguarding training within the last 12 months before being placed in a school, evidenced by sight of the certificate. APSCo is a membership body, the standard is voluntary, and it is audited rather than enforced by a regulator. It is still the standard most agencies are held to, and most schools now ask for a dated certificate anyway.
What about levels 1, 2 and 3?
Agencies use that language constantly. KCSiE does not use it at all. There is no statutory tier system for school safeguarding training, and a provider labelling a course “Level 2” is describing their own product, not a recognised standard. What matters is whether the content matches what the person actually does in the building.