Enhanced DBS
Tutor vetting standard
Trust and safety
Safeguarding and child protection
How Latimer Tuition keeps children and young people safe across online and any in-person tuition — our policy, safer recruitment and DBS standards, online lesson safety, and how to raise a concern.
Overview and policy statement
Latimer Tuition is an online-first tutoring agency that introduces families to self-employed tutors. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and we treat that as everyone’s responsibility — Latimer Tuition, the tutors we introduce, parents and carers, and learners themselves.
We take a child-centred approach in which the welfare of the child is paramount. Every concern, however small, is taken seriously, acted on promptly and recorded appropriately. Safeguarding concerns can arise during lessons, online, or through messages and other communication, and we expect them to be reported without delay.
- The welfare of the child is always our paramount concern.
- Safeguarding is a shared responsibility for Latimer Tuition, tutors, parents and carers.
- Concerns can arise online, during lessons or through communication, and should be raised quickly.
- We work with parents, carers and the relevant agencies whenever a child may be at risk.
Scope
This policy applies to everyone engaged to deliver or support tuition through Latimer Tuition, including the self-employed tutors we introduce, employees, directors and contractors. It is important to be clear about our model: Latimer Tuition is a tutoring agency, not a school, and we do not employ the tutors we introduce. We none the less expect school-standard safeguarding behaviour from everyone who works with families through us.
The policy covers tuition arranged through Latimer Tuition in any format, and the communication that surrounds it.
- All tutors, staff, directors and contractors engaged through Latimer Tuition.
- Online and remote tuition, and any tuition delivered in person where that is ever arranged.
- One-to-one and small-group sessions, and the communication around them.
- Children and young people under 18, including KS2, KS3, GCSE and A-Level learners.
- Adult learners where safeguarding duties arise (see Safeguarding adults below).
Key definitions
A shared vocabulary helps everyone recognise concerns and respond consistently.
- Child
- Anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday.
- Safeguarding
- Protecting children from maltreatment, preventing harm to their health or development, ensuring safe and effective care, and acting early so children have the best outcomes.
- Child protection
- The action taken to protect a specific child who is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm.
- Adult at risk (vulnerable adult)
- An adult with care and support needs who is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect and is unable to protect themselves because of those needs.
- Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
- The senior person who leads safeguarding: giving advice, triaging concerns, and making or supporting referrals. Contactable via Vetting@LatimerTuition.com.
- Deputy DSL
- A trained colleague who supports the DSL and can act in their absence; overall lead responsibility remains with the DSL.
- Low-level concern
- Conduct towards a child that falls below expected professional standards but does not meet the threshold for referral to the Local Authority Designated Officer. It is still recorded and reviewed.
Roles and responsibilities
Everyone has a part to play. The routes below make clear who does what, and how concerns are escalated.
- Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
- Leads our safeguarding response: receives and triages concerns, advises tutors and staff, makes or supports referrals to external agencies, liaises with the Local Authority Designated Officer where allegations involve an adult, and keeps secure records. Contact the DSL via Vetting@LatimerTuition.com.
- Deputy DSL and escalation
- A trained deputy supports the DSL and acts in their absence. Concerns about the DSL, or about how a concern has been handled, are escalated to the company's directors.
- Tutors and staff
- Read and follow this policy, know how to contact the DSL, keep clear professional boundaries, report concerns promptly, record the facts, and co-operate with any safeguarding enquiry.
- Directors and senior management
- Provide safeguarding leadership and resources, oversee safer recruitment and training, ensure records and risk assessments are maintained, and review this policy at least annually.
Safer recruitment and tutor onboarding
Because we introduce self-employed tutors rather than employ them, we apply safer-recruitment principles in a way that is honest about that model. Checks are matched to the role and to what the law allows, and we do not overstate anyone’s status.
- Identity and right-to-work checks where applicable, with a clear record of work history.
- References, including from a recent relevant engagement where possible.
- DBS checks at the level the role and the law allow — see DBS checks and tutor vetting below.
- A safeguarding declaration and agreement to follow this policy and our code of conduct.
- An expectation that any new caution, conviction, investigation or barring decision is disclosed without delay.
- No unsupervised work with children before the checks required for that role are complete.
- Honest, role-by-role wording: we never exaggerate DBS status or imply checks we have not lawfully obtained.
DBS checks and tutor vetting
DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks are central to how tutors are vetted. We apply them lawfully and on a role-by-role basis, and we keep the wording precise rather than using vague claims.
- Enhanced DBS with Children's Barred List
- The check we look for in tutors who work with children: an Enhanced DBS that includes a check against the Children's Barred List.
- Lawful, role-by-role eligibility
- Checks are requested only at the level the role and legislation allow. Requesting a higher level than the law permits is not lawful, so eligibility is assessed for each role.
- Self-employed tutors
- From 21 January 2026, eligible self-employed tutors can apply for Enhanced or Enhanced-with-Barred-List checks through a DBS Umbrella Body where the role qualifies — for example, a private tutor working with children.
- DBS Update Service
- We encourage tutors to register their certificate on the DBS Update Service so its status can be reviewed, subject to their consent and the role's eligibility.
- Profile and practical checks
- Families should still read the tutor profile and ask any practical safety questions before lessons begin.
Staff training and induction
Safeguarding only works if people know what to do. Tutors and staff are pointed to this policy and the key contacts at induction, and we expect safeguarding knowledge to be kept current.
- Induction covering this policy, the reporting route, professional boundaries and online safety.
- Regular refreshers so safeguarding knowledge stays current — at least annually.
- Advanced safeguarding training for the DSL and Deputy DSL, appropriate to the role.
- Prevent awareness, so radicalisation concerns can be recognised and escalated.
Code of conduct and safer working practices
Everyone working with families through Latimer Tuition is expected to keep clear professional boundaries at all times. The standards below protect learners and tutors alike.
- Never promise secrecy to a child — be clear that some information may need to be shared to keep someone safe.
- Use approved platforms and communication channels; do not move conversations to personal or disappearing-message accounts.
- Do not share personal contact details, private social media or unnecessary personal information.
- Keep tuition in appropriate settings and follow agreed rules on cameras, chat and any recording.
- No gifts, favouritism, inappropriate familiarity or any behaviour that could amount to grooming or exploitation.
- Report conduct that falls below these standards as a low-level concern, even when it does not meet a higher threshold.
Online lesson safety and remote tuition
Online lessons remove some of the risks of in-person tutoring, but safe tuition still depends on sensible boundaries and clear communication. These are the expectations for remote sessions.
Use approved platforms and accounts
Lessons take place on an agreed platform such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Google Meet, using appropriate accounts and access controls.
Keep parents and carers aware
For younger learners, a parent or guardian should know when lessons take place, understand which platform is used, and stay available nearby.
Communicate appropriately
Scheduling, planning and follow-up stay clear, professional and suitable for the learner's age, and go through approved channels.
Set rules for cameras, chat and recording
Be clear about camera use, chat functions and screen sharing, and whether a session is recorded; any recording happens only under an agreed, appropriate arrangement.
Escalate online incidents
Any harmful content, suspicious contact, coercion, blackmail, sexting-related or radicalisation concern is escalated through the safeguarding route below.
Reporting a concern
If you have a concern about a child or an adult at risk, report it to our Designated Safeguarding Lead straight away via Vetting@LatimerTuition.com, and make a brief, factual note of what you saw or heard.
If a child or anyone else is in immediate danger, call 999 first. The DSL is then told as soon as possible so the response can be co-ordinated.
- Report to the DSL without delay via Vetting@LatimerTuition.com.
- In an emergency, call 999 first and make an urgent referral if needed; then inform the DSL.
- The DSL decides the right response, which may include monitoring, early help, a referral to children's social care, the police, the Local Authority Designated Officer, Channel/Prevent, or adult safeguarding.
- Protective steps — such as pausing a tutoring arrangement — can be taken while a concern is reviewed.
Responding to a disclosure
If a child or adult at risk tells you something worrying, how you respond matters. The aim is to listen and pass the information on safely — not to investigate.
- Listen carefully, stay calm and take what you are told seriously.
- Do not promise to keep it secret.
- Do not investigate, ask leading questions or confront anyone.
- Reassure the person that they were right to speak up.
- Record the account in their own words as soon as you can, with the date, time and context.
- Pass it to the DSL without delay via Vetting@LatimerTuition.com.
Record-keeping, information sharing and confidentiality
Safeguarding records are kept securely and shared only with those who need them to keep someone safe. We follow the Department for Education’s information-sharing advice for safeguarding practitioners.
- Concerns, decisions and the reasons for them are recorded clearly and kept secure.
- Information is shared on a need-to-know basis — relevant, accurate, necessary and proportionate.
- Data protection law and consent are not a barrier to sharing information lawfully to protect a child; consent is not usually the basis relied on in a safeguarding situation.
- We record what was shared, with whom, when and why.
- Records are retained in line with a written retention schedule and our privacy notice.
Allegations and low-level concerns
Concerns about an adult working with children are handled carefully and kept separate from concerns about a child’s welfare. We distinguish between allegations that may meet the harm threshold and lower-level concerns.
- Allegations that may meet the harm threshold are referred promptly to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), and to the police and children's social care where appropriate.
- Low-level concerns are recorded and reviewed so that any pattern is spotted early.
- Concerns about the DSL are escalated to the company's directors.
- Where the law requires it, we make referrals to the DBS and any relevant professional regulator.
Risk assessment
Most tuition arranged through Latimer Tuition is delivered online, so our risk assessment focuses on safe online delivery. Where any tuition is ever delivered in person, additional controls apply.
- Online delivery: platform and account controls, appropriate communication, and clear escalation of any incident.
- Where tuition is delivered in person: lone-working precautions, sensible arrangements for home visits, and agreed check-in and escalation steps.
- A tutor should never continue in any setting they consider unsafe.
Safeguarding adults
Latimer Tuition focuses on children and young people. Where we work with adult learners who may be at risk, the same care applies: if an adult has care and support needs, is experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect, and cannot protect themselves because of those needs (the Care Act threshold), the DSL will consider a referral to the local authority’s adult safeguarding team and other agencies as appropriate.
Complaints about safeguarding practice
If you are unhappy with how a safeguarding concern has been handled, you can raise it with Latimer Tuition and we will look into it. Raising a complaint with us does not replace your right to report directly to others.
You can always contact children’s social care, the police, the Local Authority Designated Officer, the DBS, a relevant regulator, or a whistleblowing channel, without going through us first.
Monitoring, review and document control
This policy is reviewed at least once a year, and sooner if the law changes or a serious incident points to a need for change. Training, concerns and recruitment practice are reviewed as part of that process.
Version
1.0
Owner
Latimer Tuition
Last reviewed
29 May 2026
Next review due
29 May 2027
Raise a safeguarding concern
If you have a safeguarding, safety or conduct concern about a tutor or a lesson, contact us as soon as possible. Where you can, include the learner’s name, the tutor’s name, the lesson date and a brief, factual description.
If a child or anyone else is in immediate danger, call 999 first. You can also contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000, or Childline (for children and young people) on 0800 1111.
Safeguarding / Designated Safeguarding Lead
Safeguarding email
Monitored by our Designated Safeguarding Lead.
Vetting@LatimerTuition.com
Statutory guidance and helpful links
Our approach is based on the current statutory and government guidance for safeguarding in England, adapted for an online-first tuition agency.
Support and clarity
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers to the questions people ask most often.
Are Latimer Tuition tutors DBS checked?
Yes. We look for tutors who hold an Enhanced DBS check with the Children’s Barred List, are arranging one, or hold an eligible Enhanced DBS certificate registered on the DBS Update Service. Checks are applied lawfully and on a role-by-role basis.
Should a parent or guardian be nearby during online lessons?
For younger learners, yes. We recommend a parent or guardian knows when lessons are taking place, understands which platform is being used, and remains available nearby.
How do I raise a safeguarding concern?
Email our Designated Safeguarding Lead at Vetting@LatimerTuition.com, or use our contact page. Include the learner’s name, the tutor’s name, the lesson date and a brief, factual description if you can. If someone is in immediate danger, call 999 first.
What should I do if a child is in immediate danger?
Call 999 straight away. You can also contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000, or Childline on 0800 1111. Please also let our Designated Safeguarding Lead know as soon as you safely can, at Vetting@LatimerTuition.com.
Who leads safeguarding at Latimer Tuition?
Our Designated Safeguarding Lead leads safeguarding and is contactable via Vetting@LatimerTuition.com. A trained deputy supports the role, and concerns about the DSL — or about how a concern has been handled — are escalated to the company’s directors.
Which guidance does your safeguarding approach follow?
We follow the current statutory and government guidance for England: Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025, Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026, the Prevent duty, the DfE’s information-sharing advice, and DBS guidance — adapted for an online-first tutoring agency rather than a school.