We run eleven checks and put the file together the way a school expects to get it, so the school can enter it straight onto its Single Central Record and nobody comes back to you asking for the missing bit. Then we keep it current for as long as the candidate is registered with you.
These are the checks English schools are required to hold, under Keeping Children Safe in Education. We don't cover Wales or Scotland yet. Scotland runs the Protecting Vulnerable Groups scheme instead of the Disclosure and Barring Service, and Wales has its own guidance, so the list below does not apply there. If you place in either, tell us and we'll say plainly where we're up to.
Every check has its completion date and the evidence held against it, so the school can see what was checked and when.
If a check is not required, the file says Not required and gives the reason, so the school can see the check was considered.
See a sample vetting pack
We apply, chase the umbrella body and register the certificate on the Update Service where applicable, so its status can be checked later.
Certificate number, issue date, Update Service status
A British or Irish passport, valid or expired within the last six months, is checked through a Right to Work digital verification service provider where we can, or the original is held and checked in person. A share code is checked by one of us on the Home Office online service. Everybody else has their original documents checked in person. We record which route was used. The agency holds the statutory excuse, and we carry out the check on its behalf.
The route, the check date, and the result reference or the Home Office result
We confirm who the candidate is online through a certified identity service provider where we can, or on a short video call with one of our team, against the documents they sent us, or from the originals in person where that is the route. We do not accept a photo of a photo.
Passport or photocard, plus two dated proofs of address
We write to the first referee the candidate named, email them every working day and ring on the fifth until the reference comes in. Between them the references cover 24 months of work.
Referee name, role, organisation and the date the reference arrived
The same again with the second referee, on a row of its own, so one reference outstanding is never hidden behind one that has come in. Where two do not cover the last two years, we ask for more.
Referee name, role, organisation and the date the reference arrived
Checked on Check a teacher's record for anyone with qualified teacher status or a teacher reference number, and dated.
Check date, qualified teacher status, any restriction and induction
Completed where the role requires it. Where it does not, we record that it is not required and why.
Back to the end of compulsory education, taken from the candidate's own form. Every gap is explained, and each of 12 weeks or more verified.
Dated history, each gap explained and each of 12 weeks or more verified
Certificates are sighted and recorded against the requirements of the role.
We work out from the employment history whether one is needed.
Country, check type and date, or the reason it is not required
Signed by the candidate with the rest of the file, dated and kept with it.
Which parts are law, which are statutory guidance and which are the APSCo standard, and what we do when a rule cannot be met in full, is set out rule by rule in our checking standards.
Arranged where the candidate does not have it, then tracked through to renewal.
Arranged where the candidate does not have it, then tracked through to renewal. Expected of all school staff by Department for Education statutory guidance under Benedict's Law.
Certificate, provider and the date it was completed
Safeguarding training expires, the Disclosure and Barring Service Update Service status is checked every 12 weeks, and Right to Work may need a recheck when a visa changes.
Renewals slip when the desk is flat out on today's bookings, and too often it is the school that finds a DBS lapsed six weeks ago. We track every date while the candidate is registered with you and chase each one before it falls due.
First reminder, with time for you and the candidate to arrange the renewal.
Second reminder, and we start following up the renewal with the candidate.
Third reminder, and the candidate shows as due on your dashboard.
The check moves to expired and the candidate is no longer shown as clear to present.
£9.99 a month for every candidate on your register, charged on your billing date. Start one part-way through a month and you pay only for the days left, on your next billing date. No minimum: if you've got two, it's £19.98. Stopping takes effect from your next billing date.
We carry out the checks, hold the evidence and record what was done and when. Who you put in front of a school is your call: the employment decision, and the statutory excuse as employer, stay with your agency. That's spelled out in every pack.