How long is safeguarding training valid?
Safeguarding training certificates all have one thing in common: an expiry date. It’s a cause of frustration for many who don’t realize their certificate needs renewing, so here’s an easy way you can keep track of safeguarding training so you’ll never be caught with an expired certificate again.
What is the lifetime of a safeguarding training certificate?
There is no standard length of time a safeguarding training certificate is valid for. In the United Kingdom, every sector and profession will have different expectations about the frequency of your vulnerable adult or child protection training. For example, a school teacher will probably need to take a safeguarding course more often and at a more advanced level than someone who has decided to volunteer at their local library.
It is also the case that different training providers will have different expiry periods on their safeguarding training certificates. This expiry period can even vary between certificates from the same training provider.
The majority of our verifiable safeguarding courses such as our bestselling Safeguarding in Education online course options have a lifetime of 2 years, but some of our course certificates will expire after 1 year where the content changes frequently, such as online safety or 3 years where the course is more in depth, so it is always best to check the expiry period of the certificate each time you purchase a safeguarding training course.
Why do safeguarding training certificates expire?
Like most professional training courses, safeguarding training comes with an expiry date to ensure that your knowledge of the topic is always up to date with the most current information so that you are able to perform your role at work effectively and in the correct manner.
Safeguarding training is an essential part of continuous professional development for many individuals working in a variety of sectors across the United Kingdom. At its heart, safeguarding training exists to protect the welfare and wellbeing of children, vulnerable adults, and young people from the risk of harm or mistreatment.
But completing a safeguarding training course can also protect you as an employee or business owner, too, by giving you a foundation of knowledge and a safeguarding certificate to prove that you are committed to the safety of your customers, clients, pupils, or any of the young people, vulnerable adults, or children you work with. This is especially important in professions or industries where your safeguarding training will come under scrutiny during inspections—for example, if you are employed in a school or college, or if you work as a childminder or nanny, Ofsted inspectors will request evidence of your safeguarding training certificate and you could lose valuable marks and fail your inspection if it is found to be out of date.
Of course, the laws and legislations surrounding safeguarding change often, sometimes in response to real-life incidents or events, or perhaps as part of a wider shift in the direction of the government’s policies and procedures. As a professional and someone who works around children, young people, or vulnerable adults, it is your legal duty to be up to date with these changes, and the most reliable way of ensuring this is to take a verifiable safeguarding training course like those we offer at Smart Horizons.
Please click here now to view all of our verifiable online safeguarding training courses.
How can I keep track of my safeguarding training to make sure it doesn’t expire?
It is your responsibility to make sure that your safeguarding training certificate does not expire, and to renew your training whenever necessary. Some organisations might decide to give staff annual refresher training, whereas others will expect individual staff members to take responsibility for sourcing and maintaining their own training.
We understand that it isn’t always easy to be perfectly on time with renewing your training, and sometimes, mistakes can happen. However, we also understand the importance of always having an up to date safeguarding training certificate, so when we first began developing our online safeguarding training courses over a decade ago, we wanted to make sure it was as easy as possible to keep on track with your training records.
Our unique online learning management system takes the stress out of keeping track of your own or staff safeguarding training. Through our easy to use online system, you can set up automatic reminders so that you receive an email notification when your safeguarding certificate is getting close to its expiry date, and then another when it has expired—sort of like a heads-up so that you can prepare to refresh your training.
Not only that, but our online learning management system makes it easy for organisations to monitor all staff training from one central location. Administrators can simply log in to view a full staff list including information about which courses each member of staff has completed and the expiry date of each individual’s certificates. And just to make things really handy, we’ve added the option for you to download every staff member’s certificate from the administrator account, too—so when an inspector calls, your evidence is only the click of a button away!
Do I need to take a safeguarding training course again when my certificate expires?
Depending on your role, the sector you work in, and the safeguarding training course you have taken, you might have the option to complete a simple refresher course in order to renew your certificate.
Most of the time, however, you will need to start a safeguarding training course from the beginning and work your way through the knowledge. It’s surprising how much can change in just a couple of years, so you won’t find yourself re-reading exactly the same information as before. Our online safeguarding training courses are refreshed with new information regularly to fall in line with the most current safeguarding laws, legislation and guidance.
Got a question, or want to book safeguarding training for yourself or your team?
We’re always happy to answer your safeguarding-related questions and we’d be delighted to discuss how your organisation can make the switch to online safeguarding training. To get in touch with our friendly customer support team, please email us at hello@smarthorizons.co.uk, give us a call on 01327 552030, or use the live chat feature on this website.