Private tutors and coaches: safeguarding checks and rules

Two kinds of adult teach your students outside the timetable. The first kind comes through you: the football coach, the chess club leader, the music teacher who rents a room. The second kind comes through parents, such as a maths tutor at the family home.

You hold real responsibility for the first group. For the second group you have no contract and no checks, but children often tell a trusted teacher when something feels wrong.

UK guidance for schools in England is Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE). It says schools that let their premises to outside groups should seek assurance that the provider has sound safeguarding policies. Safeguarding terms also belong in the hire agreement.

Your own country may set different rules. Treat the UK text as a benchmark and check local law with your authorities or legal counsel.

Ask for the same core checks you would run on a new teacher, even when the adult never joins your payroll. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) advises getting written confirmation that a third-party organisation has done its own safer recruitment checks.

A self-employed tutor or coach has no organisation behind them, so you collect the evidence yourself. Keep a copy and write down the date you saw it.

Rules differ a great deal by country, and some countries do not issue criminal record certificates to private people. Where a check is impossible, record that fact and add other safeguards, such as no unsupervised time. Your safer recruitment process shows the full set of checks for staff.

• Photo identification that matches the name on the contract
• A criminal record certificate, plus checks from other countries where they have lived, where local law allows
• Two references, with at least one checked by phone
• Proof of any qualification they claim
• Their safeguarding policy or code of conduct
• Evidence of recent child protection training
• The name of the person in their organisation who handles concerns

A contract gives you something to point to when a provider drifts from your rules. Without one, you can only ask politely.

Keep the clauses short enough that a coach will read them. Put them in the hire agreement, the activity contract and any form a tutor signs at reception.

A provider who refuses these terms has told you something useful. A short email opens the conversation: "Before your first session, please send the name of each coach, proof of their checks and your child protection policy."

• Named individuals for every session, with notice before anyone new starts
• Written proof of checks for each named person
• Your code of conduct, signed by each adult
• No private messages or social media contact with students
• Sessions with one student held in view of others
• A duty to tell your designated safeguarding lead (DSL) about any concern or incident the same day
• Your right to end the agreement at once if a rule is broken

Group sessions are the safest default. Some lessons must be one-to-one, such as a music lesson or a private tutorial, and those need rules that keep the session visible.

The UK Department for Education (DfE) guidance for out-of-school settings says it is best practice not to work alone with a child when other adults are available. Where it cannot be avoided, it suggests asking a parent to be present or nearby, and getting written consent.

It also advises a private tutor to meet the child and parent first, agree what will happen in sessions, and hand over a copy of the child protection policy. It stresses parental consent for children under 16.

• Use a room with a glass panel or an open door in a shared area
• Tell reception or the DSL when and where each session happens
• Get written parent consent for any session without a parent nearby
• Hold online lessons on an agreed platform, with a parent at home
• No lifts alone in a private car, no gifts, no private chats
• If an adult is unexpectedly alone with a child, they stay in view and tell another adult

This case needs its own rule, especially where paid tutoring is common. A teacher who tutors a current student for pay holds two roles at once, and the student finds it hard to say no to either.

Decide your rule and write it into the staff code of conduct. Some schools ban paid tutoring of their own current students. Others allow it only with the Head's written approval.

Whatever you choose, tell parents that the school does not supervise private lessons. A teacher's name on a tutor flyer should never read as the school's approval.

• Whether staff may tutor current students at all
• A written declaration to the Head before paid tutoring starts
• Where sessions may happen, with no sessions in a teacher's home
• Which messaging channel is allowed
• How parents are told about the arrangement

Parents choose and pay private tutors. You cannot vet those adults, and you should say so plainly. You can help parents ask better questions.

Send a one-page note at the start of the year and again before exam season. Say that the school does not check private tutors, then list what parents can ask for.

End the note with a clear route: "If anything about a lesson or practice worries you, call our DSL. We will listen and follow our child protection procedure."

• Ask to see photo identification and a recent criminal record certificate
• Phone two references yourself
• Meet the tutor first with your child, and agree the plan for lessons
• Stay in the home during lessons and keep the door open
• Keep lesson messages in a chat you can read
• Tell your child they can stop any lesson that feels wrong, and then tell you

Follow your school's child protection procedure and tell the DSL the same day. If a child is in immediate danger, call local emergency services first.

Write down what you saw or heard in plain words. Do not question the child beyond what you need to keep them safe, and do not confront the adult yourself.

The DSL decides whether to pause the adult's access to students while the concern is looked at. In England, KCSIE says an allegation about someone using school premises follows the school's usual process, including telling the local authority designated officer (LADO).

Elsewhere, follow your allegations protocol and local reporting law. Ask your authorities or counsel which rules apply before you need them.

Keep one register of every outside adult who works with students on your site or in your name. One page per term is enough, and your guidance on visitors and contractors shows how it fits with the sign-in book.

Review it every term. Ask the teacher who sees the sessions what they notice, and ask a few students how the sessions feel.

A current register also answers the question an inspector or accreditation team is likely to ask about outside adults. Share a short summary with the Head and the board once a year.

• Name, organisation and role
• Dates you saw identity, checks and references
• Date the contract and code of conduct were signed
• Where and when they work with students, and the supervision level
• Date of the next review
• Any concern raised, and where it is recorded