Safeguarding Students in Higher Education

Who is this course for?

This course is for people with a safeguarding responsibility in Higher Education or looking to develop for a safeguarding role. It’s also suitable for people looking for personal professional development.

What is included in the Safeguarding Students for Higher Education Course?

We’ll look at specific challenges of safeguarding adult students in Higher Education. This will include:

• Guidance from regulatory bodies relating to harassment and sexual misconduct e.g. The Office for Students E6.
• The importance of safeguarding in relation to Ofsted inspection.
• Specific guidance for apprenticeships or students under the age of eighteen.
• The specific responsibilities of universities and student unions.

We’ll cover key changes within safeguarding as part of the Care Act (2014). You will identify where the key challenges to the sector are, and to seek solutions towards implementation in practice.

We’ll cover best practice, the expectations of organisations such as the Office for Students, Scottish Funding Council (SFC), Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) and Department for the Economy (DfE) in NI. The course will also cover the lessons the sector has learned from safeguarding reviews.

Aims of the Safeguarding Adults for Higher Education Course

This course takes place across two sessions.

Session 1 Aims

• What is Safeguarding in HE? The Definitions.
• National Governing Body Themes – Culture Changes.
• The extent of abuse in Higher Education in published statistics.
• Understand what makes an Adult in Higher Education vulnerable and open to abuse.
• Different types of abuse
• Student case studies, including harassment and sexual misconduct, Ofsted inspections, hazing, work placements and apprenticeships, under 18s.
• Recognising the signs of abuse.
• Indicators relating to abuse.
• The Care Act (2014) and Mental Capacity Act (2005).
• Raising concerns.
• Dealing effectively with abuse.
• Reporting concerns.
• The specific responsibilities of universities and student unions (including the university mental health charter and suicide prevention)
• Effective record keeping with links to national regulatory bodies and Ofsted requirements.
• Making Safeguarding Personal.
• Wellbeing.

Session 2 Aims

• Recap of previous learning.
• Barriers to whistleblowing.
• Discussion of case studies, including harassment and sexual misconduct, Ofsted inspections, hazing, work placements and apprenticeships, under 18s.
• Defensible decision making.
• Risk enablement and balancing risk.
• Safer recruitment
• National regulatory bodies (e.g. Office for Students) and Local authority roles and responsibilities.
• Safeguarding Adult’s Boards.
• Investigations.
• S42 Safeguarding Referrals.
• How to support if the situation does not meet safeguarding criteria – alternative means of support/signposting.
• Adults Safeguarding Reviews.
• Effective policy and procedure.
• How to promote open cultures and Additional Resources, support available for DSLs.
• Getting involved in the Safeguarding in Higher Education Network to keep up to date with developments across the sector

How to Book This Course

This course is available for group and individual bookings.

If you want bespoke in-house training for your organisation, our team of safeguarding specialists will work with you to tailor the course to your organisation.

If you want to attend one of our open training courses you can book a place on one of the up-coming scheduled dates for this course.