Our training and resources

What training do I need?

As a minimum, we recommend:

  • Group 2
  • Group 3 (where required)
  • Role-specific enhanced training
  • Ongoing learning through supervision, briefings, audits

Details of these training courses are provided below, along with general FAQs at the bottom of the page.

Group 2

What does it cover?

  • Safeguarding and Child Protection Training Awareness
  • The role of the LADO

These courses are designed to provide a greater depth of understanding on the forms of abuse, how to spot them and how to work with other agencies to support children, young people and families, including how to report these to the Safeguarding Lead within organisations.

Group 2 is equivalent to Level 2 training in the intercollegiate document.

Anyone needing to complete the multi-agency core Group 3, Safeguarding and Child Protection Course will need to complete the Safeguarding and Child Protection Training Awareness first, unless they hold a recognised Social Work qualification. You may have completed a single-agency version of this course and we will accept this, providing you can let us know the content or provide a copy of the certificate of attendance.

Who’s this training for?

  • Anyone who has contact with children and/or families on a regular basis, but the majority of these children do not have children social care involvement.
    You need to recognise Safeguarding and Child Protection concerns and act on them appropriately.
  • You might attend family meetings in relation to concerns, contribute to assessments and plans and work with other agencies and organisations to help keep children safe. You will do this with the support of your organisations safeguarding lead.

Audience typically includes: Teaching and Pastoral Support staff in schools; Early Years practitioners; Police; Probation Practitioners; Healthcare Practitioners working with children or families; Practitioners in VCFSE organisations; Youth Workers.

 

Group 3

What does it cover?

  • Safeguarding and Child Protection (Core)
  • Child Neglect

These courses are designed for those people taking up the role of a Safeguarding Lead (known as a Designated Safeguarding Lead or DSL within education) and who have previously completed the Safeguarding and Child Protection Training Awareness (Group 2) within the last 2yrs, unless you hold a recognised Social Work qualification.

Group 3 is equivalent to Level 3 training in the intercollegiate document.

These courses are aimed at equipping practitioners and managers with the knowledge, skills and confidence of what to do should you have concerns, or if another member of your team raises concerns to you. They provide a strong foundation of the legislation and guidance which underpins safeguarding, explores local tools and resources to help you identify the needs of and appropriate support for families, and leads you on a journey from Early Help through to Child Protection.

Who’s this training for?

  • Anyone who has contact with children and/or families on a regular basis.
  • You work intensively with children/families where there are safeguarding concerns and/or you have specific responsibility in relation to safeguarding within your setting.
  • Your job might include completing work with children/families directly related to reducing the risk of harm to the children, making decisions about when to request a service from children and families services, completing referrals for specialist services, completing assessments and reports for Child Protection conferences and Child in Need meetings and ensuring that actions allocated to your organisation are completed.
  • You might be responsible for offering advice and support to other staff in your organisation, delivering foundation level/induction/basic awareness child protection training for staff and ensuring that policies and practice within your setting is in line with current legislation and statutory guidance.

 Audience typically includes: Children/Adult Social Care Practitioners; Designated Safeguarding Leads; Named Safeguarding GPs; Specialist Health Visitors; School Nurses; Safeguarding Champions; Investigation Officers; Safeguarding Coordination Unit staff.

This training is also suitable if:

  • You are an Operational or Strategic Manager in an organisation that employs staff to work with children and families (or you have responsibility for commissioning services for children and families).
  • You are responsible for ensuring that the safeguarding work undertaken within your setting is effective and efficient.
  • You have oversight for the development of systems, policies and practices within your organisation to keep children safe and work effectively in partnership with others.

 

Group 2 and Group 3 FAQs

How often should training be completed?

here is no single national rule for how often child protection training must be completed. However, most organisations follow a common approach:

  • At induction (when you start your role)
  • Refresher training every 2-3 years – full, formal, in-depth training to revisit and deepen knowledge.
  • Annual updates – keep knowledge up to date with new information such as policy changes, emerging risks, and local learning.

You should always check your organisation’s own policies, as these set the exact requirements for your role.

What does national guidance say?

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 requires that training:

  • Is regularly updated
  • Is appropriate to your role
  • Includes multi-agency learning where relevant
  • Leads to improved outcomes for children (not just attendance)

It does not specify a fixed timeframe, so organisations are responsible for making sure staff remain up to date and competent.

Are there different expectations by sector?

Yes, some sectors provide more specific guidance.

Education (including early years)

  • All staff: induction + annual updates
  • Designated Safeguarding Leads: formal training every 2 years + annual updates

Health (RCPCH guidance)

  • Level 1-2: refresher every 3 years
  • Level 3+: training every 3 years + ongoing annual learning (minimum hours requirement)

Police and social care

  • No fixed interval
  • Expected to complete ongoing professional development and regular updates based on legal changes and learning reviews.

What doe inspectors expect?

Across inspections (Ofsted/CQC/HMICFRS), the consistent test is:

Staff:

  • Know how to recognise abuse
  • Know how to respond
  • Understand local procedures

Training is:

  • Recent enough to be meaningful
  • Reinforced, not one-off

Learning is:

  • Embedded in practice (e.g. supervision, case discussions)

Role-specific enhanced training

Some roles require additional or more advanced safeguarding training. If this applies to you, your manager will explain what is required. Speak to your manager if you are unsure.

Ongoing learning

We also recommend that learning is sought and delivered through things such as supervision, briefings, and audits. On our website you will find courses and resources that help keep your knowledge up to date, including:

Training FAQs

I’ve completed safeguarding training with someone else – will you accept this?
Devon SCP training includes information tailored to local policies, procedures, pathways and resources, so training completed with other providers isn’t usually accepted. However, if you feel the course you’ve taken reflects Devon procedures and protocols, we’d be happy to take a look and let you know if it can be recognised.

Is lunch provided for face to face events?
Generally no, unless specifically stated in the event listing.This is to keep the cost of all training to a minimum.

Why are some courses “fully funded” and others I have to pay for?
Some courses are described as “fully funded” because the Devon Safeguarding Children Partnership uses its limited budget to cover the costs on behalf of key partner agencies, helping to ensure that safeguarding training is accessible to those who need it most. However, this funding is not unlimited, and not all courses or all organisations can be covered. In some cases, a fee may be charged where courses are delivered by external providers, require specialist input, or where organisations sit outside of the core funded partner group.

Charging in these instances helps us to sustain a high-quality, multi-agency training offer, ensuring we can continue to develop, deliver and update courses, pay trainers and manage administration while making the best use of the resources available.

Although no payment is required for fully funded places, there are still real delivery costs including trainers, course development, and administration which is why we avoid describing them as “free” and instead emphasise the value of each place.

I’ve booked on an event but am now unable to attend – what should I do? 
If the event is taking place within the booking cancellation period (typically two weeks prior to the event) then you can cancel the booking yourself without charge by logging into your account, and clicking ‘Cancel’.

If you are struggling to cancel your place, you can email to let us know you can’t attend safeguardingelearning-mailbox@devon.gov.uk

If you are wishing to cancel with less than two weeks to go until the event, you can cancel your place, however you will charged for non-attendance unless you can nominate someone from your team/organisation to attend in your place, or unless there are extenuating circumstances. Please see our terms and conditions below.

Why is a non-attendance fee applied to online courses as well as in-person events?
Non-attendance fees for courses are applied to ensure that training places are used effectively and fairly, and to protect limited partnership resources. Although many of our courses are fully funded, or heavily subsidised, for practitioners working in Devon, they still incur significant costs, including commissioning and paying trainers, developing and regularly updating course content, and the administration required to manage bookings and attendance. Online delivery removes venue and refreshment costs, but does not remove these core delivery and staffing costs.

When a booked place is not taken up, particularly without sufficient notice, it prevents another practitioner from accessing the training and results in wasted capacity. Charging a non-attendance fee helps encourage timely cancellations or substitutions, enabling places to be reallocated and ensuring that available funding delivers maximum benefit across the workforce.

Where do I find eLearning?
You can find e-learning modules, pod casts, video learning and animations on our online learning and resources page.

Terms and conditions – cancellations and non-attendance

  • Cancellations – you or your organisation will be charged if we don’t receive you cancellation at least two weeks before the training date or tell us about someone who will attend in your place.
  • Non-attendance – if you don’t turn up or arrive late/leave early, we reserve the right to charge you or your organisation.
  • What will I be charged? – £130 for a full-day course and £65 for a half day course.
  • Extenuating Circumstances – you will not be charged if there are circumstances beyond your control which have had an impact on your ability to attend a course. Generally, they are circumstances of a medical or personal nature that are out of your control, and which could not be prevented. They must have had a significant impact on your ability to attend, for example, significant illness, bereavement, having to attend court, being a victim of crime or another acute trauma. It is important to remember that only the most serious extenuating circumstances will be considered.