Every organisation that works with children or adults at risk needs someone who owns safeguarding: the person staff go to with a concern, who decides what happens next, who deals with the local authority, and who makes sure policies are more than paper. That person is the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), and the role carries expectations that basic safeguarding awareness training doesn’t come close to meeting.
Where the requirement comes from
For schools and colleges in England, Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) makes it explicit: every school must appoint a DSL from its senior leadership team, with training updated every two years. Early years settings are required to have a practitioner designated to take lead responsibility for safeguarding under the EYFS framework. Beyond education, Working Together to Safeguard Children and the expectations of local safeguarding partnerships mean that charities, sports clubs, faith organisations, activity providers and care services are all expected to have a named safeguarding lead with training appropriate to the role. Regulators, Ofsted, CQC, the Charity Commission, routinely ask who it is and what training they hold.
What the DSL actually does
- Receives and manages concerns, being the clear first point of contact for staff and volunteers, and keeping accurate, secure records of concerns and decisions.
- Makes referral decisions, knowing the thresholds: when to monitor, when to offer early help, when to refer to children’s or adults’ social care, and when a situation requires the police or the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer).
- Works with other agencies, contributing to multi-agency processes, attending conferences and providing information lawfully.
- Leads the safeguarding culture, keeping policies current, ensuring safer recruitment practice, training staff, and briefing leadership and trustees.
It’s a decision-making role. The judgement calls, is this neglect or poverty? does this disclosure require immediate action? can I tell the parents?, are precisely what Level 3 training exists to develop.
Level 1, 2 and 3: getting the tiers right
Safeguarding training is commonly tiered: awareness-level training for all staff and volunteers; a deeper level for those working directly and regularly with children or adults at risk; and Level 3 for those with designated lead responsibility. Appointing a DSL whose only training is a general awareness course is one of the most common findings in safeguarding audits, and one of the most consequential, because every other safeguard in the organisation routes through that person.
Training for the role
Our online Level 3 Designated Safeguarding Lead course is designed for new and refreshing DSLs across education, early years, clubs, charities and care settings. It covers the legal and statutory framework, categories and indicators of abuse, handling disclosures, thresholds and referral routes, information sharing, record-keeping, allegations against staff, and leading a safeguarding culture, with scenario-based learning throughout. Learners complete it at their own pace and receive a certificate evidencing role-appropriate training.
If your setting also needs supporting qualifications for the wider team, from mental health first aid to paediatric first aid, we can put together a training plan for the whole organisation: info@nationalcompliancetraining.co.uk.
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