The compliance guide for UK education supply agencies
Compliance in education supply is not optional and it is not simple. Every candidate you place must be verified, tracked, and re-verified on a schedule that never stops. Get it wrong and the consequences range from a failed Ofsted inspection to a safeguarding incident with serious legal consequences. This guide covers every compliance obligation an education supply agency carries and what you need to have in place.
Every obligation, plainly explained
The Single Central Record (SCR)
The Single Central Record is the document every school uses to record pre-employment checks for all staff and supply workers. When Ofsted inspects, the SCR is one of the first things they check. As an agency supplying staff to schools, you are responsible for completing the required checks before any worker enters a school. The school then records the confirmation in their SCR. What agencies must confirm before placement: Enhanced DBS check (within 3 years, or on the Update Service), Right to Work in the UK, identity verification, qualifications where required by role, prohibition from teaching check via the Teachers Regulation Agency, references (minimum two).
DBS Checks
An Enhanced DBS check is required for everyone who works in a school. The check must include a barred list check for anyone in regulated activity, which includes teaching and support work with children. Key rules: the check must be enhanced, not standard or basic. It must include the children's barred list. Checks older than three years should be treated with caution; many schools now require a check issued within the last 12 months, or continuous registration on the DBS Update Service. If the candidate is registered on the Update Service, you can carry out a free status check rather than applying for a new certificate, provided you have their consent and the original certificate on file.
Right to Work
Every worker must have the right to work in the UK before they start any assignment. This is a legal requirement under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. Right to Work checks must be carried out before the first day of work, not after. A retrospective check does not protect you from a civil penalty if the worker did not have the right to work at the time of placement. Right to Work checks have expiry dates. Biometric Residence Permits and eVisas have end dates that must be tracked and re-checked before they expire.
IR35 and Off-Payroll Working
IR35 affects how supply teachers and support staff operating through their own limited companies are taxed. Since April 2021, the responsibility for determining IR35 status sits with the end client for medium and large organisations. For most education supply agencies, teachers placed through umbrella companies or PAYE are outside IR35 scope. Teachers operating through their own limited company require an IR35 determination before each engagement. Agencies should maintain a record of every IR35 determination, the factors considered, and who made it.
Ofsted Readiness
Ofsted does not give agencies advance notice of inspections. When an inspector calls, you need to be ready to demonstrate that every worker you have ever placed was properly verified before they entered a school. What inspectors look for: evidence that all required checks were completed before the worker's first placement, expiry tracking showing no lapsed documents during an active placement, a clear audit trail showing who carried out each check and when.
What happens when compliance lapses
Compliance lapses happen when documents expire during an active placement and no one catches it. For DBS: if a certificate lapses mid-placement and the worker continues working, you have placed an unverified worker in a school. This is a safeguarding breach. For Right to Work: continuing to employ someone whose right to work has expired is a criminal offence carrying a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per worker. For SCR gaps: a school with an incomplete SCR faces serious criticism in an Ofsted inspection, and the agency that supplied the worker with the gap will be identified.
Compliance,
plainly.
There is no legal requirement to renew after a fixed period, but most schools and agencies treat checks older than three years as requiring renewal. Continuous registration on the DBS Update Service is the most practical solution.
The Update Service is a subscription (£13 per year) that keeps a DBS certificate current. Agencies can run a free status check on a registered certificate rather than applying for a new one, provided the worker has consented and the original certificate is on file.
The agency is responsible for Right to Work checks before the first placement. The check must be completed before the worker starts, not retrospectively.
HMRC defines reasonable care as taking genuine steps to get the determination right: considering the actual working arrangements, applying the relevant tests, and keeping a record of the decision and the factors behind it.
Let scout. handle it
scout. handles all of this automatically.
Compliance tracking, document chasing, audit trails, and Ofsted readiness. Book a 20-minute call to see it in action.
Book a call