Questions You Should Be Asking Your Education Recruitment Agency

Questions You Should Be Asking Your Education Recruitment Agency

Not all education recruitment agencies operate to the same safeguarding and compliance standards. These differences can make it difficult for schools and candidates to know exactly what checks should be completed before a placement.

At Athona Education, we take a fully structured, REC audited approach to education recruitment compliance. You can read more about our compliance process here.

Why this matters

Whether you are a school or a candidate, you should feel confident that every compliance step has been completed correctly before a placement is made.

Identity checks, DBS certificates and references all play a crucial role in safe and suitable placements in education. This includes ensuring the correct DBS certificate is in place for work with children, rather than a general or adult workforce check.

In education recruitment, this is about more than ticking boxes. It is about ensuring every safeguarding step has been properly completed before someone enters a school setting.

Where standards can differ

Most agencies aim to do things properly, but the way processes are carried out can vary, including:

• Whether candidates are always met in person
• Whether DBS checks are correct for working with children
• Whether DBS certificates are on the Update Service and checked regularly
• How thoroughly references are completed, including recent education roles
• Whether safeguarding checks continue after placement
• Whether the agency is independently audited

That is why it is important to know what to look for before choosing an agency.

Questions you should be asking

Before working with an agency, ask:

• How do you complete identity checks for candidates?
• Are candidates always met in person?
• How do you ensure DBS certificates are appropriate for working with children?
• Are DBS certificates registered on the Update Service and actively checked?
• How are references verified, including recent roles in education?
• Are your processes independently audited?
• What safeguarding checks continue once a placement starts?

These questions help ensure you are working with a compliant and transparent agency.

How Athona Education works

At Athona Education, compliance is built into every stage of the process.

We are REC audited and follow Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance throughout.

Our process includes:

• In person meetings with every candidate
• Full referencing, including recent education employment
• Correct DBS checks for work with children
• DBS Update Service registration where applicable
• Ongoing safeguarding and DBS status checks during placements
• Regular compliance reviews to maintain standards

This ensures every candidate is fully vetted before entering a school setting, and that safeguarding continues throughout their assignment.

Good safeguarding practice is not complicated, but it does need to be consistent.

Knowing what to ask is one of the simplest ways to make sure standards are being met and children are protected.

If you would like to speak to our team about compliance in education recruitment or safeguarding checks in schools, you can contact us on 01277 245840 or explore our compliance process and the documents we require on our website.