Compliance isn’t paperwork. It’s safeguarding.
When a school books a member of staff through Principal Education, they are trusting us with something far more important than filling a vacancy.
They are trusting us with the safety of their pupils.
That responsibility sits behind every registration, every reference we request, every document we verify and every decision we make about whether somebody is suitable to work through Principal.
We don’t treat compliance as a box-ticking exercise. We treat it as one of the most important things we do.
APSCo Compliance+ audit score
Our first Compliance+ audit independently tested the systems and safeguarding processes behind our placements.
APSCo Compliance+ Accredited
Not simply self-declared.
It is easy for a recruitment agency to say that it has robust compliance procedures. We wanted ours independently tested.
Principal Education is an APSCo Compliance+ accredited education recruitment business.
Compliance+ is APSCo’s best-practice quality standard for recruitment companies operating in education. It requires agencies to demonstrate high standards in safeguarding, candidate selection, competency and service quality, going beyond basic statutory safeguarding requirements.
Our processes, records and working practices are independently audited against the Compliance+ standard.
We achieved 99.38% in our first Compliance+ audit, demonstrating the strength of the systems and safeguarding processes that sit behind every placement we make.
For us, however, the score isn’t the end of the process. Compliance is continuous.
Standards evolve. Guidance changes. People make mistakes. Processes can always be improved.
That is why our approach is built around continual review, training, auditing and improvement — not simply passing an assessment once.
What does compliance actually mean?
Before we can represent somebody for work in an education setting, we need to establish their identity, employment history, suitability and the appropriate safeguarding and vetting information required for the work they will undertake.
ALL educators seeking work in our schools will undertake the following checks:
Proof of identity
Right to Work in the UK
Address history
Employment and education history
References
Appropriate DBS checks
Barred-list information where applicable
Qualification and professional-status checks where required
Overseas checks where applicable
In-person registration to verify suitability
Safeguarding declarations
Explanation of gaps or inconsistencies in employment history
Additional checks relevant to the role or individual circumstances
Why are we so thorough?
Because safeguarding depends on asking the question that would sometimes be easier not to ask.
A missing date
Employment histories should make sense from beginning to end.
A reference mismatch
Where information does not align, we establish why.
An unexplained gap
Gaps are clarified rather than simply overlooked.
Conflicting information
Different documents should tell the same story.
A disclosure
Where something needs investigation, we investigate it properly.
Suitability
Our responsibility is to establish suitability rather than assume it.
Be open with us.
There is one thing that makes the compliance process considerably easier: honesty and accurate information from the beginning.
If there is something we need to know, tell us.
If there’s an unusual gap in your employment history, explain it. If dates on your CV aren’t exact, tell us. If something may appear on a check or needs declaring, raise it with our compliance team at the beginning.
A disclosure does not necessarily mean somebody cannot work through Principal. Where appropriate, matters are considered properly and in context.
Attempting to hide information, providing misleading information or failing to disclose something we are required to know is taken seriously.
Our checks are deliberately thorough.
If information doesn’t match, we will investigate it.
If we cannot satisfy ourselves that somebody meets the required safeguarding and compliance standards, we will not place them into a school.
No booking is worth compromising safeguarding.
Compliance doesn’t stop when the checks are complete
Being compliant on paper is only part of being ready to work in a school.
We also expect every Principal candidate to understand the safeguarding responsibilities that come with working around children and young people.
A Principal candidate should understand the responsibility that comes with walking through the doors of a school.
Safeguarding and Child Protection
Allergy and Anaphylaxis Awareness
Essential guidance providedFemale Genital Mutilation (FGM)
Prevent and the Prevent Duty
Continuing to learn through Principal Academy
Our responsibility to candidates doesn’t finish once they are cleared to work.
Principal staff have access to the Principal Academy — our online training and professional development platform.
The Academy is free to Principal staff and provides education-focused learning, assessments and development opportunities, with further training continually being added.
Visit the Principal AcademyThorough doesn’t have to mean slow
Strong compliance should make recruitment safer — not unnecessarily complicated.
If your documentation is available, your information is accurate and referees respond promptly, our compliance team will work with you to progress your registration as efficiently as possible.
Accurate information
Make sure dates and details are correct from the start.
Documents ready
Have the required evidence available where possible.
Responsive referees
Prompt responses help us progress your registration efficiently.
What this means for our schools
When Principal tells you that a candidate is cleared for work, there is a substantial process sitting behind those words.
That gives schools additional assurance that compliance isn’t dependent on the judgement of one consultant or something that changes when the office gets busy.
It is part of the infrastructure of our business.
Principal is also an approved supplier on the GCA RM6376 Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment Framework , providing schools and academy trusts with a compliant procurement route alongside our independently audited safeguarding standards.
Compliance is everyone’s responsibility
Safeguarding isn’t something that belongs only to our compliance department.
People
Our consultants are trained to understand their responsibilities and our candidates complete required safeguarding and awareness training.
Processes & systems
Clear requirements are established before candidates can work, while our systems record and monitor compliance information.
Independent scrutiny
Our operational team reviews how those processes are working and our external Compliance+ audit provides independent scrutiny.
What is APSCo Compliance+?
APSCo — the Association of Professional Staffing Companies — developed Compliance+ as an enhanced quality standard for recruitment businesses operating in sectors where safeguarding is particularly important.
For education recruitment businesses, it is designed to benchmark agencies against high standards of safeguarding, competency, candidate selection and service.
Compliance+ businesses are independently audited and are expected to maintain the standard, not simply achieve it once.
For Principal, achieving Compliance+ wasn’t about adding another logo to our website.
It was about putting our processes under independent scrutiny and proving that the standards we talk about are the standards we actually operate.
Safeguarding before sales.
A school needs somebody urgently. A candidate wants to start. A consultant wants to fill the booking.
But there is a line we will not cross.
Ready to work with Principal?
Whether you are an educator getting ready to work or a school looking for a recruitment partner, our team will guide you through the process.
