Safeguarding

Outstanding Commitment to Safeguarding Award 2025

We are proud to announce our shortlisting for the Safeguarding and Child Protection Association Awards (sacpa) 2025. Our nomination illustrates our outstanding commitment as a university to Safeguarding. Full details of the awards, including the full list of finalists and winners can be found on the sapca website.

The University of Derby launched its new Safeguarding Policy and associated processes in the 2023/24 academic year. Led by the Head of Student Services, Sarah Richardson, and Lucy Doherty Safeguarding Coordinator, this marked a step-change in higher education safeguarding, transforming statutory compliance into a culture of compassion, shared responsibility and preventative action. While every university has safeguarding procedures, Derby’s approach stands out for embedding safeguarding as a whole-institution approach rather than a standalone function, as is the case in many Universities.

Like all Universities, Derby faced the challenge of rising prevalence and complexity of safeguarding cases, particularly linked to mental health, sexual misconduct and domestic abuse. The University recognised that traditional, reactive models were no longer sufficient. A new, integrated model was required — one that would empower students, equip staff and remove barriers between pastoral, academic and safeguarding systems.

In early 2023, a new Safeguarding Team was created, and a single unified framework was designed for both FE and HE provision, a rare and progressive development within the sector. The model brought together Prevent, safeguarding, sexual misconduct and mental health crisis pathways under one reporting mechanism, enabling joined-up data, faster triage, and coordinated responses.

Unlike standard HE safeguarding approaches, Derby’s system extended beyond the institution: the ability for external parties, families, placement providers and peers to report concerns directly is sector-leading, improving speed of intervention and transparency.

Preventative and partnership working is the cornerstone of this innovation. A Local Safeguarding Officer (LoSO) model was introduced with 37 trained safeguarding champions embedded across all sites, creating a distributed network of early responders. The University also implemented a risk-management protocol and Multi-Agency Support Group model, ensuring that the most complex cases are managed holistically through collaboration with NHS services, police and community agencies.

The University invested heavily in communications and capability building. A scaffolded safeguarding training framework was introduced again. The online module, made mandatory for all staff in 2023/24, establishes a shared baseline of understanding across the institution and has achieved 97.5% completion. This foundation is complemented by a bespoke, face-to-face training programme developed internally for staff more likely to receive disclosures, providing a deeper dive into lived scenarios, case studies and referral pathways. Evaluation demonstrates a 45% increase in staff confidence to refer concerns and a 41% increase in confidence to manage disclosures, evidencing tangible cultural and behavioural change.

The safeguarding webpage and single-reporting form centralised access to information, streamlining how staff, students and the public engage with safeguarding. This integration across digital, training and governance infrastructures is rarely achieved in HE and has become a model of best practice.

The outcomes demonstrate material transformation: a 130% increase in referrals since launch, driven by better awareness rather than rising risk; 89% of students referred remain on programme; and Ofsted (2024) praised Derby’s “cohesive culture of safeguarding” and “highly effective management of complex, multi-site responsibilities.” Student feedback evidences trust, compassion and empowerment hallmarks of a safeguarding culture rather than just a process.

Through courageous leadership, joined-up design and measurable outcomes, the University of Derby has reframed safeguarding as a compassionate, proactive, and community-owned commitment demonstrating what outstanding safeguarding in higher education truly looks like.