Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) Training

Summary: The Designated Safeguarding Lead is the named member of staff in a school, college or education setting who takes lead responsibility for child protection. Under Keeping Children Safe in Education, DSLs and their deputies must refresh their training at least every two years. Ella Savell-Boss is an NSPCC accredited safeguarding trainer with over 20 years of experience delivering bespoke training to schools, colleges and education settings across the UK and internationally, in person and online.

What Is a Designated Safeguarding Lead?

A Designated Safeguarding Lead, commonly abbreviated to DSL, is the named member of staff in a school, college or education setting who takes lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection. The role is set out in Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), the statutory guidance that applies to all schools and colleges in England.

Every school and college is required to appoint a DSL. Larger settings will also have one or more Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads (DDSLs), trained to the same standard, to share the workload and ensure cover at all times.

What Does the DSL Do?

The DSL is the first point of contact for any safeguarding or child protection concern raised in the setting. Day to day, the role involves:

Receiving concerns from staff, pupils, parents and external agencies
Deciding whether a concern meets the threshold for referral to Children's Social Care, Early Help or other agencies
Maintaining accurate, confidential safeguarding records
Liaising with the local authority, police, health services and other partners
Advising and supporting other staff on safeguarding matters
Leading the development of a whole-setting safeguarding culture
Ensuring the safeguarding policy and child protection procedures are kept up to date and understood
Reporting to governors and senior leadership on safeguarding

The DSL must have the authority, time and training to carry out the role properly. In practice, the work is demanding, often emotionally challenging and increasingly complex as new safeguarding risks emerge in areas such as online safety, child criminal exploitation and harmful sexual behaviour.

What KCSIE Requires of DSLs

Keeping Children Safe in Education sets out clear training expectations for the role:

Initial training: DSLs and deputies must undergo formal training to provide them with the knowledge and skills required for the role. This is usually a full or extended session delivered before they take on the responsibility, or within the first few weeks of appointment.
Refresher training: Training must be refreshed at least every two years. Many DSLs choose to refresh annually to stay current with rapid changes in statutory guidance and emerging risks.
Ongoing updates: KCSIE also requires regular knowledge and skills updates, at least annually, to keep pace with developments in safeguarding practice.
Same standard for deputies: KCSIE is explicit that Deputy DSLs should be trained to the same standard as the DSL.

These expectations apply equally to maintained schools, academies, free schools, independent schools, sixth form colleges, further education colleges and early years settings. Independent and international schools accredited through bodies such as COBIS are expected to meet equivalent standards.

How We Deliver Training

Our DSL training is delivered by Ella and the team. Sessions are designed for the specific setting, the specific cohort and the safeguarding context the school or college is actually facing. There is no off-the-shelf script. Each course is built around case studies, scenarios and practical responses that reflect the age range, sector and culture of the setting.

Bespoke, Not Generic

A DSL in an independent boarding school faces very different daily realities to one in an early years setting or a sixth form college. Generic courses force everyone through identical content regardless of relevance. Our approach is to discuss your setting before the training is written, then adapt the case studies, scenarios and emphasis to match. The statutory content is the same. The way it is taught is not.

Delivery Options

Training is available in person at your setting, online via live video sessions, or as a blended programme combining the two. Online delivery uses the same interactive case study approach as in-person sessions and is well suited to multi-site trusts, international schools and settings with distributed teams. See our Safeguarding Training Online page for further detail on online-specific delivery.

Session Length and Format

A new to role course is typically delivered as a full day or, where requested, split across two half-day sessions. Refresher courses are normally half a day or a full day depending on the setting's needs. Where a school or college needs to spread learning across the year, we also deliver shorter focused sessions on specific topics, building up to a complete curriculum over several visits. We also have DSL training for new to role and experienced, that is delivered online in 2 hour bitsize sessions.

What the Course Covers

Our standard curriculum is built around seven core areas, each adapted to the setting:

1. The DSL Role in Context

Statutory responsibilities, the legal framework (Children Act 1989, Children Act 2004, Working Together to Safeguard Children, KCSIE), the position of the DSL within the wider safeguarding system, and how the role interacts with governors, senior leaders and local safeguarding partnerships.

2. Recognising and Responding to Concerns

Identifying signs of abuse and neglect, responding to disclosures, managing low-level concerns, and understanding the difference between safeguarding and child protection. Real scenarios are used throughout so delegates build confidence in the moment of decision, not just on paper.

3. Recording and Referring

What to record, how to record it, how to make a good referral to Children's Social Care, how to use thresholds appropriately and how to escalate when a decision feels wrong. This section covers chronologies, electronic safeguarding systems, and the practicalities of recording in a way that holds up under inspection or review.

4. Embedding a Culture of Safeguarding

Moving safeguarding from a set of procedures to a lived organisational culture, including how the DSL works with staff at all levels, how to lead difficult conversations, and how to support a whole-setting approach where everyone takes responsibility.

5. Working with Other Agencies

Multi-agency working in practice, including liaison with social workers, the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), police, mental health services and the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). The session covers what to expect, how to communicate effectively, and how to resolve disagreement constructively.

6. Contextual and Online Safeguarding

Current and emerging issues including child criminal and sexual exploitation, county lines, harmful sexual behaviour, online safety, filtering and monitoring, AI and digital harms, and the safeguarding implications of social media. This is the area that changes most often and is refreshed continuously as new risks emerge.

7. DSL Wellbeing and Self-Care

The role carries significant emotional weight. Ella is a qualified therapist and brings this expertise into the room, so delegates leave with practical strategies for managing the emotional load, recognising burnout and accessing support when needed.

Course Booklet

Delegates receive an electronic booklet that accompanies the session. It is designed as a working reference document rather than a slide handout, with prompts, frameworks and checklists that DSLs can return to when handling concerns back in the setting.

New to Role and Refresher Courses

New to Role

For staff newly appointed to the DSL or Deputy DSL role, our new to role course is the foundational programme that meets the KCSIE requirement for initial training. It covers the full curriculum above in depth, with an emphasis on practical confidence in the role. We recommend new DSLs complete this before taking on the responsibility, or within the first few weeks of appointment.

Refresher

For experienced DSLs, the refresher is the two-yearly course required by KCSIE. It catches the team up on statutory changes, emerging risks and case learning from the past two years, and is structured around discussion of real cases rather than a repeat of the foundational material. Many of our clients book refreshers annually rather than every two years to stay current.

Updates and Masterclasses

Between full refresher courses, we also deliver shorter update sessions and topic-specific masterclasses on emerging areas such as artificial intelligence and safeguarding, online exploitation, contextual safeguarding, harmful sexual behaviour and neglect. These work well as termly or half-termly additions to a school's safeguarding development calendar.

Who the Course Is For

Our DSL training is suitable for:

Newly appointed Designated Safeguarding Leads in schools, colleges, early years settings and alternative provision
Existing DSLs requiring statutory refresher training
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads, who under KCSIE must be trained to the same standard as the DSL
Headteachers, principals and senior leaders responsible for safeguarding
DSLs in independent schools, international schools and COBIS member schools requiring training that meets UK statutory standards
Safeguarding leads in non-education settings, including charities, sports organisations, alternative provision and the voluntary sector

We work with single settings, multi-academy trusts, school groups, dioceses and international school networks. For organisations training multiple DSLs at once, a bespoke group session is normally the most effective format.

Why Schools Choose Us

DSLs frequently tell us they have sat through statutory training that was generic, surface-level or built around case studies that bore no resemblance to their setting. Our work is built around credentials, current practice and direct engagement with real safeguarding cases.

Credentials and Experience

NSPCC Accredited Safeguarding Trainer: Ella holds NSPCC accredited trainer status, a recognised standard for safeguarding training in the UK.
Over 20 years in education and safeguarding: Ella's career spans direct safeguarding practice, senior leadership and consultancy across the education sector.
Qualified therapist: In addition to her safeguarding expertise, Ella is a qualified therapist, which informs both the content and delivery of the training, particularly the wellbeing and emotional resilience elements.
Optimus Education partnership: Ella chairs conferences, keynotes and writes for Optimus Education Ltd, one of the leading professional development providers for UK schools.
Browne Jacobson collaboration: Ella works closely with Dai Durbridge, Partner at Browne Jacobson, specialists in safeguarding and education law, ensuring the curriculum is informed by current legal practice.
COBIS Supporting Associate: Recognition from the Council of British International Schools as a trusted provider to the international school sector.

Real Cases, Current Practice

Our case studies are written in-house and updated continuously. When a significant safeguarding case enters the public domain, whether through a serious case review, a public inquiry or media reporting, the learning is integrated into the curriculum within days. Delegates leaving our sessions can be confident the practice they have just learned reflects the current state of the sector, not material written three years ago.

How to Book

Every engagement starts with a conversation about your setting, your cohort and what you need the training to achieve. From there we propose a session structure, agree dates and prepare the bespoke content.

To request dates and costs, including new to role courses, refresher courses or DSL masterclasses, email carla@savellboss.co.uk or call 01253 966 663. We will respond within two working days with availability and a tailored proposal.

Schools that want a single safeguarding partner across the year may also be interested in our Annual Service Level Agreements, Safeguarding Supervision for DSLs and DDSLs, Safeguarding Reviews, and Policy Writing services.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does DSL training last?

How often must it be renewed?

KCSIE requires DSLs and Deputy DSLs to refresh their training at least every two years. In addition, they should receive updates to their knowledge and skills at least annually. Many of our clients book refresher courses yearly to stay aligned with rapid changes in statutory guidance.

What does DSL stand for?

DSL stands for Designated Safeguarding Lead. In some settings the term Designated Safeguarding Person (DSP) or Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) is used to describe the equivalent role, particularly outside the school and college sector.

Is this the same as Level 3 Safeguarding?

The terms are often used interchangeably, but they are not identical. Level 3 Safeguarding is a tiered safeguarding qualification awarded by training providers, while DSL training is the role-specific training required by KCSIE for the person appointed to the role. A DSL should hold training appropriate to the responsibility, which in practice will usually include Level 3 content alongside DSL-specific elements such as referral pathways, recording standards and multi-agency working.

Do Deputy DSLs need the same training as the DSL?

Yes. KCSIE is explicit that Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads should be trained to the same standard as the DSL. In practice this means DDSLs attend the same courses, with the same content and the same depth.

Can the course be delivered online?

Yes. Online delivery uses live video sessions with interactive case studies and group discussion, not pre-recorded video. It works well for multi-site trusts, international schools and settings where staff are distributed. Online and in-person versions cover the same statutory content.

Do delegates receive a certificate?

Yes. Every delegate receives a personalised electronic certificate confirming attendance and learning outcomes. Settings can also request a whole-organisation certificate suitable for display in reception.