Teacher Agency Standards - Standards In Recruitment

Teacher Agency Standards

Whether you are seeking a recruitment agency to find permanent or supply staff, Standards in Recruitment (SiR) accreditation is a sign of quality assurance which will help you identify teacher supply agencies that are committed to a universal set of quality standards.

SiR accreditation is formally recognised by the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT), the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) in their commercial framework agreement for the provision of supply teachers for the public education sector and the National Procurement Service (Wales).

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is at the core of SiR’s education standards and as part our audit process we look for evidence that a recruitment agency has in place procedures to ensure that all relevant staff are fully trained on current safeguarding rules and that they undertake continuous refresher training.

Teachers will not be solicited

Having found and appointed a suitable candidate, it is frustrating and disruptive for a school to find that a recruitment agency may continue to contact them about alternative job offers.

SiR’s teacher agency compliance standards will check that an agency has a policy neither to encourage nor help a candidate to take up alternative employment for a period of not less than 12 months after commencement of an employment placement with a school.

In addition, we check that a recruitment agency keeps a record of all steps it has taken in relation to a candidate to ensure that they are suitable to work with children and have the necessary experience for the post being offered.

As part of our on-site audits will check for evidence that a recruitment business is:

interviewing a candidate for safeguarding purposes and to ascertain suitability for the role including previous experience and communication and language ability, making contemporaneous notes signed and dated by the interviewer;
checking proof of identity, address and right to work in the UK;
obtaining DBS certificates at the level required and where appropriate a rehabilitation of offenders Act declaration;
obtaining and validating certificates of qualifications and undertaking an employer access check where the candidate has qualified teacher status;
ensuring the candidate is aware of prevent duty guidance;

checking the children’s barred list where appropriate;
obtaining appropriate references;
obtaining evidence that a candidate is medically fit and healthy to undertake the role;
identifying relevant gaps in previous employment and requesting explanations for such gaps;
obtaining a disqualification by association declaration; and
where possible in respect of candidates who have lived overseas for the previous five years, to obtain evidence of suitability including a police check.

Testimonials

“When researching the available programmes, approved by the CCS, we liked the fact that SiR’s teacher agency standards were independent and robust. We also took into account that they were recommended by the NAHT. We wanted a thorough impartial analysis of our working practices and that’s what SiR gave us.”
James Hodkinson, Chief Development Officer, SmithCorp Limited
“Standards in Recruitment goes further; into more depth and because it is specifically for recruitment, which fundamentally is what we’re about, the accreditation reinforces that we are providing the best service to our clients and our organisation. The standards were easy to understand, straight forward and most importantly relevant. It’s a clear value-add to our business to complete the SiR process.“
Julie Welford, Compliance Manager, Aeropeople Limited
“In everything we do, we strive to maintain the highest ethical standards and professionalism, treating both candidates and clients with the same care and respect that we would hope to be treated with ourselves. Until now there has been no genuinely independent audit of our processes and operations and that is why we were first attracted to Standards in Recruitment. Elbrus Partners Limited is extremely proud to be one of the early adopters of this important accreditation. We passionately believe that our industry needs this kind of quality control.”
Mark Jukes, Founding Partner, Elbrus James Limited
“Achieving SiR accreditation has not only allowed us to meet the CCS framework criteria for the provision of supply teachers for the public education sector, I believe it will also help us to stand out from our competitors as we can demonstrate to schools and candidates that we had met the highest standards within the recruitment industry while also providing a unique and exceptional service to both schools and teachers.”
Slava Kremerman, CEO of Zen Educate Ltd
“Although we are members of the REC, when researching which accreditation to go for, we were looking for something different and independent, to help us stand out from the crowd and demonstrate that we had met the highest standards with the recruitment industry. SiR’s teacher agency standards ticked all the boxes.”
Stephanie Bateman, Managing Director, Educate Staffing Limited
"From the initial engagement to the audit itself, the process was very smooth and efficient. There was regular communication available when we needed it to help guide us through any required changes. I am therefore very happy to recommend SiR."
Lewis Atkinson, Regional Manager, Now Education
“SiR accreditation enables us to accept our position on the CCS framework and as a growing company we can now stand shoulder to shoulder with our larger competitors. The SIR team were fantastic and delved deep into the unique aspects of our business whilst the SIR gap analysis and the audit process itself provided an invaluable roadmap, guiding us through the process. The implementation of a new management process and structure has given us a fantastic platform from which to continue the growth and development of our business.’
David Dent, Co-Director, Sesame Education
“We are delighted to confirm Standards in Recruitment has been accepted as a TEAM Partner. Many more employers are recognising the importance of a compliant supply chain and organisations like SiR can provide independent verification of an agency’s standards. We are pleased to welcome them to TEAM’s growing community”
Jackie Torr, Managing Director, TEAM