Safer Recruitment Checks: What’s Changing From 1 September 2026

Safer recruitment sits at the heart of the EYFS statutory framework. The version taking effect on 1 September 2026 makes one substantial legal change, plus a tightened set of expectations around references. Anyone who hires, vets, or manages volunteers at a nursery, preschool, or school-based early years setting needs to act on this before term starts.

The big change: the “supervised volunteer” DBS exemption is gone

For years, supervision offered a way out. An unpaid volunteer working under a qualified staff member’s supervision could often avoid classification as being in “regulated activity” — and therefore avoid needing an enhanced DBS check. The **Crime and Policing Act 2026** amended the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 to remove that exemption entirely.

From 1 September 2026, both paid and unpaid roles count as regulated activity regardless of supervision, if the activity involves teaching, training, instructing, caring for, or supervising children, and it happens:

Frequently, or on more than **3 days in a 30-day period**, or **overnight**.

This is a real operational shift, not a restatement of existing policy. Parent volunteers who help out regularly, students on placement, and occasional helpers brought in for trips may now need an enhanced DBS check where they didn’t before. Frequency and overnight involvement now trigger the requirement on their own — supervision no longer provides an exemption. Every setting should map its current volunteer and casual-helper roles against these three thresholds before the new term, and update vetting accordingly.

The baseline DBS requirement, restated

The framework builds on a familiar underlying standard. Anyone aged 16 or over working directly with children, or living or working on the premises, requires an enhanced DBS check with barred list information. Staffing ratios cannot include anyone under 17, and nobody under that age may su30px

References: a much stricter standard

The 2026 framework also sets a noticeably more detailed reference-checking standard than earlier editions. Providers should stop accepting open or “to whom it may concern” references. They should stop relying on the applicant to obtain their own reference. And they should stop accepting a reference from a family member.

The new standard expects something more active instead. Providers must obtain references directly from a senior person at the applicant’s current or most recent relevant employer, training provider, or education setting. They must also independently verify the applicant’s most recent relevant employment, rather than taking a CV or application form at face value.

Does your recruitment process still use a generic reference requ30px

Building a safer recruitment process around the new rules

Treat recruitment and volunteer onboarding as one combined checklist to get ahead of 1 September 2026.

New hires need four things: an enhanced DBS check with barred list information (for anyone 16 or over working directly with children), references requested directly from a named senior contact at their most recent relevant employer, independent verification of recent employment history, and a record showing how each reference was obtained.

Volunteers, students, and casual helpers need a threshold check first. Does their planned involvement meet the regulated-activity test — frequent, more than 3 days in a 30-day period, or any overnight element? If so, they need an enhanced DBS check regardless of whether staff will supervise them.

Existing staff and long-standing volunteers deserve a second look too. Don’t assume historic arrangements carry over automatically under the new rules. A volunteer’s role can quietly become more frequent, or pick up an overnight element (residential trips, for example) — and cross the regulated-activity threshold even though nothing changed on paper.

Why this matters beyond compliance

Ofsted inspections and serious case reviews flag safer recruitment failures more often than almost any other issue. The removal of the supervised-volunteer exemption closes a gap regulators have watched for some time. Fixing this before 1 September beats discovering the gap during an inspection — or, worse, after an incident.

FAQ

Do all volunteers now need a DBS check under the 2026 EYFS framework?

Not automatically, but the threshold is much lower than before. A volunteer needs an enhanced DBS check if their involvement is frequent, exceeds 3 days in a 30-day period, or includes any overnight element — supervision no longer exempts them.

What changed in the law behind this?

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 amended the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 to remove the previous exemption for supervised unpaid activity.

Can we still accept a reference the applicant provides themselves?

No. The updated standard requires providers to obtain references directly from a senior contact at the applicant’s employer, not via the applicant, and to independently verify recent employment.

When do these safer recruitment changes take effect?

1 September 2026.