Safeguarding Policy

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is our director. You can contact them by email at admissions@jisreducation.com.

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead holds an Enhanced DBS check.

All safeguarding concerns are referred to our Designated Safeguarding Lead. If a concern involves them, it goes instead to an alternative named contact.

Who to contact

If a child is in immediate danger in the UK: call 999.

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead: admissions@jisreducation.com, the same day.

NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000, for adults worried about a child, including for advice on whether a concern should be referred.

Childline: 0800 1111, a free, confidential route for a child or young person to talk to someone independent of Jisr.

If a student may be at risk of harming themselves: a GP or 111, or in an immediate crisis 999 or the nearest A&E.

Who this protects

A child means anyone under 18. This applies regardless of the age of majority in the student's home country. A 17-year-old Saudi student is a child for the purposes of this policy and of UK law.

This policy covers any child Jisr advises, corresponds with, meets, or arranges services for, including independent and boarding school applicants, and 16 and 17 year olds applying for foundation or undergraduate study.

It binds the director, any staff, contractors, interpreters and anyone else acting for Jisr.

Legal framework

International: UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (participation, provision, protection).

England and Wales: Children Act 1989 and Children Act 2004; Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.

Scotland: Children (Scotland) Act 1995; Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

Northern Ireland: Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995.

Position of trust: Sexual Offences Act 2003. An improper relationship with a child by an adult in a position of trust is a criminal offence.

Our commitments

The welfare of the child is the paramount consideration, ahead of any commercial interest of Jisr.

We will listen to children and take what they tell us seriously.

We will act on concerns rather than wait for certainty. It is not our job to investigate or to decide whether abuse has occurred. It is our job to report.

We will never place a commercial outcome, a commission, or a relationship with an institution above a child's safety.

Safer recruitment

Anyone acting for Jisr who will have unsupervised contact with a child must hold an enhanced DBS check (or PVG scheme membership in Scotland) before that contact begins. No team member has contact with an under-18 until their Enhanced DBS is held.

Where a person is based outside the UK and no equivalent scheme exists, we will obtain the nearest local equivalent check and a signed self-disclosure statement.

References will be taken and verified for anyone working with children.

No unchecked person has unsupervised contact with a child on Jisr business. There is no exception for family members.

If a DBS check or a reference raises a concern, the person does not begin (or continue) any role involving contact with a child until the concern is resolved. Where the concern is serious or unresolved, the safe default is not to proceed.

Anyone already in a role involving contact with a child must tell the Designated Safeguarding Lead if they are charged with, cautioned for, or convicted of anything that bears on their suitability to work with children, as soon as it happens. DBS checks are refreshed every three years, or sooner if a specific concern arises.

Code of conduct

Anyone acting for Jisr will:

Not meet a child alone in a private setting. Meetings take place in a professional or public setting, or with a parent or guardian present.

Keep communication transparent. Contact with a child goes through admissions@jisreducation.com or a monitored Jisr channel, with a parent or guardian copied in wherever practicable. Not personal phone numbers, personal social media, or private messaging.

Not give personal gifts, money or favours to a child or their family.

Not offer accommodation, transport or hospitality to a child outside an arrangement agreed in writing with the parent or guardian.

Not take or share photographs or video of a child without written parental consent.

Maintain professional boundaries at all times, and never behave in a way that could reasonably be misinterpreted.

Report any concern immediately, including concerns about the conduct of a colleague.

What to do if you have a concern

1. If a child is in immediate danger: call 999. Do not wait for internal process.

2. Listen and record: do not interrogate the child or promise confidentiality you cannot keep. Write down what was said, in the child's own words, with the date, time and your name. Same day.

3. Report: tell the Designated Safeguarding Lead the same day. Do not investigate yourself.

4. Refer: the Lead refers to the relevant authority: the local authority children's services where the child is, the police, and the UK institution if the child is enrolled or applying there.

5. Record and review: all concerns, decisions and referrals are recorded and kept securely. The Lead reviews whether anything in our practice needs to change.

Report in good faith even if you are not sure. Good-faith reports are welcome even where they turn out to be mistaken. The error to avoid is silence, not over-reporting.

NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000. Available to adults worried about a child, including for advice on whether a concern should be referred.

Childline: 0800 1111. A free, confidential route for a child or young person to talk to someone independent of Jisr, if they do not want to raise something with an adult at Jisr directly. This number is given to every under-18 student we advise, as part of our standard communication with them, so they always have somewhere to go that is not us.

Recognising a mental health concern

Not every worrying sign is abuse or neglect. University applications, visa uncertainty, distance from family and pressure to meet a family's or sponsor's expectations are real and common sources of stress for the students we advise, and it is part of our role to notice when a student seems overwhelmed, not just to watch for signs of harm.

If a student seems persistently anxious, low, withdrawn, or talks about the pressure being too much, we take it seriously in the same way as any other concern: we listen, we do not dismiss it as normal exam stress without checking, and we do not try to counsel them beyond what a supportive conversation reasonably involves.

We tell the Designated Safeguarding Lead the same day, in the same way as any other concern.

We signpost the student and their parent to appropriate support: a GP, a school or university counselling service, or Childline for the student directly. Jisr is an education adviser, not a mental health service, and does not attempt to be one.

If a student says anything suggesting they may be at risk of harming themselves, we treat this as an emergency: we encourage them to contact a GP, 111, or, in an immediate crisis, 999 or the nearest A&E, and tell the Designated Safeguarding Lead immediately. We do not wait to see if it passes.

What was said and what was done is recorded in the same way as any other safeguarding note.

Exploitation by a third party

Jisr does not itself create a setting in which a child could be exploited. But advising students, including under-18s, puts us in a position to notice signs that a student is being exploited or controlled by someone else: a sponsor, a relative, another "study consultant" they have also engaged, or anyone with influence over their finances, documents or decisions.

Signs worth noticing include: a student who seems unable to make their own decisions about their application, appears frightened of or controlled by an adult accompanying them, mentions debts or repayment obligations tied to their studies that seem irregular, is unusually secretive about who is paying their fees or holding their documents, or describes arrangements that resemble common scam patterns (unofficial intermediaries, unregulated payment arrangements).

This is not something Jisr is expected to investigate. The same principle as any other concern applies: report even if unsure, to the Designated Safeguarding Lead, the same day.

Where the student is under 18, this is treated as a safeguarding concern. Where the student is 18 or over, it may still warrant a report to the relevant UK institution or, where a crime may be involved, the police.

Radicalisation and extremism

Jisr's structure, remote, individual, education-focused advisory contact, is a low-likelihood setting for this concern compared with organisations running in-person group activities. The obligation is nonetheless acknowledged rather than left silent.

If a student expresses views or shares material that raises a genuine concern about radicalisation towards violence or extremism, this is treated as a safeguarding concern: it is reported to the Designated Safeguarding Lead the same day, and not investigated or debated by the person who noticed it.

Jisr is not a public authority and the statutory Prevent duty does not apply to us in the way it applies to schools and universities. The same "report even if unsure" principle is followed regardless, because the underlying risk to a child does not depend on which duty formally applies.

Where the Lead is genuinely unsure whether a concern meets this threshold, the NSPCC Helpline (0808 800 5000) is available for advice, as with any other uncertain concern.

Under-18 students coming to the UK

Written parental consent is required, covering three things specifically: the visa application, the student's living and care arrangements in the UK, and the student's travel. Consent must come from both parents, or from one parent with sole responsibility, or the legal guardian, with a birth certificate or equivalent showing the parents' names.

UK guardianship. Most UK boarding schools require an international student in full-time education for more than 12 weeks to have a UK guardian: a responsible adult available in an emergency on the parents' behalf. Jisr will only ever refer families to guardianship organisations accredited by AEGIS, and will never recommend an informal or unaccredited arrangement.

Visa route. Foundation courses are not permitted on a Child Student visa. We will explain clearly which route applies to a 16 or 17 year old rather than assume.

Accommodation. We will not arrange or recommend accommodation for a child that is not approved by the institution or an accredited provider. Private arrangements found through social media will not be recommended under any circumstances.

Private fostering. If a child under 16 will be cared for more than 28 days by someone who is not a close relative, the local authority must be notified. We will tell families this applies.

Named adult on arrival. On the Short-term Student route, a child travelling with an adult must have that adult named on the visa, or will be refused entry.

Partner-agency route. For a student under 18 on a partner-agency route, a parent or guardian signs both Jisr's consent and the partner's own form.

Risk assessment

A written risk assessment will be completed before any activity involving a child: an in-person meeting, an event, accompanied travel, or an arrangement involving a third party.

Risk assessments are reviewed after the activity and kept on file.

How harm happens, and how we prevent it

There are two sources of harm: unintentional (negligence, poor due diligence, inadequate supervision, negligent hiring) and deliberate, where an offender seeks out a role that gives access to children. Weak or unenforced policy creates the opportunity for both. Our approach follows four stages:

Prevent: safer recruitment, DBS checks, code of conduct, training, accredited partners only.

Limit: no unsupervised contact, transparent communication channels, parents copied in.

Detect: everyone knows what to look for and that reporting is expected of them.

Respond: clear referral route, same-day escalation, records kept, practice reviewed.

Data and confidentiality

Safeguarding records are held securely and separately, and shared only with those who need them to protect the child.

Data protection is never a reason to withhold information where a child may be at risk. Safeguarding takes precedence.

Personal data about children under 13 is only processed with explicit parental consent.

Responsibility and review

The Designated Safeguarding Lead owns this policy and is responsible for training everyone acting for Jisr on it.

It is reviewed at least annually, and immediately after any safeguarding incident.

It is available to parents, guardians, students, staff and partner institutions on request, and published at jisreducation.com.

Company details

Jisr Education Limited. Registered in England and Wales, company number 17431146.