International Child Safeguarding Week (20-24 October 2025) is a timely reminder of our collective responsibility to protect learners and young people. For those of us working in education regulation, safeguarding is not just a legal requirement – it is the foundation of public trust in the sector.

At the Education Workforce Council (EWC), our work provides the essential structures needed to ensure that those entrusted with the care and education of learners and young people meet the highest standards of conduct, competence, and accountability, (if you want to know more about our role, read our ‘Who are the EWC’ blog).

Why registration and regulation matter for safeguarding

By David Browne, Director of Regulation at the EWC

Our priority at the EWC is, and must always be robust registration and regulation.

When we talk about registration, we mean the formal process of checking, approving, and continuously monitoring the suitability of those working with learners and young people. Regulation, on the other hand are the clear rules, standards, and oversight that govern professional conduct and practice across education settings. Together, they create a safety net that prevents harm and builds public confidence in the education workforce, ensuring only those who uphold a high standard of conduct, and are competent, knowledgeable, and skilled are able to work in certain roles.

So, what does this actually mean for safeguarding on the ground? Here’s how robust registration and regulation protect learners and young people, and strengthens trust across education.

Sets clear standards

Registration ensures only those who are qualified, competent, and suitable to practise are allowed to work with learners and young people, whilst regulation defines what is expected of practitioners. Together, these create a consistent benchmark across the sector for safe and ethical practice.

Provides a safety net for escalation

Regulation allows concerns to be escalated formally, ensuring that unsafe individuals can be restricted or removed from practice.

Ensures accountability

If there are concerns that a registrant has not met the standards expected of them, we investigate through our fitness to practise work and, where necessary, take appropriate action. The truth is we only see an extremely small percentage of our registrants through our fitness to practise work each year.

Helps us learn

Investigations and regulatory actions help the system improve by identifying both risks and learning points to strengthen safeguards for the future.

Provides public confidence

Families and communities trust education more when they know staff are registered and subject to oversight.

Without effective registration and regulation, there would be no consistent system for determining an individual’s ongoing suitability to work, or for preventing unsuitable individuals from continuing to practise. In short, learners, young people, and the wider public would be exposed to unacceptable risk.

Our role as a regulator

As the independent, professional regulator for the education workforce in Wales, we work closely with partners, including Welsh Government, to ensure safeguarding remains at the heart of education. That means we:

• monitor and enforce compliance with safeguarding standards
• act quickly and decisively when risks are identified
• support registrants to understand and meet their responsibilities
• maintain a register of those who are suitable, competent, and trusted to practise

Can we do more?

Safeguarding is, and will always be, everyone’s responsibility. Looking ahead, there is more we can do together to strengthen the safeguards that protect learners, young people, and the public.

One key step is to continue to raise awareness of any legislative anomalies with the requirement to register which could potentially pose a safeguarding risk. We will continue to highlight these anomalies to government and others, aiming to strengthen the EWC’s underpinning legislation. This will allow us to continue to robustly maintain standards amongst education practitioners, and safeguard learners and young people, and the public - exactly as we were set up to do.