Compli-ed.

Schools & nurseries · ISI and Ofsted · England

Inspectors read down columns.

Independent audits of single central records, staff suitability files and safer recruitment paperwork — for independent and prep schools, state schools and early years settings. I find the gaps before an inspector does, starting, if you like, with a free self-check you can run yourself in twenty minutes.

Get the free 10-point self-check See audit options
Single Central Record — extract Teaching staff
Staff member Identity Enhanced DBS Barred list Prohibition Section 128 Right to work
A. Hartley 04.09.24NM 02.09.24NM 02.09.24NM 02.09.24NM 02.09.24NM 04.09.24NM
D. Okonjo 11.01.25NM 08.01.25NM 08.01.25NM 08.01.25NM 08.01.25NM 11.01.25NM
R. Vaillancourt 02.04.25NM 28.03.25NM 28.03.25NM 28.03.25NM — 02.04.25NM

Six columns complete, one blank. Section 128 is the check most consistently missing from registers — and it is read in a single downward glance.

Why now

There is no preparation week.

ISI routine inspections are announced with a maximum of two days’ notice — usually a phone call the day before inspectors arrive. Ofsted reserves the right to inspect early years settings with no notice at all. Nobody rebuilds a set of staff records in an afternoon, which means the only workable position is being ready before the call comes.

The register itself is rarely the problem. It is the missing reference on file twelve, or the employment gap nobody chased, that surfaces at the wrong moment.

  • NoticeTwo days maximum for ISI routine inspections, typically one. Ofsted can arrive at an early years setting unannounced.
  • EvidenceEvery check must be dated, with the person who carried it out clearly identified. A tick is no longer enough.
  • CoverageStaff, supply staff, governors, the proprietor, and volunteers in regulated activity — missing categories is among the most common findings.
  • SeptemberKCSIE 2026 changes which volunteer roles fall within regulated activity. Volunteer records need reviewing before the new academic year.
  • NurseriesSince April 2026 Ofsted inspects early years settings at least every four years rather than every six, with every setting on the Early Years Register due a visit by March 2030.

Who I work with

Three regimes, one underlying question.

The paperwork has different names in each setting, and the requirements are not identical. What an inspector is actually asking is always the same: can you show, on the day, that every person here was checked before they started?

Independent & prep

ISI · Independent School Standards

Single central record covering staff, supply, governors, the proprietor and volunteers in regulated activity, with section 128 checks for management positions.

State schools

Ofsted · KCSIE

Single central record under the staffing regulations or the Academy Trust Handbook, and safer recruitment files that stand up to scrutiny under the renewed inspection framework.

Nurseries & early years

Ofsted · EYFS

Staff suitability records, childcare disqualification requirements, and the recruitment paperwork behind them — for settings that may get no notice at all.

Free · no sign-up · two versions

The 10-point self-check

The ten things most often flagged at inspection, and how to check each one yourself. About twenty minutes with your files open. If everything comes back clean, that is genuinely the best outcome — and you owe me nothing.

There are two versions, because the requirements are not the same. Schools work to a single central record under KCSIE. Nurseries and pre-schools work to staff suitability records under the EYFS, where childcare disqualification and paediatric first aid matter and section 128 does not apply at all. Pick whichever fits your setting.

Single central record · ISI and Ofsted · KCSIE

  1. 01Is everyone on it who should be?
  2. 02Is every check dated and initialled?
  3. 03Was each check done before the start date?
  4. 04Right level of DBS, with barred list?
  5. 05Prohibition checks for all teaching work?
  6. 06Section 128 for management positions?
  7. 07Right to work, with expiry tracking?
  8. 08Overseas checks where they apply?
  9. 09Childcare disqualification for under-8s?
  10. 10Written agency confirmation for supply?

Goes straight to me, not to a mailing list. One email back with the PDF attached.

Audit options

Three ways to have it looked at properly.

Fixed fees, not hourly. You know the cost before you commit, and I am not rewarded for taking longer.

SCR Health Check

A desk-based review of your register against KCSIE and the Independent School Standards. You receive a RAG-rated report, a prioritised list of what to fix and in what order, and a call to talk it through.

Remote · five working days

£395fixed fee

Full Compliance Audit

Everything in the health check, plus sampling of fifteen personnel files against safer recruitment requirements: pre-employment checks, references, right to work, employment gaps, prohibition and barred list. The report is written to be put in front of governors.

Remote or on site · ten working days

£850fixed fee

Termly Readiness

One check per term, unlimited email support on recruitment compliance questions through the year, and priority response if you are notified of an inspection. For schools that would rather not think about this again.

Three checks · annual

£1,500per year

Early Years Suitability Check

For nurseries and pre-schools. A review of your staff suitability records against the EYFS safeguarding and welfare requirements — including childcare disqualification, DBS, identity and qualification evidence — with a plain-English fix list and a call to talk it through.

Remote · five working days

£250fixed fee

Safer recruitment training

A practical session for interview panels and recruiting managers — shortlisting, questioning, gap enquiry, and what to record and why.

Half day · on site

£450per session

Who you would be working with

Most schools don’t need a consultant. They need to know where to look.

I’m Niona. I have spent nine years in HR and compliance across UK education — independent schools, an academies trust, and higher education — with safer recruitment, DBS tracking and single central record management as my specialism throughout. I have prepared for and worked through both ISI and Ofsted inspections. I am CIPD Level 5 qualified.

I have sat on your side of this: maintaining the records, preparing for inspection, and finding the gap at the point where finding it is uncomfortable. I work with schools and early years settings directly, which means you get me rather than an associate, and a fixed fee rather than a meter.

  • QualifiedCIPD Level 5
  • CheckedEnhanced DBS, registered on the Update Service — you can verify my status online in under a minute
  • InsuredProfessional indemnity cover in place
  • SectorIndependent and prep schools, state schools and academies, nurseries and early years settings across England

Before you share anything

Your staff data, handled properly.

You are letting an external person near your most sensitive personnel records, so it is reasonable to check me first. My enhanced DBS is registered on the Update Service — give me a moment’s notice and you can run an online status check yourself before we speak.

01

A data processing agreement first

Signed before any records change hands, setting out purpose, scope, retention and deletion.

02

Secure transfer only

Encrypted file transfer or supervised access to your own system. Never email attachments.

03

Deleted on completion

Working copies destroyed once the report is delivered and accepted, with written confirmation.

Get in touch

Start with the checklist. Or just ask.

Happy to answer a question by email without any of this turning into a quote. If a call is easier, twenty minutes is usually plenty.

Email me Get the checklist