Audit of school safeguarding practices: 2025 analysis report

As you will be aware, an audit of safeguarding practices in Norfolk education settings took place in the Spring and Summer terms 2025. A comprehensive analysis report has been written highlighting key areas from the Safeguarding Self Evaluation Form. 

The audit report captures data from 286 primary schools, 34 secondary, 27 special schools, 3 nursery schools, 1 all through school, 1 college and 10 independent schools. 137 were LA maintained schools and 191 were academies. Overall, this equates to 82% of all primary schools, 62% of all secondaries and 77% of all special schools. 78% of all settings in Norfolk.  

The evidence demonstrates a positive view of settings' confidence in the safeguarding arrangements that they have in place. The evidence provided indicates that the vast majority of settings feel that they not only meet but exceed statutory requirements for safeguarding in line with Ofsted expectations and best practice guidance. The commentary supplied in the majority of the self-reviews tools demonstrates that settings have taken a robust approach to review of safeguarding procedures and have reached thoughtful conclusions in relation to their assessments. 

As in previous years, the overall findings of the audit identified some gaps in knowledge across the wider school workforce; future training and guidance will be tailored to meet these needs accordingly. The Safeguarding Self Evaluation 2025 - Analysis Report (Word doc, 175 KB) can be accessed via this link. 

Thank you for your co-operation with this process. The safeguarding self-evaluation tool remains accessible for settings to use as part of their ongoing monitoring arrangements via the My School section of the Norfolk Schools and Learning Providers website.