Safeguarding Policy

Version 1.0 · Approved 3 October 2026

Our commitment

MyOxbridgeTutor Ltd introduces students and families to self-employed tutors from Oxford and Cambridge. All our lessons are online. Many of our students are under 18, and keeping them safe comes before everything else we do.

We expect everyone who works with us or for us never to harm a child, physically or emotionally. If anyone does, we act on it straight away.

This policy explains:

  • how we check tutors before they teach anyone
  • the rules every tutor agrees to
  • how lessons are recorded, and who can see the recordings
  • how to raise a concern, and what we do when you do.

It applies to every tutor listed with us, to our Designated Safeguarding Lead, and to everyone who works for MyOxbridgeTutor, including contractors.

We don’t watch lessons live, read messages between tutors and families, or supervise how tutors teach. What we do is check tutors before they start, set clear rules they agree to, record every lesson in our online classroom, and act quickly when anyone raises a concern.

How we check tutors

Enhanced DBS check. Every tutor must hold an enhanced DBS certificate that we have accepted, including a check of the children’s barred list, before their first lesson with any student. A basic or standard check is not enough.

We accept an enhanced DBS certificate a tutor already holds only if it is registered with the DBS Update Service, so we can check it is still current, or if it is less than 12 months old. Otherwise the tutor gets a new one through us. We encourage every tutor to register their certificate with the DBS Update Service, which lets us check at any time that it is still current. A tutor whose certificate is not on the Update Service gets a new enhanced DBS check every 2 years.

A tutor can appear on our website before their enhanced DBS certificate is in place. But we only give a tutor a family’s contact details once their certificate is on file, and no lesson takes place before then.

If an enhanced DBS certificate contains any information, our Designated Safeguarding Lead reviews it before that tutor can work with any student.

Identity. We check each tutor’s identity through their enhanced DBS application and the documents we ask them for.

Qualifications. We check evidence of each tutor’s qualifications, such as exam certificates or a university transcript, before they are placed with a student.

Age. Every tutor is 18 or over.

Our rules. Every tutor must agree to our tutor terms, and confirm they have read this policy, before they are placed with a student.

Rules every tutor agrees to

Every tutor who works through MyOxbridgeTutor agrees to these rules. They form part of our tutor terms.

In every lesson

  • Teach every lesson through Pencil Spaces, our online classroom, so that it is recorded.
  • Teach from a private, quiet and suitable place, never somewhere public where a student could be seen or overheard.

With students under 18

  • Talk to the student only in a WhatsApp group that includes their parent or guardian, or during lessons in Pencil Spaces. The tutor sets up the WhatsApp group when they are placed with the student. Never contact a student under 18 one-to-one on any other channel.
  • Never ask a student to keep anything from their parents.

With every student

  • Keep all contact about tuition: lessons, homework, progress and scheduling. Don’t comment on a student’s appearance or personal life.
  • Only get in touch at reasonable times of day.
  • Don’t connect with students on social media, and don’t share personal social media accounts with them.
  • Don’t take photos, screenshots or your own recordings of a student.
  • Don’t send or ask for photos or videos. Photos of written work for a lesson are fine.
  • Don’t meet a student in person.
  • Tell us straight away if anything changes that would show on an enhanced DBS check, such as a new caution, conviction or police investigation.

For tutors: if you’re worried about a student

  1. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999 first.
  2. Tell our Designated Safeguarding Lead the same day, at safeguarding@myoxbridgetutor.com. Don’t wait to see if it happens again.
  3. As soon as you can, write down what you saw or heard, and anything the student said in their own words. Note the date and time.
  4. Don’t investigate or confront anyone.
  5. Don’t promise the student you’ll keep it secret. Tell them you need to tell our safeguarding lead, so that they can get help.
  6. Apart from our safeguarding lead, and the police or council if they need to be involved, don’t discuss it with anyone, including other tutors.

If you can’t reach us, or you’re unhappy with how we’ve dealt with it, contact the police on 101, the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000, or the children’s services team at the council where the child lives. Anyone can make a referral.

For tutors: if a concern is raised about you

  • We may pause your profile while we look into it.
  • You must co-operate with our enquiry. You will be told what the concern is and have the chance to respond before we make a decision, unless the police or the council ask us not to tell you.
  • We may remove you from our platform. Where required or appropriate, we will pass the concern to the Local Authority Designated Officer (the council officer who handles concerns about adults who work with children), the police or the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Lesson recording

Every lesson takes place in Pencil Spaces, our online classroom, and is recorded automatically. Everyone in the lesson hears an announcement at the start that it is being recorded.

  • Why we record. If a concern is ever raised about a lesson, there is a record of what actually happened. That protects students and tutors alike.
  • Nobody watches. We don’t watch lessons live, and we don’t routinely review recordings.
  • Where recordings are kept. Pencil Spaces stores the recordings for us. Within MyOxbridgeTutor, only our Designated Safeguarding Lead can open them.
  • When a recording is opened. Only if a safeguarding concern is raised about a lesson, or if the police or another authority asks for it as part of an investigation.
  • If a concern is about a tutor. Our Designated Safeguarding Lead reviews the recording as part of the enquiry. The tutor is told in writing what it shows, and can respond before any decision.
  • How long we keep them. 7 years from the date of the lesson, then they are deleted. The exception is a recording that is part of an open safeguarding matter, which we keep until that matter is closed. We use a fixed period because we don’t hold students’ dates of birth.
  • Your right to a copy. If you appear in a recording, you can ask for a copy under data protection law by emailing privacy@myoxbridgetutor.com. We may need to remove other people from it first.

Our Privacy Policy (section 7A) explains how we handle recordings as personal data.

Lesson reports. After every lesson, the tutor writes a short report. The person who pays for the lessons can read it in their MyOxbridgeTutor account. For most students under 18, that is a parent.

How to raise a concern

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.

For any other concern connected to our service, whether about a tutor’s behaviour or a student’s welfare, contact our Designated Safeguarding Lead:

Kevin Holdstock, Designated Safeguarding Lead — safeguarding@myoxbridgetutor.com

What happens next

  1. Our Designated Safeguarding Lead records the concern, what was done about it and why.
  2. If a child may be at risk, we refer it to the children’s services team at the council where the child lives. If we don’t know where the child lives, we contact the police or the NSPCC, who will pass it to the right council. If a crime may have been committed, we also tell the police.
  3. If the concern is about a tutor, we refer it to the Local Authority Designated Officer: the council officer who handles concerns about adults who work with children. We may pause the tutor’s profile while the concern is looked into.
  4. We tell the person who raised the concern what we can, while protecting everyone’s privacy.

Other places you can go, at any time

  • NSPCC Helpline (adults worried about a child): 0808 800 5000, or help@nspcc.org.uk
  • Childline (children and young people): 0800 1111, or childline.org.uk
  • CEOP (worried about online abuse or grooming): ceop.police.uk
  • Police (non-emergency): 101

Advice for parents and guardians

You know your child best. We suggest you:

  • know who your child’s tutor is, and read the lesson reports
  • stay in the WhatsApp group with the tutor
  • if you’d like to, stay within earshot during lessons, especially with younger students
  • ask your child how lessons are going and whether they feel comfortable with their tutor
  • tell us if anything feels wrong, even if you can’t say exactly why. We would always rather hear about it.

Reviewing this policy

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead reviews this policy at least once a year, and after any serious concern.

Version 1.0. Approved by Kevin Holdstock, Designated Safeguarding Lead, on 3 October 2026. Next review due by 3 October 2027.

MyOxbridgeTutor Ltd · Company number 17300888 · 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ