A prevention-led safeguarding resource, developed with UNICEF support, is set to be rolled out across 2,500+ British Council Partner Schools across more than 40 countries, reaching nearly 1.7 million students worldwide
LONDON, March 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The British Council's Global Safeguarding Toolkit aims to help schools strengthen early identification, proportionate action and consistent practice in safeguarding.
The Toolkit, which is designed as a practical, role-based implementation resource for everyday school use, supports a whole-school approach that reduces reliance on individual judgement, helps clarify responsibilities and strengthens recording.
The resources will be rolled out in British Council Partner Schools, a global community of over 2,500 schools, actively supported by the British Council, delivering UK international qualifications such as the International GCSEs, International O Levels, International AS and A Levels.
The Toolkit is designed to be adaptable across local legal contexts while supporting consistency across an international network. It also provides clearer separation between child safeguarding concerns and adult conduct risks, supporting proportionate handling and accountability.
As safeguarding concerns increasingly move between online and offline spaces, the Toolkit is intended to help schools respond more consistently to risks including online grooming, harassment, coercion, impersonation and AI-generated sexual imagery, supporting earlier action before concerns escalate.
The scale of the challenge is well evidenced. UNICEF estimates that around 150 million students aged 13-15 report experiencing peer-to-peer violence in or around school globally. UNICEF and the ITU report that one in three internet users worldwide is a child, increasing exposure to exploitation and manipulation online. The World Health Organization estimates that one in seven adolescents lives with a mental health condition, often intersecting with safeguarding concerns in school settings.
Sonja Uhlmann, Regional Safeguarding Manager at the British Council, said: "Safeguarding cannot depend on individual instinct or isolated expertise. Schools need clear roles, reliable recording, shared thresholds and consistent routes for escalation-so concerns are recognised early and acted on proportionately. This Toolkit is designed to help translate safeguarding policy into everyday practice."
Almudena Olaguibel, Child Protection Officer at UNICEF Spain, said: "The Safeguarding Toolkit reflects a shared understanding between the British Council and UNICEF that effective protection depends on systems, not improvisation. As safeguarding risks become more complex and less visible, preparation, clarity and shared responsibility across school communities are essential."
Notes to Editors
Toolkit downloads
Long toolkit
Short toolkit
About The British Council
The British Council is the UK's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. We do this through our work in arts and culture, education and the English language. We work with people in over 200 countries and territories and are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2024-25, we reached 600 million people.
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