Keeping students safe.

• Every adult working on the programme — staff, judges, mentors and event personnel — completes safer-recruitment checks appropriate to their role and jurisdiction.
• The platform never shares student personal data with sponsors, partners or third parties without explicit, granular consent.
• Publication of identifiable photography or video of a student — including winners, finalists and entry showcases — is opt-in, with consent obtained from the student or their parent/guardian and withdrawable at any time.
• Mentoring and judging interactions take place in age-appropriate, supervised settings with parent/guardian and school awareness.
• Concerns are escalated to the DSL within 24 hours and to statutory authorities where appropriate under local thresholds.

If you have a safeguarding concern about a student, an adult or a situation linked to the programme, contact the DSL directly. We acknowledge every report within 24 hours and act in line with statutory guidance (Safeguarding and Child Protection in Schools: A Guide for Schools (Northern Ireland), Co-operating to Safeguard Children and Young People in Northern Ireland, and Children First (Republic of Ireland) where applicable).

The platform is designed to minimise unsupervised adult–child interaction. Direct messaging between adults and students under 18 is disabled by default. All judging feedback is delivered through the school account.

Photography and filming take place throughout School Summit events, on the lawful basis of legitimate interest, with clear signage at all venues. Schools are notified in advance and asked to identify any student who must not be photographed; those students are provided with a visual identifier on the day and our photographers are briefed accordingly. Publication of any image identifying an individual student by name remains opt-in, as set out in our Privacy Notice.

All judges, mentors and event personnel complete appropriate safeguarding briefing and training appropriate to their role. The full Judging Code of Conduct is available on request.