Why the Quality Mark Matters

The Quality Mark was launched in July 2002 as a joint venture between the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and the Department for Education (DfE, then DCSF) to help drive up standards of checking and vetting within the education recruitment sector.

For the first time schools and Local Authorities had an independent and objectively established and monitored set of minimum standards for agencies to reach in areas such as the way they recruit and interview supply teachers, the way they check and manage their performance and the way they stay at the forefront of changes in the teaching sector. 

The main objectives of the Quality Mark as set out by the REC are:

• To recognise private sector supply agencies and LAs who are able to demonstrate that they meet standards of good practice in managing and providing supply teachers for schools
• To enable schools and temporary teachers to feel confident about the quality of the agencies and LAs with whom they are dealing
• To raise the standard and status of supply teaching and to recognise the contributions made by supply teachers, agencies and LAs in supporting schools.

Protocol Education were among the first cohort of agencies to be awarded the Quality Mark and every year since its launch we have been successful in each of our audits.

"Schools may wish to be aware of the DfE Quality Mark for supply agencies and local authorities with supply pools. Those awarded the Quality Mark have been inspected by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and found to comply with good recruitment practices. They are specifically signed up not only to performing all the required checks (which of course all agencies have to do), but also to good practice in recruitment and development of the staff they supply."
DfE - Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education - January  2007

The real  value of the Quality Mark is the confidence a school can derive from it when choosing an agency to supply staff to them. For us the value is knowing we have done everything possible to provide you with teachers and support staff who genuinely add to your school and who you can book with total confidence.

Download our Terms of Business with a Hirer for the Supply of Agency Workers PDF