Accreditation
The Safe Dance Standard
The Safe Dance Standard is the BDSA's benchmark for dance schools. It sets out what a school must have in place to teach safely and responsibly. So parents and guardians can have confidence in the school.
What the standard covers
The requirements are grouped around the things that matter most to a parent leaving a child in a school's care:
Safeguarding
A designated safeguarding lead, clear policies, and staff who know how to raise a concern.
Staff checks
Accredited schools evidence enhanced DBS and Children's Barred List checks (or the equivalent checks in their nation) for teaching staff, and keep records.
First aid and health & safety
The school has appropriate first aid arrangements and health and safety procedures in place.
Qualifications
Enhanced schools can evidence a teacher qualification pathway.
Welfare
The school manages classes, venues and pupil welfare responsibly.
Accredited and Enhanced
A school reaches Accredited when it meets all of the core requirements.
The highest status on the Register. Everything required for Accredited, plus a teacher qualification pathway and the required insurance cover: public liability insurance at £5m, employer's liability insurance, and professional indemnity insurance where applicable.
What accreditation does, and does not, mean
Accreditation means that, at the point it was assessed, a school met the requirements of the Safe Dance Standard and provided evidence to support that.
It does not mean the BDSA supervises the school day to day, guarantees the conduct of every class, or accepts responsibility for the school's actions. Accreditation is a considered check against a defined standard at a point in time, with expiry-tracked evidence checked as it falls due. It is a strong and meaningful signal. It is not a warranty.
Accreditation lasts three years. Evidence with an expiry date is checked continuously. If expired evidence is not updated within 90 days, accreditation is paused until current evidence is provided. We also carry out random spot checks.
We are clear about this because overstating what accreditation means would not serve parents, and would not be honest.
What Enhanced means
Enhanced adds a teacher qualification pathway and the required insurance cover to everything required for Accredited. It is reached through assessment.
For schools