The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide. We believe that child protection requires everyone to take responsibility and that every child matters. We recognise that the care, protection and welfare of children is paramount and that all children have the right to be protected from all types of harm.
The British Council recognises that it has a fundamental duty of care towards all children where its programmes and operations facilitate contact with children or have an impact on children. This includes a duty to protect children from harm or risk of harm as a result of misconduct by our staff or partners, of poor practice or of the poor design or delivery of our programmes and operations. We achieve this through compliance with UK child protection laws and the relevant laws in each of the countries where we operate, as well as by adherence to Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 1989.
A child is defined in the British Council as anyone who has not reached their 18th birthday (UNCRC 1989) irrespective of the age of majority in the country where a child is, or in their home country.
Exams Child Safe Collection Policy
This policy applies to all exam candidates under the age of 18. Children under the age of 11 will not be allowed to leave the exam premises at the end of the examination without parents or legal guardians being present at the exam venue.
Children between 11 and 18 years of age will be allowed to leave the premises alone if parental consent to this has been given in writing. Otherwise, they must be collected by the parent or by a person for whom the parent has provided written authorisation.