Child-on-child abuse

Child-on-child abuse

About 20 to 25 minutes
Certificate included

Make sure your staff and governors feel confident in recognising the signs of child-on-child abuse and how to report a concern. This course also includes a short assessment, so staff can put their learning into practice.

Who it's for

All staff, volunteers, contractors and governors

Your learning

Find out more
Last reviewed on 2 September 2026See updates
Ref: 2054

In this short course, your staff will learn:

  • What child-on-child abuse is, the different forms it can take, and how to spot it
  • What child-on-child sexual harassment and sexual violence are, and why it's so important to be alert to them
  • What to do if they have a concern about a child or a child makes a report of child-on-child abuse
  • What specific actions to take if a child reports child-on-child sexual abuse
  • How they can help to prevent and address child-on-child abuse of any kind

Governors will also learn about their additional responsibilities with regard to this safeguarding issue.

The course finishes with a short assessment to test knowledge and put the learning into practice.

Note: while this course includes information on topics such as bullying, it mainly focuses on child-on-child sexual abuse. See the following resources for more training on other types of child-on-child abuse:

Abuse in intimate personal relationships between children: staff factsheet

Bullying, including cyber-bullying: staff factsheet

How to prevent child-on-child abuse (The Key Leaders)

Course updates

2 September 2026

This course is fully up to date with Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2026, including the updates made by the DfE on 1 September 2026. We've updated this course to include how child-on-child abuse can include prejudice-based abuse and discriminatory behaviour, and that schools should promote an inclusive, anti-discriminatory culture.

26 August 2026

This course is fully up to date with Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2026.