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Safeguarding context · Local authority

Cardiff: the safeguarding context

  • 146 schools and colleges
  • Wales
  • Cardiff and Vale Safeguarding Board

Evidence of the local risks around every school and college in Cardiff, ready for your policy, your staff and your inspector.

What children's services and the police record across Cardiff, the local safeguarding arrangements, and the 146 open schools and colleges in the Department for Education register for Cardiff, Wales. Everything here describes the area. None of it rates a school or college.

£149 for 12 months

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First finding · Harm and risk outside the home (ROTH) across Cardiff

Across Cardiff, children's services recorded 128 children where child exploitation was a factor in 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025, the latest year published), 17.4 per 10,000 children, lower than across Wales (26.1).

This describes what children's services record for the whole authority, never a school, a college or any child, and a higher rate can reflect better identification and recording as easily as more harm.

See the figures behind it

Order the report for a school or college in Cardiff

£149 per school, college or campus for 12 months, the same however many an order holds. Choose it from the list below and order from its page. What's included.

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Local safeguarding arrangements

Cardiff is covered by Cardiff and Vale Safeguarding Board, shared with Vale of Glamorgan.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. Links checked 1 November 2026.

What is recorded across Cardiff

Published figures for the whole authority, or the police force area it sits in, beside the national figure named in each table where one is published: children's services figures are compared with Wales, never England. Counts below three are shown as fewer than 3.

What children's services record, 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025), the latest year published

The Welsh Government's children's safeguarding measures for Cardiff: the child protection register, child exploitation and children going missing, each as a rate per 10,000 children aged under 18 beside the rate across Wales, with the count. Some measures count children and some count reports. The whole authority, never a school, college or setting.

Measure Cardiff Wales Compared
Children on the child protection register at 31 March 50.8 per 10,000 children (373 children) 44.9 Higher
Children added to the child protection register during the year 86.3 per 10,000 children (634 children) 64.7 Higher
Children reported where child exploitation was a factor 17.4 per 10,000 children (128 children) 26.1 Lower
Reports of child exploitation where the primary factor was criminal exploitation 11.4 per 10,000 children (84 reports) 19.1 Lower
Reports of child exploitation where the primary factor was sexual exploitation 6.7 per 10,000 children (49 reports) 16.9 Lower
Reports of child exploitation where the primary factor was trafficking 0.4 per 10,000 children (3 reports) 2.8 Lower
Children who went missing during the year 3.8 per 10,000 children (28 children) 33.9 Lower

Welsh Government, children's safeguarding measures by local authority, 2024-25; rates per 10,000 children aged under 18 from the ONS mid-2025 population estimates.

Young people's health and youth justice

Published figures for Cardiff against England; higher or lower is the publisher's own significance test.

Measure Period Cardiff Wales Compared
First-time entrants to the youth justice system, ages 10 to 17 Year ending December 2024 97.4 per 100,000 aged 10 to 17 130.9 Similar
Children under 16 in relative low income families 2024/25 19.6% of children under 16 21.2% Similar

Ministry of Justice and Youth Justice Board, Youth justice statistics, first-time entrants by local authority of residence, year ending December 2024, compared with Wales by a 95% confidence interval (Byar's method); Public Health Wales, Public Health Outcomes Framework for Wales, children living in poverty, 2024/25, published without counts or confidence limits, so within a tenth of the Wales figure reads as similar.

Domestic abuse, year ending March 2025, the latest year published

Police-recorded domestic abuse and MARAC cases for the South Wales police force area, the force area the authority sits in.

Measure South Wales England and Wales Compared
Domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes recorded by the police 25 per 1,000 people 21.8 Higher
Domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by the police 12.6 per 1,000 people 13.2 Similar
Cases discussed at multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) 93.7 per 10,000 adult women 50.2 Higher

Office for National Statistics, Domestic abuse in England and Wales data tool.

Each school's or college's report sets these figures out chapter by chapter, beside the picture around its own site, and writes what they mean into the policy, the staff briefing and the report to governors, trustees or the proprietor.

Questions about safeguarding in Cardiff

Which regional safeguarding board covers Cardiff?

Cardiff is covered by Cardiff and Vale Safeguarding Board, which it shares with Vale of Glamorgan. Its local arrangements, procedures and training are published at https://cardiffandvalersb.co.uk/.

How do I report a concern about a child in Cardiff?

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. Otherwise the council's page for reporting a concern about a child is https://cardiffandvalersb.co.uk/report-a-concern/. Staff in a school or college should follow their own procedure and tell the designated safeguarding person.

What do children's services record about harm and risk outside the home (ROTH) in Cardiff?

Across Cardiff, children's services recorded 128 children where child exploitation was a factor in 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025, the latest year published), 17.4 per 10,000 children, lower than across Wales (26.1). These figures describe the whole authority, never any school, college or child, and a higher rate can reflect better identification and recording as easily as more harm.

Schools and colleges in Cardiff

Each page describes the context around that school or college: the local arrangements, the places children and young people pass and gather, and the neighbourhood around each site. Open a page to order its report.

Sixth forms and colleges (2)

Other schools and colleges (144)

Colleges with a campus in Cardiff

College campuses in Cardiff, whichever authority their college is registered in. Each campus page reads the context against Cardiff, where the campus is.

£149 for 12 months

Evidence of the local risks around your school, college, nursery or club

The public evidence about the area around your school, college, nursery or club, written into your safeguarding policy, staff briefing and board report for the year ahead. We email you when it is ready, usually within an hour of payment.

  • The report
  • The staff briefing and slides
  • The evidence pack
  • The dashboard for the year

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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Get Information about Schools, Department for Education.