Safeguarding Policy

1. Who this policy applies to

This policy applies to all use of the Common Ground UK platform through the Education programme, which serves schools, colleges, and universities.

For school and college students under the age of 18, the child safeguarding duties set out in this policy apply in full, including the role of the Designated Safeguarding Lead described in section 7.

For university students and other adult participants, who are legally adults, child safeguarding duties do not apply. The technical protections described in this policy, including anonymous voting, no personal data collection, and no advertising, apply equally to all users regardless of age. Adult users are additionally covered by our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

2. No personal data is collected from students

Common Ground UK does not collect, store, or process any personal data from students. This includes names, email addresses, dates of birth, device identifiers, or any other information that could identify an individual student.

All votes cast through the Schools Programme are entirely anonymous. Only aggregate results are recorded, for example the number of students who selected each voting option. Individual responses cannot be identified or traced.

3. Session supervision

The Education programme is designed to be used under the direct supervision of a teacher, lecturer, or other session host. Students do not create individual accounts or log in themselves. Only the session host holds a login, used to run the session, select questions, and view aggregate results.

For school and college sessions involving students under 18, schools are responsible for ensuring appropriate child safeguarding supervision is in place, in line with their own safeguarding policy, whenever the platform is used.

For university sessions, students are legally adults and child safeguarding supervision does not apply. The same session-host structure is used to keep voting data consistent and reliable across all institution types.

4. Content standards

All questions published on Common Ground UK pass a four-point integrity test before going live. Questions are assessed for factual accuracy, legal accuracy, cost transparency, and the potential for misuse. Questions that could cause harm, promote extremism, or be unsuitable for educational settings are not published.

Questions selected for the Schools Programme undergo an additional review to ensure they are age-appropriate, curriculum-relevant, and suitable for classroom discussion.

5. No advertising or commercial targeting

Common Ground UK carries no advertising and does not engage in commercial targeting of any kind. Students using the platform are not exposed to advertising, sponsored content, or any attempt to collect data for commercial purposes.

6. No social features or peer interaction

The platform does not include chat functions, messaging, comment sections, or any feature that allows students to interact with other users. Students cannot communicate with each other or with adults through the platform.

7. Safeguarding contact

For under-18 students, any safeguarding concern relating to the use of Common Ground UK should be reported immediately to the Designated Safeguarding Lead at the relevant school or college in the first instance.

For adult university students, any concern about the platform should be raised with the relevant department at the institution in the first instance, or directly with Common Ground UK using the contact below.

Concerns about platform content or conduct by Common Ground UK, for users of any age, should be directed to our contact:

8. Policy review

This policy will be reviewed annually and updated whenever there is a material change to the platform that affects young users. Schools are encouraged to check this page before each academic year. This policy will be reviewed by a solicitor upon company registration.