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Medical checks for new school staff

You need to verify an applicant's mental and physical fitness for the role before appointing them. Read the rules around how to do this and avoid leaving yourself open to discrimination claims.

Last reviewed on 11 July 2024See updates
School types: All•School phases: All•Ref: 2627
Contents
  1. You must verify fitness
  2. When to ask questions
  3. What to do if a candidate voluntarily discloses health information
  4. How to assess fitness

You must verify fitness

As part of your pre-employment checks for new staff, you must verify that they have the mental and physical fitness needed to carry out their work responsibilities. 

There's no specific way to do this, but it can involve asking relevant questions to assess whether someone’s health or disability would prevent them from doing the job. You must consider whether there are reasonable adjustments that you could put in place to allow them to carry out the role.

Completing this check must be a condition of any job offer.

This is set out in paragraph 238 (page 63) of Keeping Children Safe in Education. Get further details on pre-employment checks for new school staff and checks for new governors in this article.

When to ask questions

Apart from a few specific circumstances (see below), you cannot ask a job applicant about their health or any disability until