Identity verification technology: driving quicker, compliant recruitment in education

By Sarah Croft | July 10, 2023 | Identity verification, Online identity checks, Right to Work

Across every sector, finding and recruiting the right candidates is tough. No more so than in Education where 2023 figures showed teacher vacancies in English schools doubling as  large numbers of teachers reached the end of their careers. Right across the education sector, this candidate-poor environment is leading to similar recruitment challenges. And yet, educators are looking to quickly secure the right talent to continue to provide the best education and support for student communities, all while upholding compliance regulations and best practices.

Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) is increasingly supporting schools, universities and agencies, helping to address these issues while making hiring-related document checks easier, less time-consuming and available remotely.

Easier onboarding preparation for the academic year and an improved candidate experience

Preparing for the coming academic year consumes significant time and resources. For higher education institutions, this can involve hiring and onboarding new staff, from international postdoctoral researchers to IT and facilities management staff, at the same time as planning for the arrival of hundreds of new students.

For important steps in this process, like Right to Work (RtW) checks for recruitment, technology is helping many higher education institutions deal with this busy period by reducing internal pressure. In fact, TrustID now supports Right to Work checks at over a quarter of the UK’s universities.

Right to Work checks are a legal requirement for everyone working in the UK and a remote IDVT service offers a straightforward and simple process that reduces administration for hiring staff. The technology is easy to use, and a recruitment team can start checking candidates’ RtW documents within hours. Candidates simply upload photographs of their identity documents alongside a selfie image, and we do the rest.

For many institutions, the reduction in admin comes with a drastically improved hiring experience for both candidates and recruiting staff. Commenting on the IDVT services of TrustID, Senior HR Partner for Global Mobility at the University of Edinburgh, Andrea Balderson said:

“Our staff carrying out right to work checks love the system and it has enabled us to continue a positive business practice compliantly.”

Streamlining onboarding across schools, sites, and regions

For schools or education recruiters that work across different sites or regions, the ability to conduct remote Right to Work checks can significantly speed up onboarding processes. For example, independent education recruitment agency, AK Teaching, hires staff for primary, secondary, and special educational needs and disabilities schools across the North-East and West-Yorkshire. Covering large regions, it, like many other education recruiters, needs to be able to supply substitute staff quickly, and at short notice. This requires it to conduct all Right to Work and compliance checks smoothly, swiftly, and remotely.

Explaining the importance of using a remote IDVT service provider, Martin Robinson, Compliance Manager at AK Teaching, highlighted his experience using TrustID:

“Working with TrustID allows us to offer a more accessible way of undertaking ID checks for candidates who would otherwise have to come to our offices in order to register with AK Teaching.  We engage with hundreds of people every month, so having a process to enable candidates who, perhaps, cannot easily travel to us, means we are able to efficiently on-board them, something that is vital in delivering a steady flow of supply teachers and support staff to meet demand.”

Compliant and auditable processes

Adopting digital technologies for identity verification offers a critical first validation step to support Right to Work checks and also as part of DBS checks. IDVT allows schools or recruiters to ensure consistent best-practice checks which improve their processes, ultimately helping to safeguard children and young adults.

Notifying candidates and outlining the process which you follow is an important first step to demonstrate how seriously an education provider is taking compliance.  Our service lets schools or recruiters do this with a customised email and a ‘guest link’ – a one-time email access invite that explains the requirements and allows applicants to upload their documents through their smartphone. The technology consistently checks security features and conducts a photo validation to confirm that the applicant matches the document holder. This fast, remote process reduces the admin load, drives compliance and allows recruitment teams to focus on other areas of their roles.

What’s more, working with an IDSP, gives educators an easily auditable process. The TrustID service provides schools and recruiters with a detailed report, assessing a candidate’s Right to Work, confirming any restrictions, and the date of any necessary follow-up checks.

TLTP Group, a recruitment agency for education, medical and homecare, use remote IDVT services for RtW checks due to the compliance and ease of auditing. Heena Patel, Marketing Manager, commented on their technology:

“TrustID is a fundamental part of our compliance process and has become a positive contributor to our safe recruitment practices…The utilization of this tool has proven to be immensely advantageous during audits, instilling confidence that our candidate records are consistently maintained and reinforcing our dedication to a rigorous vetting process that is in line with the latest DfE guidelines.”

Remote IDVT services enable education institutions and recruiters to secure top talent, from wide regions, while maintaining compliance with DfE regulations. This new technology is helping to reduce admin, improve the applicant experience, and maintain the safety of children and young adults. To find out more, explore TrustID’s products and services here.