Prevent radicalisation and extremism

Published 01/01/2017.  Last updated 21/08/2024
sourceLearning resources schoolSocial Studies schoolReligious and Moral Education (RME) schoolHealth and Wellbeing (HWB) categoryInclusion Wellbeing and Equality

​This resource sets out the Scottish approach to safeguarding and protecting the wellbeing of vulnerable young people from the influence of people promoting extremism and terrorism. 

Anyone who has experienced or witnessed a hate crime to report it to Police Scotland by dialling 99​9 in emergencies or 101 in non-emergencies. Alternatively reports can be made online by completing Police Scotland’s online hate crime reporting form​.​​

Schools have an important role to play by providing a safe space for learners to explore, discuss and debate the range of social and political issues in our rapidly changing world.

It is important to develop young people’s skills to be able to engage as active citizens in a democratic society, developing critical thinking skills so that they become resilient to and equipped to challenge divisive viewpoints and hate speech.

Staff should have a clear understanding of how the holding of views which endorse extremism can lead to safeguarding issues for the wellbeing of the individual young person. Local authorities would therefore be expected to demonstrate an awareness of the Prevent strategy in their work to implement the Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) approach.

Within the curriculum, Social Studies, Health and Wellbeing, and Religious and Moral Education have particular roles to play in helping children and young people develop their understanding of the world by learning about other people, cultures, beliefs, attitudes and values.

It is important to use learning and teaching methodologies that support collaborative learning and critical thinking, help to create supportive learning environments, and to address controversial issues effectively.

Helping to challenge misinformed views and perceptions amongst learners and challenging commonly held myths, for example regarding particular communities, requires skilled practitioners who use techniques that open up discussion.

Staff members should model to learners how diverse views can be heard, analysed and challenged in a way which values dignity, freedom of speech, and freedom from harm. Establishments should consider the professional development needs of staff, to build capacity so that teachers are better equipped to deal with potential safeguarding issues.

About Prevent

The UK Counter-Terrorism (CONTEST) Strategy was developed to address threats that Scotland and the rest of the UK face from a range of extremist and terrorist ideologies, groups and individuals. Prevent is one strand of this strategy, and sits alongside Pursue, Protect and Prepare.

In 2015, the UK Government placed a duty on specified authorities (including schools, colleges and universities) to have, in the exercise of their functions, “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”.

Simply put, Prevent is about safeguarding individuals from being drawn into terrorism, ensuring those vulnerable to extremist and terrorist narratives are given appropriate advice and support at an early stage. Prevent is no different to any other form of safeguarding from harm.

Prevent duty training is available on gov.uk. 

UK Home Office factsheet: Threat posed by right-wing terrorism (released 19 March 2019).

The links below are for two recently UKG produced short animations which can be embedded in training, communications, and any other scenario where you need to quickly explain the purpose of Prevent to an audience. One is designed for anyone with a Prevent duty, the other is specific to education settings.

Public Sector Staff: Prevent duty animation - public sector staff working together to stop radicalisation - YouTube

Education's Role: The Prevent duty: the role of education in safeguarding learners from radicalisation - YouTube

How extremists are using COVID-19 to promote disinformation, misinformation, and conspiracy theories (269 KB) provides a short summary of the ways in which extremists have responded to COVID-19. It highlights the additional radicalisation risks for children and young people and recommended actions that settings can consider.

Statutory Prevent Duty Guidance for specified Scottish local authorities

Preventing violent extremism through education: A guide for policy-makers

Frequently asked questions

Scottish peer review: Self-assessment framework (361 KB) - This self-evaluation framework is intended to assist schools and local authorities with a means of assessing their Prevent delivery and to support effective and consistent implementation of the Prevent Duty. It can be used to assist with a Prevent peer review and for internal self-assessment. It does not represent any form of legal advice issued by or on behalf of the Scottish Government, nor should it be considered an authoritative statement of the law.

Prevent radicalisation and extremism - These curated resources to support and safeguard children and young people from radicalisation and to help build resilience to all types of extremism.

Robbie’s Story - A case study of former far-right extremist Robbie Mullen. The teacher video and CPD session plan could be used for teacher training sessions to raise awareness of extreme right-wing issues and actions to take for concerns.

Votes for Schools Secondary - The lesson plan, classroom PowerPoint presentation and curriculum guide created by Votes for Schools encourages secondary school pupils to answer the question ‘can sharing stories tackle extremism?’

Be Internet Citizens - This resource has been designed to teach teenagers about media literacy, critical thinking and digital citizenship, with the aim of encouraging young people to have a positive voice online.

Votes for Schools - These resources explore radicalisation online and conspiracy theories.

UK Government Home Office Prevent e-learning

UK Government Referrals e-learning

Spotlight on Safeguarding - Why schools should never ignore a concern.

Take 5 minutes at in-service - There are often only a few minutes for an all-staff safeguarding slot, but a regular drip-feed approach is often best anyway. So to make the most of those precious 5 minutes at the start of the staff briefing, why not use one of these ready-to-use Spotlight videos with stimulus and discussion questions to keep safeguarding at the top of everyone's agenda?

The National Grid for Learning: Prevent-COVID-19 - This webinar with the UK National Prevent Coordinator was livestreamed in collaboration with the DfE in August 2020 to convey the impact of COVID-19 on Prevent, and outline practical suggestions and tools to support Local Authority Prevent Teams to respond to Prevent risks in the education sector.

Extreme Dialogue - Educational resources created to build young people’s resilience to violent extremism. Classroom activities include active discussion and enhanced critical thinking, inspired by a series of short films. Download a teaching resource that can be adapted for use in Scottish schools. PDF file: Extreme Dialogue for PREVENT Scotland (1.3 MB)

PHSE Association: Addressing extremism and radicalisation - A series of four lesson plans for third and fourth level with a specific focus on addressing extremism and radicalisation of all kinds.

PHSE Association: Discussing a terrorist attack.

No Hate Speech Youth Campaign - This website provides information about the campaign and the resources developed to prevent, counter and produce alternative narratives to hate speech. Download a teaching resource that can be adapted for use in Scottish schools.

PDF file: No Hate Speech Movement PREVENT Resource (162 KB)

London Grid for Learning: Counter-extremism narratives and conversations - Educational resources created to build young people’s resilience to violent extremism. Classroom activities include active discussion and enhanced critical thinking, inspired by a series of short films.

NPCC Run Tell Hide - Security experts from Counter Terrorism Policing have commissioned the creation of an animated core film designed to teach young people how to react if caught up in an a gun or knife terror attack. The film aimed at 11 to 16-year-olds will also show them what to do if they see suspicious behaviour or a suspicious item.

Educate Against Hate - Children often take risks, explore new things and push boundaries as they become more independent. This site provides practical advice and information on protecting them from extremism and radicalisation.

Let's Talk About It - An initiative designed to provide practical help and guidance to the public in order to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

Prevent duty training which focuses on how to support people vulnerable to radicalisation is now available as part of a new gov.uk service.

The service has been designed following extensive user research and testing over the past three years by more than 2,300 users in sectors covered by the Prevent Duty and others with an interest in understanding more about Prevent and radicalisation.

The new courses are designed to equip users with inclusive, unbiased and reliable information giving them the knowledge and confidence to support and safeguard the general public against radicalisation.

The new training service courses are:

Prevent awareness

This course has been refreshed and updated with new case studies to provide an overview of the Prevent programme and what to do if you spot a concerning behaviours.

Prevent referrals

This training shares best practice on how to articulate concerns about an individual and ensure that they are robust and considered and aims to give them confidence in making a referral.

Channel or Prevent Multi-Agency Panel (PMAP)

This course is for anyone who may be asked to contribute to, sit on, or run a Channel panel. The updated Channel course now also features PMAP for Scotland.

Refresher awareness

This is a condensed version of the awareness course and is for anyone who has already completed the awareness course and would like a reminder of the key points.

Word file: Prevent National Referral Form (122 KB)

This form is to be completed and emailed directly to the Prevent Delivery Unit address stated on the form when/if needed.

Where appropriate (i.e. if you are a sector representative) please ensure this form is/has been circulated and stored somewhere in the organisation that staff/members are aware of, so that it can be signposted to and accessed easily.

If there is a concern about potential radicalisation into terrorism or reason to believe that someone is susceptible to radicalisation, specified authorities should use the NRF to make a referral to the police. The Prevent National Referral Form helps to achieve consistency of outcome in making Prevent referrals. As set out in statutory Prevent Duty Guidance, specified authorities should use the NRF as part of their referral process.

It is essential that organisations with Prevent responsibilities provide people with clear and accessible information about Prevent, including where to go if they have concerns about radicalisation.  It is recommended that local authorities have a dedicated Prevent section on their websites where the NRF can be easily located.  For those who may receive completed National Referral Forms as part of their local referral process, it may be appropriate for their webpages to signpost information on data handling or data compliance.

To improve data recording and analysis, the new National Referral Form includes advice on providing personal data. People completing the form are advised to only provide personal data (such as information about a person’s ethnicity or religion) which is already known from an official source or was provided by the person in question. This information will not be used to assess whether a referral should be adopted. Personal data is collected to support our obligations under the Equality Act and may be used for evaluation and analysis purposes.

Local referral processes will vary, but when a concern is identified, the ‘notice, check, share’ procedure should be applied as outlined in the Prevent duty awareness course.  An overview of the referral process is set out within the Prevent Duty Guidance for Scotland.

Speak Out Stay Safe is a session available to all primary schools in the UK. It aims to equip a generation of children with the knowledge and understanding they need to stay safe from abuse and neglect. Children are taught to speak out if they are worried.

ACT Early - An initiative designed to provide practical help and guidance to the public in order to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.
^ Back to top

Prevent radicalisation and extremism

Published 01/01/2017.  Last updated 21/08/2024
sourceLearning resources schoolSocial Studies schoolReligious and Moral Education (RME) schoolHealth and Wellbeing (HWB) categoryInclusion Wellbeing and Equality

​This resource sets out the Scottish approach to safeguarding and protecting the wellbeing of vulnerable young people from the influence of people promoting extremism and terrorism. 

Anyone who has experienced or witnessed a hate crime to report it to Police Scotland by dialling 99​9 in emergencies or 101 in non-emergencies. Alternatively reports can be made online by completing Police Scotland’s online hate crime reporting form​.​​

Schools have an important role to play by providing a safe space for learners to explore, discuss and debate the range of social and political issues in our rapidly changing world.

It is important to develop young people’s skills to be able to engage as active citizens in a democratic society, developing critical thinking skills so that they become resilient to and equipped to challenge divisive viewpoints and hate speech.

Staff should have a clear understanding of how the holding of views which endorse extremism can lead to safeguarding issues for the wellbeing of the individual young person. Local authorities would therefore be expected to demonstrate an awareness of the Prevent strategy in their work to implement the Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) approach.

Within the curriculum, Social Studies, Health and Wellbeing, and Religious and Moral Education have particular roles to play in helping children and young people develop their understanding of the world by learning about other people, cultures, beliefs, attitudes and values.

It is important to use learning and teaching methodologies that support collaborative learning and critical thinking, help to create supportive learning environments, and to address controversial issues effectively.

Helping to challenge misinformed views and perceptions amongst learners and challenging commonly held myths, for example regarding particular communities, requires skilled practitioners who use techniques that open up discussion.

Staff members should model to learners how diverse views can be heard, analysed and challenged in a way which values dignity, freedom of speech, and freedom from harm. Establishments should consider the professional development needs of staff, to build capacity so that teachers are better equipped to deal with potential safeguarding issues.

About Prevent

The UK Counter-Terrorism (CONTEST) Strategy was developed to address threats that Scotland and the rest of the UK face from a range of extremist and terrorist ideologies, groups and individuals. Prevent is one strand of this strategy, and sits alongside Pursue, Protect and Prepare.

In 2015, the UK Government placed a duty on specified authorities (including schools, colleges and universities) to have, in the exercise of their functions, “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”.

Simply put, Prevent is about safeguarding individuals from being drawn into terrorism, ensuring those vulnerable to extremist and terrorist narratives are given appropriate advice and support at an early stage. Prevent is no different to any other form of safeguarding from harm.

Prevent duty training is available on gov.uk. 

UK Home Office factsheet: Threat posed by right-wing terrorism (released 19 March 2019).

The links below are for two recently UKG produced short animations which can be embedded in training, communications, and any other scenario where you need to quickly explain the purpose of Prevent to an audience. One is designed for anyone with a Prevent duty, the other is specific to education settings.

Public Sector Staff: Prevent duty animation - public sector staff working together to stop radicalisation - YouTube

Education's Role: The Prevent duty: the role of education in safeguarding learners from radicalisation - YouTube

How extremists are using COVID-19 to promote disinformation, misinformation, and conspiracy theories (269 KB) provides a short summary of the ways in which extremists have responded to COVID-19. It highlights the additional radicalisation risks for children and young people and recommended actions that settings can consider.

Statutory Prevent Duty Guidance for specified Scottish local authorities

Preventing violent extremism through education: A guide for policy-makers

Frequently asked questions

Scottish peer review: Self-assessment framework (361 KB) - This self-evaluation framework is intended to assist schools and local authorities with a means of assessing their Prevent delivery and to support effective and consistent implementation of the Prevent Duty. It can be used to assist with a Prevent peer review and for internal self-assessment. It does not represent any form of legal advice issued by or on behalf of the Scottish Government, nor should it be considered an authoritative statement of the law.

Prevent radicalisation and extremism - These curated resources to support and safeguard children and young people from radicalisation and to help build resilience to all types of extremism.

Robbie’s Story - A case study of former far-right extremist Robbie Mullen. The teacher video and CPD session plan could be used for teacher training sessions to raise awareness of extreme right-wing issues and actions to take for concerns.

Votes for Schools Secondary - The lesson plan, classroom PowerPoint presentation and curriculum guide created by Votes for Schools encourages secondary school pupils to answer the question ‘can sharing stories tackle extremism?’

Be Internet Citizens - This resource has been designed to teach teenagers about media literacy, critical thinking and digital citizenship, with the aim of encouraging young people to have a positive voice online.

Votes for Schools - These resources explore radicalisation online and conspiracy theories.

UK Government Home Office Prevent e-learning

UK Government Referrals e-learning

Spotlight on Safeguarding - Why schools should never ignore a concern.

Take 5 minutes at in-service - There are often only a few minutes for an all-staff safeguarding slot, but a regular drip-feed approach is often best anyway. So to make the most of those precious 5 minutes at the start of the staff briefing, why not use one of these ready-to-use Spotlight videos with stimulus and discussion questions to keep safeguarding at the top of everyone's agenda?

The National Grid for Learning: Prevent-COVID-19 - This webinar with the UK National Prevent Coordinator was livestreamed in collaboration with the DfE in August 2020 to convey the impact of COVID-19 on Prevent, and outline practical suggestions and tools to support Local Authority Prevent Teams to respond to Prevent risks in the education sector.

Extreme Dialogue - Educational resources created to build young people’s resilience to violent extremism. Classroom activities include active discussion and enhanced critical thinking, inspired by a series of short films. Download a teaching resource that can be adapted for use in Scottish schools. PDF file: Extreme Dialogue for PREVENT Scotland (1.3 MB)

PHSE Association: Addressing extremism and radicalisation - A series of four lesson plans for third and fourth level with a specific focus on addressing extremism and radicalisation of all kinds.

PHSE Association: Discussing a terrorist attack.

No Hate Speech Youth Campaign - This website provides information about the campaign and the resources developed to prevent, counter and produce alternative narratives to hate speech. Download a teaching resource that can be adapted for use in Scottish schools.

PDF file: No Hate Speech Movement PREVENT Resource (162 KB)

London Grid for Learning: Counter-extremism narratives and conversations - Educational resources created to build young people’s resilience to violent extremism. Classroom activities include active discussion and enhanced critical thinking, inspired by a series of short films.

NPCC Run Tell Hide - Security experts from Counter Terrorism Policing have commissioned the creation of an animated core film designed to teach young people how to react if caught up in an a gun or knife terror attack. The film aimed at 11 to 16-year-olds will also show them what to do if they see suspicious behaviour or a suspicious item.

Educate Against Hate - Children often take risks, explore new things and push boundaries as they become more independent. This site provides practical advice and information on protecting them from extremism and radicalisation.

Let's Talk About It - An initiative designed to provide practical help and guidance to the public in order to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

Prevent duty training which focuses on how to support people vulnerable to radicalisation is now available as part of a new gov.uk service.

The service has been designed following extensive user research and testing over the past three years by more than 2,300 users in sectors covered by the Prevent Duty and others with an interest in understanding more about Prevent and radicalisation.

The new courses are designed to equip users with inclusive, unbiased and reliable information giving them the knowledge and confidence to support and safeguard the general public against radicalisation.

The new training service courses are:

Prevent awareness

This course has been refreshed and updated with new case studies to provide an overview of the Prevent programme and what to do if you spot a concerning behaviours.

Prevent referrals

This training shares best practice on how to articulate concerns about an individual and ensure that they are robust and considered and aims to give them confidence in making a referral.

Channel or Prevent Multi-Agency Panel (PMAP)

This course is for anyone who may be asked to contribute to, sit on, or run a Channel panel. The updated Channel course now also features PMAP for Scotland.

Refresher awareness

This is a condensed version of the awareness course and is for anyone who has already completed the awareness course and would like a reminder of the key points.

Word file: Prevent National Referral Form (122 KB)

This form is to be completed and emailed directly to the Prevent Delivery Unit address stated on the form when/if needed.

Where appropriate (i.e. if you are a sector representative) please ensure this form is/has been circulated and stored somewhere in the organisation that staff/members are aware of, so that it can be signposted to and accessed easily.

If there is a concern about potential radicalisation into terrorism or reason to believe that someone is susceptible to radicalisation, specified authorities should use the NRF to make a referral to the police. The Prevent National Referral Form helps to achieve consistency of outcome in making Prevent referrals. As set out in statutory Prevent Duty Guidance, specified authorities should use the NRF as part of their referral process.

It is essential that organisations with Prevent responsibilities provide people with clear and accessible information about Prevent, including where to go if they have concerns about radicalisation.  It is recommended that local authorities have a dedicated Prevent section on their websites where the NRF can be easily located.  For those who may receive completed National Referral Forms as part of their local referral process, it may be appropriate for their webpages to signpost information on data handling or data compliance.

To improve data recording and analysis, the new National Referral Form includes advice on providing personal data. People completing the form are advised to only provide personal data (such as information about a person’s ethnicity or religion) which is already known from an official source or was provided by the person in question. This information will not be used to assess whether a referral should be adopted. Personal data is collected to support our obligations under the Equality Act and may be used for evaluation and analysis purposes.

Local referral processes will vary, but when a concern is identified, the ‘notice, check, share’ procedure should be applied as outlined in the Prevent duty awareness course.  An overview of the referral process is set out within the Prevent Duty Guidance for Scotland.

Speak Out Stay Safe is a session available to all primary schools in the UK. It aims to equip a generation of children with the knowledge and understanding they need to stay safe from abuse and neglect. Children are taught to speak out if they are worried.

ACT Early - An initiative designed to provide practical help and guidance to the public in order to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.
^ Back to top