Launching a new policy brief: Making UK Dance Safer
- SPRINT project
- Jun 26
- 2 min read
We are pleased to announce the launch of our new policy brief, Making UK Dance Safer: Evidence-Based Policy Recommendations for Improving Safeguarding and Abuse Prevention.
Drawing on five years of research conducted in partnership with One Dance UK and the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science, this brief is aimed at policymakers, funders, and sector leaders by setting out clear, actionable recommendations to strengthen safeguarding across the UK dance sector.
Why this matters
Dance offers significant benefits for physical, psychological, and social wellbeing. However, these benefits are not guaranteed. Our research shows that safeguarding practices across the sector remain inconsistent, with important gaps in monitoring, reporting, training, and implementation.
Only 27.8% of safeguarding concerns are formally reported, and fewer than half of professionals receive annual safeguarding training.
These gaps matter. When safeguarding systems fail, the consequences can include psychological and physical harm to dancers, alongside wider impacts on organisational trust, public investment, and the reputation of the arts sector.
Read about our viewpoint calling for research and action on safeguarding and abuse prevention in elite dance.
Strengthening safeguarding is therefore not only about preventing abuse. It is also about creating environments where dancers feel safe, supported, and able to participate and thrive.
From evidence to action
This policy brief synthesises multiple strands of our research, including national surveys of safeguarding practice, analysis of policy documents, and qualitative work with dancers, leaders, and practitioners.
Taken together, this body of work highlights a critical issue: while examples of good practice exist, they are not consistently embedded across the sector.
To address this, we propose five national policy actions:
Mandating annual safeguarding audits to ensure consistent monitoring and accountability across organisations.
Establishing a national safeguarding quality mark to provide transparency and incentivise improvement.
Clarifying reporting thresholds and procedures so concerns are addressed early and appropriately.
Linking public funding to evidence of implementation, not just the presence of policies.
Promoting trauma-informed, inclusive, and participatory safeguarding, particularly for those most at risk of harm.
These recommendations are designed to scale existing good practice and embed safeguarding as a core, measurable component of dance provision in the UK.
A call for joined-up change
The nature of the dance sector means that responsibility for safeguarding is distributed across organisations, funders, educators, and policymakers. As a result, piecemeal approaches are unlikely to be sufficient.
What is needed is coordinated, system-level change.
By introducing clearer standards, accountability mechanisms, and support structures, there is an opportunity to move from fragmented practice to a more coherent and effective national approach.
This is not about adding unnecessary burden. It is about ensuring that safeguarding systems are robust, equitable, and fit for purpose across all contexts in which dance takes place.
Read the full brief
We invite you to read the full policy brief and consider how these recommendations might inform your own work, whether in practice, policy, or research.
Download the policy brief
Written by Prof Jennifer Cumming. Infographics by Hazera Begum.
To cite the policy brief: Cumming, J., & Quinton, M. L. (2026, 06, 26). Making UK dance safer: Evidence-based policy recommendations for improving safeguarding and abuse prevention [Policy brief]. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.32726907
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