Information Sharing Duty Online Course

Information Sharing Duty Online Course

Updated September 2026

Introduction

Welcome to the Information Sharing Duty online course, developed from the Information Sharing Duty Statutory Guidance 2026.

Sharing the right information at the right time helps professionals safeguard children and promote their welfare. This course introduces the information sharing duty in England and explores how practitioners and organisations can apply the guidance in their everyday work.

You will explore responsibilities for sharing information, the role of professional judgement, and the importance of working collaboratively across services. The course also considers consent, confidentiality and data protection, helping you make informed decisions while communicating appropriately with children and families.

Course aims

This course aims to:

• Develop your understanding of the information sharing duty and its role in safeguarding children and promoting their welfare.
• Build confidence in making lawful, timely and proportionate information sharing decisions.
• Support consistent practice and effective collaboration between organisations and practitioners.

Learning objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

1. Explain the purpose and scope of the information sharing duty, including who it applies to.
2. Recognise when information needs to be shared to safeguard a child or promote their welfare.
3. Identify relevant and proportionate information, taking account of its accuracy and the child’s circumstances.
4. Explain how consent, confidentiality and data protection relate to information sharing, including the distinction between consent to share information and consent to receive services.
5. Describe how to communicate openly with children and families, taking account of circumstances where transparency could increase risk.
6. Describe how to share information securely and record decisions, including the reasons for sharing or withholding information.
7. Apply the guidance to practical scenarios, recognising when to seek advice or escalate concerns.

Modules

Module 1: Information Sharing Duty Statutory

Module 2: When and What to Share

Module 3: Legal and Ethical Considerations 

Module 4: Practical Application and Information Flows 

Module 5: Information sharing in other circumstances

Duration
It is estimated that this module will take approximately two to three hours to complete (depending on learning speed). As an e-learning module you can complete this training in convenient stages and revisit whenever you wish. 

The system will record your progress throughout. Upon completion you will be able to download your course certificate valid for 2 years

Assessment Method

After completing each module there will be a quiz to assess your learning. You will move through the later modules upon successful completion of the quiz test. This process continues till the end of the course. You need to achieve and overall score of 70% correct answers to pass this online course.

Certification

After completing the course, you can instantly download your certificate for FREE