Guidance

Notice, check, share (accessible)

Published 28 August 2026

‘Notice, check, share’ is guidance aimed at professionals working in sectors subject to the Prevent duty, such as health, education, and local authorities. Professionals should follow this if they have a concern that someone is at risk of becoming radicalised into terrorism.

Radicalisation is the process of a person legitimising support for, or use of, terrorist violence.

Full statutory guidance can be found in the Prevent duty guidance or the Prevent duty guidance for Scotland.

This guidance is aimed at professionals working in Prevent duty sectors. If you are a member of the public and are concerned that someone is becoming radicalised into terrorism, you should instead visit ACT Early where you can find support and make a referral.

Notice

Frontline professionals (such as those working in health or education settings) will often be the first to notice if someone displays behaviours that may indicate the signs of becoming radicalised. If you notice concerning behaviours, you should consider whether the person is at risk of becoming involved in, or supporting, terrorism.

Each case is unique and a range of factors should be considered to form a clearer understanding. Relevant factors may include:

• Expression of violent extremist views that are harmful to others, for example ‘us vs them’ language.

• Interest or involvement in violent extremist groups or causes.

• Glorifying, supporting or justifying the use of violence for political, religious, racial or ideological reasons.

• Use of symbolism linked to violent extremism.

• Accessing or sharing violent extremist materials.

• Fascination with extreme violence or mass casualty attacks, for example public massacres.

• While ideology is an important consideration, a clear identifiable ideology is not mandatory to make a Prevent referral.

This list is not exhaustive, but it provides examples of some behaviours that might indicate a person is at risk of radicalisation into terrorism. A more comprehensive list of factors to consider is available in the national referral form (NRF) and Prevent Duty training.

There could be many reasons for these behaviours other than radicalisation, and such behaviours alone do not necessarily indicate that someone requires a Prevent referral. It’s important to understand the context before forming any conclusions as to whether the individual is at risk of becoming radicalised into terrorism.

Additionally, an individual could have vulnerabilities that may or may not be relevant to their susceptibility to radicalisation. For example, vulnerabilities such as mental ill-health or adverse childhood experiences should be considered as contextual factors. Contextual factors may also include aspects of a person’s background such as neurodivergence, which may – or may not – affect a person’s susceptibility to radicalisation. However, it is important that concerns that someone is at risk of becoming radicalised are neither dismissed nor attributed solely to existing vulnerabilities.

Check

You should check your concern before making a Prevent referral, to ensure you have gathered the relevant information available to you and that the concern is relevant to Prevent. You are not expected to assess an individual’s radicalisation risk, but you should check your concerns by doing the following:

Speaking with a person responsible for safeguarding within your organisation (such as the designated safeguarding lead or the Prevent lead).

Speaking with colleagues who regularly engage with the individual, as they could provide further context and may have noticed something similar.

You or someone responsible for Prevent/safeguarding within your organisation should consider speaking with the individual of concern (or an appropriate adult), where appropriate and safe to do so, unless this would place anyone at risk or undermine any enquiry. The purpose of any conversations should be to build an understanding of their behaviour and circumstances, rather than directly asking the person whether they believe they are becoming radicalised or notifying them that a Prevent referral might be made.

Using your professional judgement and available Prevent guidance (such as the Key Principles of Prevent and training) to ‘check’ your concerns that the individual is at risk of becoming involved in, or supporting, terrorism. Like any safeguarding mechanism, it is far better to receive referrals which turn out to not be of concern than for someone who genuinely needs support to be missed.

If, following checks, there is no concern that an individual is at risk of becoming radicalised into terrorism, then the individual is likely not suitable for Prevent support. Prevent is generally not for concerns focused solely on knife crime, violence, involvement in gangs, domestic abuse, or legitimate/academic interest in themes such as war, military, or weapons unless specific circumstances mean that concerns are linked to a risk of someone becoming involved in, or supporting, terrorism. Where other concerns remain, such as risk of harm or violent offending, then alternative support such as local safeguarding arrangements should be sought.

If you require further guidance on Prevent, radicalisation, a specific ideology or the local risk, you can refer to the Prevent Duty training or your local authority Prevent lead, who can provide general advice in relation to Prevent. However, as they will not have access to all the relevant information at this stage of the process, they cannot decide whether the referral should or should not be made.

Share

If you believe that someone is at risk of becoming involved in, or supporting, terrorism, then it is essential that you gather the relevant information available to you and share the concern by making a referral to the police. Prevent is not a criminal sanction and making a referral may provide an opportunity to divert the individual away from terrorism.

You should use the NRF to help set out the rationale for your concern. The NRF should be available on your local authority’s website or via your local authority Prevent lead. In Wales, the national referral form is available. In Scotland, you can get the form from Police Scotland.

To ensure that key details are not missed, it is most effective for the person who noticed the concern to complete the NRF, but they can do so with the support of an organisational safeguarding lead or equivalent. You will likely be contacted by police to ask for additional information to support their assessment. You may also be asked to attend a multi-agency Channel panel to help assess risk and develop a support plan for the individual.

Prevent can run alongside and complement other safeguarding processes. If other support or safeguarding mechanisms are also being considered, these should proceed unless there is a reason not to do so. Any other immediate safeguarding concerns should be shared with appropriate bodies. If there is an immediate risk of harm or danger to life, call 999.

You should ensure that record-keeping arrangements for Prevent referrals are proportionate and appropriate, while also being mindful of requirements under data protection legislation and your organisation’s internal data retention policy. Record-keeping arrangements could also include the considerations and information taken into account where a decision is made not to refer to Prevent, or where another service is assessed as more appropriate to manage the concern.

Further information on Prevent can be found at Get help for radicalisation concerns - GOV.UK.