One person may be booked to support a production as both a chaperone and a private teacher. In England, the child performance regulations recognise that combination, but the two responsibilities do not simply blend into one job. Chaperoning is about care, control and wellbeing. Private teaching is part of an education arrangement approved by the licensing authority.
This guide is for chaperones, tutors and production teams working under the English child performance licensing framework. It is general information, not legal advice. The child’s licence, the issuing local authority’s instructions and the production’s safeguarding procedures come first.
The two responsibilities are different
Under regulation 15 of the Children (Performances and Activities) (England) Regulations 2014, an approved chaperone has care and control of the child and must safeguard, support and promote the child’s wellbeing during the licensed activity, performance or rehearsal. The provision can also apply when the child is staying away from their usual home during the licence period.
Regulation 13 deals with education. The licensing authority must be satisfied that the child’s education will not suffer. It approves any education arrangements and the place where education will happen. The licence holder must then make sure those approved arrangements are carried out.
That allocation matters on a busy day. A private teacher can deliver the agreed teaching, provide accurate information about what took place and raise a problem promptly. The statutory responsibility for carrying out the approved arrangement remains with the licence holder.
When the same person holds both roles
Regulation 15 sets a maximum of 12 children for one chaperone at any one time. Where the approved chaperone is also the child’s private teacher, that maximum falls to three. These figures are legal ceilings, not recommended staffing levels. A licensing authority must also be satisfied that duties towards other children will not prevent the chaperone from giving proper care to the child in question.
The teaching limits are separate. Under regulation 13, a private teacher may teach no more than six children at one time, or 12 if every child being taught has reached a similar standard in the subject. If one person is both chaperone and private teacher, the lower chaperoning ceiling of three still applies to the children in their care.
Local procedure can be tighter. Surrey County Council’s chaperone guidance, reviewed in February 2026, says a chaperone cannot carry on another role at the same time. That is Surrey’s operational guidance, not an England-wide rule. It shows why a production should check whether the relevant council accepts a combined booking and how it expects the duties to be organised.
Education time must follow the approved arrangement
Regulation 13 normally requires private teaching to add up to at least three hours for each day on which the child would have attended a school maintained by the licensing authority. The regulation also allows a more flexible pattern where all its conditions are met. This includes at least six hours in a week, the required total across each complete four-week period or shorter licence period, teaching on usual school days and no more than five hours on any such day.
Only teaching periods of at least 30 minutes count, and they must take place during the hours when the child is permitted to be present at the performance or rehearsal venue. These rules describe the legal framework. The approved plan for the individual child is what the team must follow in practice.
The Department for Education’s departmental advice explains the same structure and gives an example of how education may be arranged across four weeks. The advice applies to England and has no statutory force, so the regulations and the child’s licence remain the primary checks.
A practical way to keep the roles clear
Before the child arrives, confirm what the licensing authority has approved: the private teacher, course of study, teaching place and planned education periods. Check the number of children allocated to the combined role and any conditions imposed by the council.
Then make the working arrangement visible to the relevant adults. A simple written plan can show when teaching is due, where it will happen, who covers care if the teacher needs to focus on a lesson, and how a welfare concern will interrupt the session safely. This is a practical control rather than a separate national legal rule, and it should match the licence and local procedure.
Record what actually happens, not only what was planned. Note the start and finish of each qualifying teaching period and pass the information through the production’s agreed route. If a call change makes the approved education arrangement unworkable, raise it with the licence holder before treating the revised plan as settled. Our guide to child performance records in England explains the distinction between information a chaperone may provide and the licence holder’s record-keeping duty.
Questions to settle before accepting a combined booking
- Has the licensing authority approved the private teacher, course of study and teaching place?
- Does the relevant council permit the roles to be combined for this child and production?
- How many children will be in the person’s care while they are teaching?
- What happens if a child needs individual welfare support during a lesson?
- How will actual teaching periods be recorded and passed to the licence holder?
- Who will resolve a clash between a production call and the approved education plan?
For a wider overview, read our practical guide to child performance licences in England. Chaperone Collective provides peer support and signposting for chaperones and tutors. It does not replace local authority guidance, licence conditions, safeguarding procedures, education requirements or legal advice.
Official sources
- Children and Young Persons Act 1963, section 37, latest revised text
- Children (Performances and Activities) (England) Regulations 2014, regulation 13, education
- Children (Performances and Activities) (England) Regulations 2014, regulation 15, chaperones
- Department for Education departmental advice for England