Child abuse provokes concern within all sectors of society, stimulating reflection and action by governments, organizations, and individuals responsible for providing care to children and families. While evidence was not readily available and while child abuse inquiries gave recommendations for policies and procedures, there was very little mention in this review of the skills required of practitioners. In the first of two, this article provides an account of an extended literature review that was undertaken in order to establish the evidence base for the learning and teaching of skills for child protection practice. The literature review set out to establish the evidence base for such education. The article begins with considerations of the extent to which skills are identified in child abuse inquiries and concludes with some of the challenges encountered during the review. The overall aim was to underpin the child protection educational provision with evidence on which to base the teaching and learning of relevant skills. Tables, figures, and references