Keeping Children Safe in Education

The statutory safeguarding guidance for all schools and colleges in England. KCSIE 2025 is the current live document. KCSIE 2026 is in draft — the consultation has closed and the final version is expected later in 2026.

Official Documents

• 01KCSIE 2025 is the current live statutory document. KCSIE 2026 is still draft — do not treat it as confirmed policy until the final version is published.
• 02The draft updates data protection language to include the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
• 03New or strengthened sections cover sport, school premises, boarding, mobile phone policy, alternative provision, mental health, young carers, SEND barriers, and generative AI.
• 04Information-sharing expectations are tightened. Filtering and monitoring must be reviewed at least once per academic year across all internet-connected devices, with a record kept.
• 05New material on children questioning their gender makes estates, privacy, dignity, parental involvement and welfare decision-making explicit safeguarding matters.
• 06The draft adds references to trainee teachers, introduces a single central record template, and rewrites work experience guidance to reduce unnecessary DBS demands.
• 07The draft removes the condensed Annex A and replaces it with the previous Annex B structure — schools relying on Annex A for universal annual staff reading will need to redesign their briefing model.
• 08Part Five is substantially rewritten to emphasise the continuum from harmful sexual behaviour through to sexual violence, with a new section on referrals to Family Help.
• 09For all-through schools: one safeguarding model written from a secondary lens is no longer sufficient. Early years, primary, secondary, sixth form, boarding and AP all need distinct operating detail.
• 10Direction of travel is clear even before the final version lands: stronger control around information sharing, digital safety, AI, pupil privacy, mental health and phase-specific vulnerability.