Safeguarding in English schools

Schools are an important part of the wider system for safeguarding children in England and are in a position to identify concerns early and prevent them from escalating. Under the Education Act 2002, schools maintained by local authorities  have a duty to carry out their functions with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of their pupils. A similar requirement is placed on independent schools (which includes academies and free schools) by the Independent School Standards Regulations.

The Department for Education’s statutory guidance on Keeping children safe in education provides information on what schools are required to do to meet their safeguarding responsibilities. In large part, this briefing summarises the guidance. It should not, however, be considered a substitute for it, or for professional legal advice, when looking for detailed guidance on specific cases.

Responsibilities of governing bodies and school staff

As part of their safeguarding responsibilities, the governing bodies of maintained schools and the proprietors of independent schools are, among other things, responsible for ensuring that:

• There are appropriate safeguarding policies and procedures in place, including a child protection policy. Head teachers are responsible for ensuring that these policies are adopted and followed by all staff.
• A senior staff member is appointed as the designated safeguarding lead to take responsibility for safeguarding and child protection.
• All staff undergo safeguarding and child protection training at induction and that they receive regular updates.

School staff are expected to know about the systems in place in their school to support safeguarding, and to be aware of the types of abuse to look out for so that they can identify where action may be needed, including a referral to children’s social care. Section two of the briefing provides further information on the safeguarding responsibilities of governing bodies and school staff.

Safe recruitment

Schools are required to adopt recruitment practices that help deter, reject or identify people who might abuse children. They should act reasonably when deciding on the suitability of new employees based on a range of information, including criminal record checks and checks to see if someone has been barred from teaching, together with references and interview information. Section three provides more detail on the checks that should be carried out.

Allegations against school staff

Schools should consider both the safety of the child and the duty of care towards their employees when considering allegations that a member of staff might pose a risk to children. The procedure followed will depend heavily on the circumstances of a particular case and can range from no action being taken, to a multi-agency strategy discussion, a criminal investigation and/or dismissal of the staff member concerned. Section four provides further information.

Gender-questioning children

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 includes guidance for schools on gender-questioning children. This is a new part of the safeguarding guidance included after the government decided against separate guidance on these issues.

The guidance provides information on how schools should deal with requests for social transition, as well as on issues such as single-sex toilets and playing sports.

Social transition is defined in the guidance as “where a child or their parent has requested that the school make changes or put support in place in order to facilitate the child presenting as the opposite biological sex.”

The briefing relates to England only.