Changes:
The Department for Education (DfE) published an updated version of the statutory safeguarding and child protection guidance for schools in England, Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) in September 2025.
The guidance sets out what schools and colleges in England must do to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people under the age of 18.
The KCSIE (Keeping Children Safe in Education) 2025 guidance, in effect from September 1, 2025, includes updates on gender questioning children’s guidance timeframes, RSE and Health Education implementation, online safety regarding misinformation and conspiracy theories, and a new definition of extremism. Other changes involve managing low-level concerns, referencing the Online Safety Act, and updating teacher record checks from physical certificates to online checks.
Updates for KCSIE 2025 include:
- the DfE’s Working together to improve school attendance is now statutory guidance
- changes to the list of content risks under online safety, adding in disinformation, misinformation and conspiracy theories
- more information on the DfE guidance on generative artificial intelligence (AI)
- additional information on, and clarity around, alternative provision guidance
- clarity on Virtual School Heads and their non-statutory responsibilities around children in kinship care.
This guidance applies to all schools and colleges and is for:
- headteachers, teachers and staff
- governing bodies, proprietors and management committees
It sets out the legal duties you must follow to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people under the age of 18 in schools and colleges.
All school and college staff should read this guidance.
Statutory guidance sets out what schools must do to comply with the law.
Where the guidance states schools and colleges should do something, you should follow this unless you have a good reason on to.
‘Regulated activity in relation to children: scope’ describes work that a barred person must not do. We have also published guidance on disqualification under the Childcare Act 2006.
