The 2026 KCSIE update: A full summary for schools

July 9, 2026

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On the 7^th of July, the latest version of Keeping Children Safe in Education was published by the DfE, it will replace the existing version from the 1^st of September 2026.

Some of the changes are minor, including slight changes of language and terminology but the larger changes will change how schools run essential processes like recruiting new teachers and DBS checks.

For this blog, we compared the existing 2025 KCSIE and supporting documents to the latest September 2026 KCSIE version to pull out all of the changes. School leaders will still read the full statutory guidance, this summarised list is a good starting point to help you work out where to focus your attention first.

We’ve organised the changes by Part, matching KCSIE’s own structure, so you can go straight to what’s most relevant to your setting.

Part one: Safeguarding information for all staff

Early help becomes Family Help

The guidance now talks about ‘universal services and community-based early help’ and ‘targeted early help’ through Family Help, reflecting the Families First Partnership Programme. If your policies still say, ‘early help assessment’, they’ll need a refresh.

New groups added to the ‘at risk’ list

Pregnant pupils and teen parents, and children showing early signs of abusive or harmful behaviour themselves, are named for the first time.

Child-to-parent abuse now named explicitly

The definition of abuse now names harm children cause to other family members, referred to as child-to-parent or care giver abuse.

Emotional abuse definition expanded

Emotional abuse now explicitly includes verbal abuse, such as persistent criticism, belittling or name-calling.

Sexual abuse definition wording changed

The example used for assault by penetration changes from ‘rape or oral sex’ to ‘rape or penetration with an object’, a small but important change if your policies quote definitions directly.

Child-on-child abuse gets two new paragraphs

The guidance now details that child-on-child abuse is a safeguarding issue for both the victim and the alleged perpetrator, focusing on prevention, with early support helping stop things escalating.

CCE and CSE linked more clearly to modern slavery

Criminal and sexual exploitation are now explicitly tied to modern slavery referral duties, with new wording recognising organised networks and that victims aren’t always recognised as such.

Mental health section expanded

The updates to the mental health section of the new KCSIE is one of the most useful practical additions for pupils and schools.

Alongside a new list of warning signs, staff now have crisis instructions: call 999 or get the child to A&E if they’re in danger or use NHS 111 if it’s urgent but not an emergency.

Serious violence gets more detail

What was a single paragraph in 2025 is now several, with a working definition, a clear instruction to report weapon concerns to the DSL, and a requirement to risk assess and put a safety plan in place. Useful to know when you’re updating your suspension and exclusion policies in line with those updates, too.

Part two: The management of safeguarding

Data protection laws get a new definition

The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 now sits alongside the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR under one term, ‘data protection laws’.

New section on sport

Single-sex sport gets its own section for the first time, confirming there should be no exceptions where it’s implemented for safety reasons.

New section on school premises

A new section sets out regulations on toilets and changing rooms, with age thresholds: separate toilets from age 8, separate changing rooms and showers from age 11.

DSL cover arrangements now expected

Schools should have a clear, reliable system for when the DSL is unavailable, such as a shared mailbox, so concerns are never left waiting.

New Information Sharing Duty flagged

A new duty giving staff more confidence sharing information is referenced, with full guidance to follow in the next 12 months.

Child protection files: new weapon risk requirement

Where a transferring pupil has previously carried, threatened with or used a weapon, the receiving school must now risk assess and have a safety plan ready before the child arrives.

RSHE curriculum gains new content

Pupils should now be taught about online harms including deepfakes, pornography and misogynistic influencers. The ‘zero tolerance’ culture schools build has also widened to include racism and physical violence, not just sexism and sexual harassment.

Online safety categories updated for AI

The four categories of online risk now explicitly cover AI, including AI-generated explicit images and AI applications that simulate harmful contact.

New mobile phone policy expectation

Schools should be mobile phone-free by default, covering the whole school day, not just lessons, with exceptions rare rather than routine.

Filtering and monitoring reviews now annual

Reviews must happen at least annually, led by a named SLT member with DSL and IT support, checking all internet-connected devices.

Child-on-child abuse retitled and refined

Now titled ‘child-on-child abuse (including harassment and violence)’. Threats of harm with a weapon are added as their own category, and the statement about girls being more likely victims is softened to ‘some but not all’ forms of abuse.

Part three: Safer recruitment

Regulated activity redefined

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 removes the ‘supervision exemption’. A supervised volunteer used to fall outside regulated activity. From September 2026, any volunteer teaching, training or supervising children more than three days in 30, or overnight, is in regulated activity regardless.

Existing volunteers need reassessing

If current volunteers will newly fall into regulated activity, check their barred list status and get this done before term starts.

Volunteers section rebuilt

The existing supervision test is gone. Volunteers are now grouped more simply: those in regulated activity, existing volunteers newly included in the changes, and those who fall outside it altogether.

DBS Update Service window extended

Individuals can join within 30 days of their certificate being issued, not just at the point of application.

Self-employed staff DBS clarified

Schools should either obtain the check themselves or see the individual’s own DBS certificate and if it’s the right level for the role.

Decision-making flowchart scrapped

The decision-making flowchart for working out which DBS check was needed has gone, since it was built around the previous supervision exemption.

Trainee teacher checks tightened

The old hedging language, saying trainee teachers will ‘in most cases’ be in regulated activity, is dropped. The enhanced DBS check is now a direct requirement.

Part four: Allegations against staff

Trainee teachers added explicitly

Trainee teachers are now named alongside supply staff, volunteers and contractors throughout this part, with their training provider expected to follow the same procedures as a supply agency.

Shared responsibility language sharpened

The guidance is clearer that schools and agencies share safeguarding responsibility, with schools gathering the facts and agencies usually leading on discipline.

Part five: Child-on-child sexual harassment and sexual violence

Harmful sexual behaviour now leads the section

Rather than treating sexual violence as the main lens, the guidance now frames harmful sexual behaviour (HSB), harassment and violence as a continuum, with HSB introduced first.

Nude image sharing always needs a safeguarding response

The guidance is now explicit that any incident involving nude or semi-nude images needs a safeguarding response, whether consensual or not.

Family Help referral pathway added

Referrals are now framed around Family Help, referencing the Families First Partnership Programme Guide rather than old early help wording.

 

Changes to Annexes

Condensed Part one has gone

All staff now must read Part one of KCSIE in full. The shortened version some schools gave to staff who didn’t work directly with children no longer exists.

Homestay and supervision annexes removed

Homestay guidance has moved into Part three, and the annex explaining supervision of regulated activity has been deleted, since the test it explained no longer applies.

Operation Encompass is now a statutory duty

Police must notify a child’s school if they have reasonable grounds to believe the child may be a victim of domestic abuse.

This became a statutory duty in November 2025, and KCSIE 2026 is the first version to reflect it properly. The pupil is named so the school can offer support, but any sexual offence disclosed goes through a normal safeguarding referral instead.

New temporary accommodation notification duty

Local housing authorities must now notify a child’s school, health visitor and GP when that child is placed in temporary accommodation, given consent.

Terminology tidied up

‘So-called honour-based abuse’ is now just ‘honour-based abuse’, and Thinkuknow references have been updated to CEOP Safety Centre and CEOP Education Programme.

DSL guidance expanded

New detail on child protection file transfers expects schools to separate current concerns clearly from historical information, and query anything unclear before accepting a file.

Getting ready for September

Most of these changes need action from your DSL and leadership team rather than a full staff-wide overhaul. Start by reviewing your safer recruitment policy and single central record against the new regulated activity rules.

The next task is to work through your child protection policy to make sure it reflects the updated language and new sections. Building this into your September safeguarding training update now will save you a scramble at the beginning of the next academic year.

More statutory guidance summaries for you:

The 2026 school suspension and exclusion guidance update for school leaders

Individual Support Plans (ISPs): What SENCOs and school leaders need to know

What school leaders need to know about the 2026 Schools White Paper