Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026: Key changes

The consultation has closed and a draft update has been published, outlining a number of key changes:

Mental Health

Mental Health has been identified as a significant proposed change. KCSIE 2026 highlights potential warning signs as:

• Significant changes in behaviour
• Ongoing difficulty sleeping
• Withdrawing from social situations
• Not wanting to do things they usually like
• Physical signs of self-harm or neglecting themselves

If members of staff feel the child is in danger, there is an additional requirement for staff to call 999 or take a child to A&E immediately (or call 111 if it is not an emergency).

Serious violence

The updates to KCSIE 2026 requires schools to consider serious violence more closely. Staff should report any of their concerns about a child using or carrying a weapon (or expressing intent to do so) to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (or a deputy, who will assess the risk and take appropriate action). The DSL is also required to de-escalate peer conflict where appropriate.

KCSIE 2026 also updates the child-on-child abuse references to include harassment and violence.

Trainee teachers

Staff members in the context of safeguarding concerns now include trainee teachers, and where the concerns or allegations relate to a trainee teacher, the expectations which relate to supply teachers and contracted staff will apply.

Sports

A new section in respect to sport in schools and colleges has been added. Children can be separated according to their biological sex where the physical strength, stamina or physique of the average girl would put her at a disadvantage in competition with the average boy (or vice versa). However, where sports need to be played in single-sex groups from a certain age to ensure safety, there should be no exceptions.

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School premises

Another significant update is contained in the inclusion of a new section in safeguarding requirements relating to school premises.  KCSIE 2026 states that schools must have in place separate toilets for boys and girls from the age of eight and pupils should not use toilets designated for the opposite biological sex.  Children aged 11 and over should not undress in front of members of the opposite biological sex.  Furthermore, overnight accommodation on school trips should remain single-sex.

If a child does not want to use the toilet, changing room or shower for their biological sex, schools and colleges should consider whether they can provide an alternative facility without compromising the provision of single-sex facilities, or the safety, comfort, privacy or dignity of the child, or of other children. A clear record should be kept of these situations.

Online safety and mobile phones

The online risk categories have been updated to reflect the increasing presence of AI. There is also an additional new requirement for schools to regularly review their filtering and monitoring systems’ effectiveness at least once every academic year.

KCSIE 2026 also includes new references to the guidance “Generative artificial intelligence in education” and online resources to help staff to use AI safety, as well as a new section reflecting the DFE’s new mobile phones in schools guidance.

Child protection

A child protection policy should include:

• Recognition that in some (but not all) forms of child-on-child abuse it is more likely that girls will be victims and boys’ perpetrators, but that all child-on-child abuse is unacceptable and will be taken seriously
• Different forms of child-on-child abuse can also include
  • Physical assault and harm, or threat of harm with a weapon
  • Harmful sexual behaviour, including misogyny, sexual violence and sexual harassment
  • Consensual and non-consensual sharing of self-generated intimate images and/or videos including those using AI e.g. deepfakes

Children who are questioning their gender

KCSIE 2026 provides key guidance where a child or their parent has raised a request relating to social transition. Previous government guidance on gender-questioning pupils was published separately in 2023 and did not carry the same regulatory force. By contrast, these provisions would sit directly within KCSIE and consequently, schools would be expected to ‘have regard’ to the guidance.

The proposed section on gender-questioning children is relatively short – it now provides that schools should be appropriately professionally curious about the child’s experiences and their potential vulnerabilities. They should consider adopting policies that maintain flexibility and avoid rigid rules based on gender stereotypes.

The draft guidance emphasises that schools should not initiate social transition. Instead, the process only applies when a child or parent raises a request. Social transition may involve changes to a pupil’s name, pronouns, uniform or appearance.  Whereas, previous draft guidance imposed a blanket ban on social transition for primary-aged children, this draft does not take that approach. It states, however, that such situations should be very rare and approached with caution.  Schools should accordingly establish an internal process for responding to requests, which may include consideration of the safeguarding risks and early referral to the designated safeguarding lead (DSL).  Ensuring decisions are recorded will help schools manage matters fairly and consistently.

Parents should normally be involved in discussions where a child is questioning their gender, unless, informing parents could place the child at risk of harm.  In those circumstances, the DSL will be involved and since the threshold for excluding parents is likely to be high, decisions should be supported by clear reasoning based on specific safeguarding concerns.

Schools’ response to KCSIE 2026

Whilst many of these changes are important, schools have criticised the ‘unrealistic’ deadline to implement these safeguarding proposals by 1 September 2026. This year sees the biggest update in guidance since 2022 and these changes demand an overhaul of many school policies.

Schools have also highlighted that whether these policies are from the Trust or Local Authority, they need to be personalised for their own setting and local safeguarding partnerships before being approved at board and governance level. Furthermore, there are training materials that need to be updated by 1 September 2026.

If we can support with updating your safeguarding policy, get in touch.