On 1st September 2026 the new Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance comes in to place. The most significant changes focus on regulated activity, safer recruitment, volunteering, mental health, abuse and staff safeguarding knowledge. The Department for Education says the changes reflect developments in multi-agency safeguarding, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act, the Casey Audit, and new content on Violence Against Women and Girls.
Online Search:
It is recommended that, as part of the shortlisting process, schools and colleges consider conducting an online search as part of their due diligence on candidates. This may help identify any publicly available information about incidents or issues that the school or college may wish to explore further with the applicant during the interview.
An online search can identify any publicly available views or comments that may present a safeguarding risk to children or a reputational risk to the school or academy. Identifying this information at the shortlisting stage can help minimise potential harm to students or staff further along in the recruitment process.
Removal of Volunteer Supervision Exemption & Safer Recruitment:
From 1 September 2026, The Crime and Policing Act 2026 removes the volunteer supervision exemption. Changing when volunteers are considered to be carrying out regulated activity with children. Volunteers who teach, train, instruct, care for, or supervise children will be undertaking regulated activity if they:
- work more than 3 days within a 30-day period, or
- provide overnight supervision or care (between 2am and 6am).
- This applies whether or not a member of staff is supervising them.
Volunteers who now meet the definition of regulated activity will require an Enhanced DBS check with Children’s Barred List information. Organisations must ensure these volunteers are not barred from working with children. It is a criminal offence for a barred individual to carry out regulated activity or for an organisation to knowingly allow it.
Single Central Record and Recording Information:
Schools and colleges must maintain a Single Central Record (SCR) of all required pre-appointment checks. This record, referred to in regulations as “the register”, provides a central record of safeguarding and recruitment checks completed for staff and relevant individuals.
The Single Central Record (SCR) must document all required pre-employment checks. Documents include identity verification, DBS and children’s barred list checks, prohibition checks, overseas checks (where applicable), professional qualifications, and right-to-work checks, along with the date each check was completed. Additional records may be kept, such as checks on volunteers, governors, safeguarding training, and the person responsible for completing each check.
Staff Safeguarding Knowledge:
One of the most significant practical changes is that schools can no longer rely on shortened safeguarding summaries for certain staff. KCSIE 2026 removes Annex A, meaning that all staff and anyone working in a school must now read Part One – Safeguarding Information for All Staff in full.
Part One covers the responsibilities of school and college staff. Including the key safeguarding information they need to know, the signs to look out for, and the actions to take if they have concerns about a child.
If you have not already done so, you should update your safeguarding and training materials to reflect this change. Ensure all staff have read Part One and maintain a record confirming completion.
Stronger Focus on Child-on-Child Abuse, Online Safety and AI risks:
Part Five of the guidance reinforces preventative safeguarding. It also sets clearer expectations around growing harmful sexual behaviour, harassment and violence.
This includes guidance on how schools should manage and respond to reports of harmful sexual behaviour, alongside resources and community-based support designed to help identify and prevent abuse at an early stage. The guidance emphasises that organisations can prevent child-on-child abuse and provide safeguarding support to both the victim and perpetrator.
The guidance has also been focused on risks posed online and the content surrounding these. The advice includes information on safe use of generative AI, updated risk definitions, annual reviews of filtering and monitoring and checks across internet-connected devices.
Better Information Sharing
Schools and colleges must have effective information-sharing arrangements to safeguard children. Ensuring information is shared lawfully, appropriately, and promptly when concerns arise. Staff should use professional judgement to share relevant and proportionate information while following safeguarding and data protection requirements.
Governing bodies and proprietors should ensure staff understand information-sharing procedures, legal responsibilities, and data protection requirements. Data protection laws should not prevent timely information sharing when it is required to keep children safe.
What HR/Safeguarding teams should do before September 2026
A practical checklist:
- Audit all volunteers against the new regulated activity definition
- Identify volunteers who now need enhanced DBS and barred list checks
- Update volunteer recruitment procedures
- Update safer recruitment policy wording
- Update SCR categories/templates and check SCR records include dates and evidence of checks
- Brief governors, trustees and recruiting managers
- Ensure all staff read ‘Part One: Overview for all Staff’ of KCSIE 2026
- Review and Update safeguarding, child protection and online safety policies.
Do you have any questions on the guidance? Get in touch with the team at newenquiries@ddc.uk.net
