Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 has not yet come into force. The Department for Education published the new guidance on 7 July 2026, ahead of it coming into force on 1 September 2026.
This page summarises the key changes in KCSIE 2026 for schools, DSLs, SLT, governors and trustees. It focuses on the practical areas schools may need to review, including safeguarding training, online safety, artificial intelligence, filtering and monitoring, information sharing, safer recruitment and child-on-child abuse.
Important: KCSIE 2026 has been published for information only but is not yet in force. Schools and colleges should continue to follow the latest statutory version of Keeping Children Safe in Education until 31 August 2026.
Reviewed by Paresh Ghedia, Data Protection Officer
Last updated: 13
KCSIE 2026 Updates at a Glance
The updates include:
- All staff are expected to read Part 1 of Keeping Children Safe in Education in full.
- References to the Early Years Foundation Stage framework for school-based nurseries and reception classes.
- Updated wording around early help, Family Help and statutory children’s social care.
- Stronger references to online harms, AI-generated images and deepfakes.
- More focus on misogyny, harassment, violence and harmful sexual behaviour.
- Updates to filtering and monitoring, cyber security and information security.
- Changes to information sharing and child protection file transfers.
- Safer recruitment updates, including single central record guidance.
- Updates to allegations and low-level concerns involving trainee teachers.
- A rewritten Part 5 covering child-on-child sexual harassment and sexual violence.
The new version has now been published, but it does not come into force until 1 September 2026. Schools should use this period to review policies, staff training, filtering and monitoring evidence, safer recruitment processes and safeguarding procedures.
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Key Updates
Keeping Children Safe in Education is split into 5 main parts, covering staff safeguarding responsibilities, management of safeguarding, safer recruitment, staff allegations and child-on-child sexual harassment and sexual violence.
All staff and Part 1
One of the key changes is that all staff should read Part 1 of KCSIE 2026 in full. The previous condensed Annex A summary has been removed from the 2026 guidance.
Schools should check that induction processes, annual safeguarding training, and staff read receipts are in place to evidence this.
The DfE has also produced a Part 1 quick-reference guide, but this should be treated as a supporting document, not a replacement for reading Part 1.
Early help and family help
Updated wording around early help, Family Help and statutory referrals is included.
Staff should understand the difference between community-based early help, targeted early help through Family Help, children in need, and situations in which a child may be suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm.
Schools should ensure staff know when to speak to the DSL or deputy DSL, and how concerns are recorded and escalated.
Online safety, AI, deepfakes and content risks
The guidance updates the online safety risk categories, including content risks such as misogyny, self-harm, suicide, antisemitism, misinformation, disinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories.
It also highlights conduct risks involving explicit images, including self-generated intimate images and those generated using AI, such as deepfakes.
Schools should make sure these risks are reflected in online safety training, filtering reviews and safeguarding procedures.
Filtering, monitoring and cyber security
Filtering and monitoring remain an important safeguarding responsibility.
Schools should ensure they can demonstrate that filtering and monitoring arrangements are reviewed, tested and recorded. This should include checks across school devices, networks and relevant internet-connected systems.
Cyber resilience and information security, along with access management, are also increasingly connected to safeguarding. Schools should review admin access, MFA, backups, patching and staff training as part of wider safeguarding and online safety planning.
Information sharing and child protection files
The guidance strengthens content around information sharing and safeguarding records.
Schools should ensure that child protection files are transferred securely and promptly when a pupil changes schools. Records should be clear, confidential and kept separate from general pupil records.
Data protection should not be used as a reason to delay the necessary sharing of safeguarding information. Schools should ensure that safeguarding records, information sharing and DPO procedures are clear, secure and easy to follow.
Safer recruitment and the single central record
Safer recruitment updates are included, including references to work experience supervision, online searches, visitor categories and the single central record.
Schools should review their safer recruitment policy, SCR headings, recruitment checklists and visitor procedures before the 2026 version comes into force.
Child-on-child abuse, harassment and violence
The guidance retitles child-on-child abuse to include harassment and violence.
Part 5 has also been rewritten around harmful sexual behaviour, sexual harassment and sexual violence. Schools should make sure policies and training cover online sexual harassment, misogyny, AI-generated intimate images, deepfakes and appropriate support for both victims and alleged perpetrators.
For reference, schools can read the full DfE KCSIE 2026 guidance before reviewing their own policies and procedures.
Our KCSIE 2026 checklist will be available soon
What Should Schools Do Now?
Schools should use the period before 1 September 2026 to prepare by reviewing:
- Staff safeguarding training and Part 1 read receipts.
- Child protection and online safety policies.
- AI, deepfake and acceptable use policy wording.
- Filtering and monitoring review evidence.
- Cyber security, MFA, backups and access management.
- Child protection file transfer procedures.
- Safer recruitment and single central record processes.
- Low-level concerns and allegation procedures.
- Governor or trustee safeguarding reporting.
Before September 2026, schools should compare their current arrangements against the published new guidance, revise policies where needed and review their wider safeguarding arrangements.
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 Summary
The 2026 version is a more significant revision than KCSIE 2025.
The main themes are clearer safeguarding expectations for all staff, stronger wording around early help and Family Help, more focus on online harm and AI, updated filtering and monitoring expectations, safer recruitment changes and a rewritten section on child-on-child sexual harassment and sexual violence.
Schools should continue to follow the current statutory version of KCSIE, but DSLs, SLT, governors, trustees, IT leads and DPOs can start preparing now.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
When will KCSIE 2026 come into force?
The latest version of KCSIE has now been published for information only and comes into force on 1 September 2026. Schools and colleges should continue to use the 2025 guidance until 31 August 2026.
What are the key changes?
The main changes include updates to Part 1, early help and Family Help, online safety, AI-generated images and deepfakes, filtering and monitoring, cyber security, information sharing, safer recruitment and child-on-child abuse.
Do all staff need to read Part 1 of KCSIE 2026?
The guidance expects all staff to read Part 1 in full. Schools should make sure this is covered in induction, safeguarding training and staff read receipt records.
Mark Friend, BSc (Hons), is a Company Director at Classroom365 and has worked in technology for nearly 30 years. His IT career started with Rothschild Bank in Sydney, Australia, before working as a Global VPN Project Manager for the British Council. Mark has 20 years of experience in the UK education sector, helping schools integrate the latest tech into their curriculum and ICT vision.