From September 2025, the updated statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2025 will come into force. 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.
Part One – Safeguarding for All Staff
- No changes made. The content remains fully aligned with 2024 guidance
Part Two – Management of Safeguarding
Online Safety
- “Content” risks now explicitly include: misinformation, disinformation (including fake news), and conspiracy theories as clear safeguarding harms (para 135)
- New link to DfE’s “Plan technology for your school” service (para 142) to support schools in assessing and improving filtering and monitoring systems
- Added reference to the DfE’s “Generative AI: product safety expectations” guidance (para 143), outlining considerations for the safe use of AI tools in education settings
- Clarified wording around cybersecurity standards, reinforcing their role in helping schools build resilience against cyber-threats (para 144)
Attendance & Alternative Provision (AP)
- Working Together to Improve School Attendance (2024) is now statutory. Schools must now work with children’s services where absence may indicate safeguarding concerns (para 177)
- AP section updated (paras 169–170, 331): schools must obtain written confirmation that safeguarding checks have been done, monitor staff changes, review placements at least half‑termly, and retain oversight of students’ whereabouts and safety
Kinship Care
- Clarifies that Virtual School Heads now have a non‑statutory responsibility to promote educational achievement for children in kinship care, not just those in local authority care (para 199)
Other Technical Updates
- Terminology updated to align with the SEND Code of Practice: references to “autism spectrum disorder” now simplified to “autism” (para 205)
- Safer recruitment references updated: replaced outdated TRA portal links (e.g. Employer Access Service) with direct GOV.UK references for checks like Section 128 (Part 3), no substantive policy change
- Minor corrections: e.g. IC Guidance title wording, resource link additions including Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s Shore Space, CSA centre, and Children’s Society resources
Upcoming Additions Before Final Publication
The final version expected 1 September 2025 may include further updates in these areas:
- Revised RSHE guidance (Relationships, Sex and Health Education) – anticipated summer 2025; will be signposted in the final KCSIE if published
- Guidance on gender-questioning children – currently under review; will be referenced if published before September 2025
- Future revisions may also reflect developments from:
- The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
- The National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation & Abuse
- Developments on tackling Violence Against Women & Girls