Keeping children safe is paramount, and the Department for Education’s (DfE) Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2025 guidance is a key part of that. While the DfE calls it a ‘light touch’ update, there are important clarifications that schools and colleges in England must heed to meet their safeguarding duties. Here’s what you need to know in part 1 of the update, as we await further updates to be released on 1 September 2025.
Online safety gets a sharper focus
Online safety is a bigger deal than ever in the new guidance. The definition of harmful online content now explicitly includes misinformation, disinformation (including fake news), and conspiracy theories, in addition to things like pornography, racism, and extremism. The DfE has also introduced a new self-assessment tool, known as the ‘plan technology for your school service,’ to help you with effective filtering and monitoring in your school.
- There’s also new DfE guidance, ‘Generative AI: product safety expectations,’ which clarifies how filtering and monitoring apply to AI.
- Plus, there’s a renewed emphasis on meeting cybersecurity standards to make your IT systems more resilient.
You’ll need to update your child protection and safeguarding policies to reflect the above.
Tighter rules for alternative provisions & Virtual School Heads
The updates include significant changes for alternative provisions (AP) and Virtual School Heads. When you place a pupil with an AP, your school remains responsible for their safeguarding. The new guidance says you must get written confirmation from the AP that they’ve done the same safeguarding checks on their staff as you would on yours. This confirmation also needs to guarantee that the AP will notify you of any staff changes or arrangements that could put a child at risk. You should also regularly review your arrangements with any AP and be ready to terminate the agreement if concerns aren’t addressed.
A reminder that from September 2024, Virtual School Heads have a new, non-statutory role: promoting the educational achievement of children in kinship care. This is a big step in supporting this vulnerable group.
Refinements to Safer Recruitment
The guidance streamlines safer recruitment processes. For checks on teacher prohibition orders, Section 128 directions, and historic GTCE sanctions, the 2025 guidance now directs users to specific, centralised locations: GOV.UK or the ‘Check a teacher’s record’ service. This standardises where schools and colleges get this crucial information.
- The guidance also clarifies that ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ is now considered statutory guidance.
- This reinforces the importance of your duty to address school absence, especially when it signals a safeguarding concern.
New RSHE & HSB resources
The DfE is providing new resources for Relationships, Sex, and Health Education (RSHE) and Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB). Expect to see revised guidance on RSHE and specific guidance for gender questioning children this summer. The 2025 guidance also points to new support links for HSB, including:
- ‘StopItNow’ from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation for young people with concerns about their own or others’ sexual thoughts and behaviours.
- The CSA Centre’s Resources for education settings.
- The Children’s Society for preventing child sexual exploitation.
What you need to do now
These updates show that safeguarding is always evolving and requires continuous vigilance. To get ahead of the changes:
- Training: Make sure all staff, including support staff, are current on their statutory and wellbeing training.
- Policies: Review and update your safeguarding and HR policies now.
- Communication: Plan to give clear, timely updates to staff, governors, and parents.
- Wellbeing: Audit your current provision for both pupils and staff and look for ways to improve it.
- Responsibility: Assign ownership for each key action, set deadlines, and build regular reviews into your leadership cycle.
Join our session on Tuesday, 9th September 2025, where our team will explain the essential updates going into this academic year!
