Key takeaway: From 1 September 2026, the Crime and Policing Act 2026 removes the “supervision exemption” from the legal definition of regulated activity with children. Anyone teaching, training, caring for or supervising children on more than 3 days in any 30-day period, or overnight, is now in regulated activity — supervised or not — and needs an Enhanced DBS check with Children’s Barred List information. Volunteers, contractors and self-employed providers feel this most. Core school staff, already in regulated activity, see little change.
The legislative update
Until 31 August 2026, an unpaid person teaching, training, caring for or supervising children didn’t count as being in regulated activity if someone already in regulated activity supervised them closely enough — think a reading volunteer overseen by a class teacher. From 1 September, the Crime and Policing Act 2026 removes that exemption. What matters now is pattern, not oversight: more than 3 days in any rolling 30-day period, or a single overnight session, and the person is in regulated activity — supervised or not.
This reaches every maintained school, academy, MAT, college, childcare provider, sports club, youth group and community organisation. Core teaching and school staff are largely unaffected — they’re already in regulated activity because of their role. The real shift lands on volunteers, and on contractors, self-employed providers and agency workers delivering supervised activity — coaching, wraparound care, tutoring, enrichment clubs — frequently or overnight. The Disclosure and Barring Service confirms this, updated Department for Education statutory guidance sets it out, and the Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 update reflects it in Annex C.
Practical impact on schools & academies
Work through the following before 1st September:
- Audit supervised roles: List every role, paid or voluntary, that currently relies on supervision rather than a full check, and test each against the 3-days-in-30 or overnight rule.
- Check existing DBS certificates: No Children’s Barred List information on file? Arrange an Enhanced DBS check with barred list information before the role continues.
- Agency and supply staff: Whilst generally already in regulated activity and unaffected by this specific change, use the moment to confirm agencies are sending written assurance of the checks they’ve carried out, and that it’s logged on your Single Central Record.
- Contractors and self-employed providers: The group most likely to be newly caught. Since 21 January 2026, a self-employed coach, tutor or holiday-club provider can get their own Enhanced or Enhanced with Barred List DBS check via a registered Umbrella Body — or you can apply on their behalf under your own policy. Check how often they work with your children and what level their existing certificate covers.
- Annual staff declarations: Keep these coming regardless — every member of staff should still confirm annually that nothing has changed in their record or fitness to work with children.
- Live vacancies: Update adverts and person specifications, and write to anyone who’s already applied under the old checks level — explain the change, get consent for the higher-level check, and remind them of their duty under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions Order) (amended 2020) to disclose spent convictions for regulated activity roles.
- Volunteers: update risk assessments and arrange Enhanced-with-barred-list checks wherever the threshold is met — free of charge for volunteers. Occasional volunteers (a single PTA event, a day trip) stay out of scope. Days count cumulatively across settings, so coordinate with other sites on who commissions the check.
- DBS Code of Practice: only use certificate information for the reason you got it, don’t keep photocopies, and destroy it after a suitable period — usually no more than 6 months.
Work experience students coming into schools
Treat this as a review trigger rather than a single rule — two age bands, two very different answers.
- Under 16 (e.g. Year 10 pupils): a DBS check can’t be requested for anyone under 16, whatever the activity — this is unchanged. Manage these placements through your usual work experience risk assessment and close supervision.
- 16 to 17-year-olds (e.g. sixth-form or T-level students placed in a primary school or nursery): it depends on what the placement actually involves. Genuine shadowing, where a staff member keeps responsibility throughout and the student never personally teaches, cares for or supervises children, stays outside regulated activity, whatever its length. Give the student real, hands-on responsibility instead — unpaid, on more than 3 days in any 30-day period, or overnight — and the placement becomes regulated activity from 1 September. A teacher in the room is no longer enough on its own; arrange the Enhanced check with barred list information before the placement starts.
- What to do now: review your 16-17 work experience programme against these two categories before 1 September and build DBS lead times into placement planning — an Enhanced check with barred list information takes longer than a basic one.
Updating your Single Central Record — and being ready to explain it
Most of the actions above end up in the same place: a new line on your SCR for someone who’s already been working with children, sometimes for years. A 2026 date sitting next to an old start date can, on its own, look like the original vetting fell short. It didn’t — the law changed. The fix is in how you record and explain it, not in avoiding the check.
- Record it properly: your SCR must show whether you carried out the required check, and when. That’s set out in the School Staffing (England) Regulations 2009 for maintained schools, and the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 for academies and independent schools. If you don’t already have a comments column, add one — noting who did the check and why is good practice, not just box-ticking.
- Explain the gap, don’t let it explain itself: against every entry you update, add a short, dated note — for example: “Enhanced DBS with Children’s Barred List obtained [date], following removal of the regulated activity supervision exemption (Crime and Policing Act 2026, effective 1 September 2026); role previously exempt as supervised.” One line turns a mystery gap into a documented decision.
- Keep a cohort-level audit trail: alongside the SCR, hold a simple log of the review — which roles you assessed, when, what you decided, and what followed. That single document is exactly what an inspector wants to see: a proactive, whole-school review, not a scramble.
- Get the terminology right: the Children’s Barred List check replaced “List 99” over a decade ago. If “List 99” still appears anywhere in your SCR, policies or offer letters, update it now — inspectors and DBS alike expect current terms. You can still request a standalone Children’s Barred List check, provided the specific criteria are met.
- Be ready to talk it through: Ofsted and ISI inspectors typically ask for the SCR early in an inspection and expect you to explain your reasoning for who has, and hasn’t, been checked at each level — not just show them data.
How FusionHR & SAMpeople can help
Recruitment and safeguarding checks are hard enough without a mid-year legislative change. Register for our Accredited Safer Recruitment Training on Thursday 8th October 2026, explore our Safer Recruitment CPD Module, or let SAMpeople Recruit handle vacancy updates, consent capture and DBS tracking for you. Our HR Advisory team can also conduct an overview or audit of your SCR; please get in touch for availability and further information. If you have any questions following this blog, please get in touch with the team who can help.
Reputable sources & guidance
- UK / Disclosure and Barring Service – Change to the definition of regulated activity with children from 1 September 2026 (4 August 2026)
- UK / Department for Education – Regulated activity: removal of the supervision exemption (comes into force 1 September 2026)
- Crime and Policing Act 2026 – legislation.gov.uk
- Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 (statutory guidance), Annex C: Regulated activity (children) – supervision of activity which is regulated activity when unsupervised
- UK / Disclosure and Barring Service – DBS checks for self-employed people and personal employees (updated 23 January 2026)
- UK / Disclosure and Barring Service – DBS checks: guidance for employers, voluntary organisations and third parties
- UK / Disclosure and Barring Service – DBS Code of Practice
- UK / Disclosure and Barring Service – Regulated activity with children in England and Wales (updated 23 April 2026)
- gov.uk – The School Staffing (England) Regulations 2009
- gov.uk – The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014
