KCSIE 2026: The Main Changes Schools Need to Know

The Department for Education has published Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026. It comes into force on 1 September 2026, and all schools and colleges in England must follow it.

This is a big update. After two years of minimal changes, KCSIE 2026 pulls together many things that have been shaping safeguarding practice over the last couple of years. Here are the changes that matter most.

Part one now applies to all staff

Annex A has been removed, so all staff are now expected to read Part one in full. If your training relied on the shorter condensed version, that no longer works. Everyone reads the same thing.

Mental health

There’s a big rewrite of the mental health section. It clarifies the role of staff in spotting early signs of mental health issues, the importance of whole-school approaches to wellbeing, and the need for clear referral pathways and targeted support.

Staff aren’t expected to diagnose or treat anything. But the guidance is clear about the role they play in identifying and reducing safeguarding risks linked to mental health. This matters most in serious cases like self-harm, eating disorders or suicidal thoughts.

Serious violence

Staff should report any concerns about a child carrying or using a weapon, or saying they intend to, to the Designated Safeguarding Lead or a deputy. The DSL then assesses the risk and decides what to do.

Online safety, filtering and monitoring

This is one of the most significant areas. Schools must now review the effectiveness of their filtering and monitoring systems at least once every academic year. Annual review was encouraged before, but the timing wasn’t stated this plainly inside KCSIE itself.

You should also keep a record. That means evidencing when checks were done, which devices and environments were tested, what issues were found, and what you did about them.

Artificial intelligence

AI now runs through the guidance. Two new paragraphs help schools understand the safety considerations and legal responsibilities if they choose to use generative AI. The online risk categories have been updated to reflect the growing presence of AI.

The familiar 4Cs model has been updated too. Contact risk now includes harmful interactions with generative AI, such as chatbots and companion-style systems. Conduct risk now references making, sending or receiving explicit images, including ones generated using AI.

The guidance also adopts the term “nudes and semi-nudes” throughout when referring to these images being created or shared by under-18s.

Mobile phones

A new paragraph confirms that all schools should be mobile phone-free environments by default. It links to the DfE’s mobile phones guidance and case studies.

Gender-questioning children

This is the biggest single addition. The section on children who are LGB or questioning their gender has grown from five short paragraphs in 2025 to over thirty in 2026. Paragraphs 251-282 set out a full decision-making framework for requests to support “social transition.”

A few key points. Schools should not initiate social transition. The process only applies when a child or parent raises a request. Schools are expected to be professionally curious about the child’s experiences and potential vulnerabilities, and to avoid rigid rules based on gender stereotypes.

On single-sex facilities: if a child does not want to use the toilet, changing room or shower for their biological sex, schools should consider whether they can provide an alternative facility, without compromising single-sex provision or the safety, comfort, privacy or dignity of that child or other children. Keep a clear record of these situations.

Child-on-child abuse

The guidance is clear that abuse between children can happen in any setting, including online, and that a lack of reported incidents should never be read as proof that there’s no problem. Schools are expected to challenge inappropriate behaviour consistently, including things that might once have been dismissed as “banter” or low-level misconduct.

Other changes worth noting

• A note added earlier in the guidance that the headteacher will consider whether a LADO referral is appropriate, clarifying that these referrals are now an expectation.
• Information sharing when a child moves setting: the DSL may consider sharing information beyond the child protection file if it suggests the child may be a risk to themselves or others.
• Additional information on online pre-recruitment checks for shortlisted candidates.
• DBS check requirements updated for adults supervising children on work experience, to avoid unnecessary checks.
• New wording linking modern slavery and criminal exploitation, and clarifications to definitions across the document.

What to do now

The deadline is tight. This is the biggest update since 2022, and it demands a review of many school policies. Start with your safeguarding policy, your filtering and monitoring review, your training materials, and your approach to gender-questioning children. Trust or local authority policies still need personalising for your own setting and partnerships before board approval.