KCSIE 2026: What's Changed and What Your School Needs to Do Before 1 September
The KCSIE 2026 changes to Keeping Children Safe in Education come into force on 1 September 2026 . This guide sets out every confirmed change in one scannable place and gives Designated Safeguarding Leads a practical "what to do now" action list. Your school will arrive at September prepared rather than scrambling.
⚠️ In force from 1 September 2026. KCSIE 2025 applies until then.
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 replaces KCSIE 2025 from 1 September 2026 . Schools and colleges must continue to follow KCSIE 2025 in full until that date. The changes summarised below are the confirmed headline changes and are not exhaustive . Always read the complete document on GOV.UK ↗ before updating live policy, and treat any paragraph or annex reference here as indicative only (see Part One, KCSIE 2026, for the exact wording).
On this page
The 14 Confirmed KCSIE 2026 Changes
Most annual updates to Keeping Children Safe in Education are technical. The KCSIE 2026 changes are different: they carry genuinely new expectations for schools, DSLs and governors. Below is a scannable summary of the confirmed changes. For the full statutory wording, see Part One and the relevant Annex of KCSIE 2026 on GOV.UK.
1. All staff must read Part One in full
The condensed summary that some settings previously used for staff who do not work directly with children is removed. Every member of staff must read Part One in its entirety.
2. Annexes renumbered
The annex structure has changed, so induction packs, handbooks and training slides that reference KCSIE by annex letter will need updating. See our practical guide to the annex changes for a before/after mapping.
3. New section on gender-questioning pupils
A dedicated safeguarding-framed section covering social transition, single-sex spaces and parental engagement (Part One, KCSIE 2026).
4. Explicit duty on AI, deepfakes and nudification apps
Schools must assess risks from AI-generated content and image-based abuse tools. Read our dedicated guide: AI, Deepfakes and KCSIE 2026 .
5. Mandatory annual filtering and monitoring review
Filtering and monitoring provision must be reviewed at least annually, with governors formally accountable for the outcome. In practice this overlaps with wider cyber security assurance. Schools should confirm this annual review sits alongside, not instead of, existing IT and cyber security safeguards.
6. Mobile-phone-free schools "by default"
The expectation is no pupil access to phones across lessons, transitions, breaks and lunch, unless a clearly defined exception is agreed.
7. Broader child-on-child abuse definition and Part Five rewritten
Categories are expanded to include serious violence, misogyny and AI-generated imagery. Part Five has been substantially rewritten around the progressive continuum from harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) through to sexual violence (paragraph 527). Paragraph 527 also confirms that all incidents involving the sharing of nude or semi-nude images require a safeguarding response whether consensual or non-consensual. What differs is the nature and proportionality of the response. See our guide: KCSIE 2026 and Serious Violence .
8. New weapons-reporting duty
Paragraph 49 of KCSIE 2026: staff report any concern about a child carrying, using, or expressing an intention to use a weapon to the DSL or a deputy; the DSL then assesses the risk and takes appropriate action. This is not an automatic mandatory external reporting duty. See our detailed guide: KCSIE 2026 and Serious Violence .
9. Family Help alignment
References to early help are updated to reflect the Family Help model introduced by Working Together 2026 , replacing the separate early help and Section 17 pathways with a single coordinated offer.
10. Operation Encompass duty clarified
Notification standards are tightened, with an explicit expectation that the voice of the child is reflected in what schools receive and record.
11. Mental health reinforced as a safeguarding issue
Staff are expected to recognise the pathway from a mental health concern to a safeguarding assessment. See our mental health and safeguarding guide .
12. Online due-diligence checks in safer recruitment
Shortlisted candidates are subject to online checks of publicly available information as part of pre-appointment safer recruitment.
13. Supervision exemption for volunteers removed
Section 139 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 removes the supervision exemption from the definition of regulated activity. KCSIE 2026 and the DfE set 1 September 2026 as the operational date. Schools must re-audit all existing volunteers and obtain enhanced DBS with children's barred list information for those now in scope. Trainee teachers are explicitly confirmed to be subject to the same allegations-against-staff processes as substantive staff.
14. Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) content added
New content connects misogyny, harmful sexual behaviour and serious violence. See also our misogyny and incel culture briefing .
Part One and the Annex Renumbering
Two structural changes affect every school regardless of setting type. First, Part One must now be read by all staff in full : there is no shortened route for staff who are not in daily contact with pupils. Second, the annexes have been renumbered , which is easy to miss but has real practical consequences. Any policy, induction slide or training handout that says "see Annex B" or "see Annex D" needs checking against the new KCSIE 2026 structure before September. We cover this in detail, including a before/after table, in KCSIE 2026 Annex Changes: A Practical Guide for DSLs .
Online Safety, AI and Mobile Phones
The single biggest area of change is online safety. KCSIE 2026 introduces an explicit expectation that schools assess and mitigate risks from AI-generated content, deepfakes and "nudification" apps : tools that barely featured in earlier editions but which DSLs are already encountering in real incidents involving pupils. The terms "sexting" and "indecent image" are replaced in the peer-sharing context with making or sharing nudes or semi-nudes . This covers photographs, videos and livestreams whether taken by the child, taken by another, digitally altered, or wholly AI-generated including deepfakes. Paragraph 527 is clear: all incidents involving the sharing of nude or semi-nude images require a safeguarding response regardless of whether the sharing was consensual. What differs between consensual and non-consensual incidents is the nature and proportionality of the response, not whether a response happens at all. Filtering and monitoring provision must now be reviewed at least annually , with governors formally accountable for the outcome. KCSIE 2026, paragraph 168, confirms the expectation that schools operate as mobile-phone-free environments by default across lessons, transitions, breaks and lunchtime. Paragraphs 176 to 178, under the heading "Information security and access management", set out that governing bodies and proprietors should take measures to safeguard children by protecting personal information and ensuring appropriate cyber security systems are in place, approached as part of the school's wider safeguarding responsibilities, with schools directed to the Cyber security standards for schools and colleges at paragraph 177. This duty existed in KCSIE 2026 and has been redrafted in 2026 with a clearer standalone heading and stronger connection to governing body accountability. For the online safety and AI detail, read AI, Deepfakes and KCSIE 2026: New Safeguarding Duties Explained .
Child-on-Child Abuse and the New Weapons-Reporting Duty
KCSIE 2026 broadens the definition of child-on-child abuse to explicitly include serious violence, misogyny and AI-generated imagery , alongside a confirmed new duty on how schools record and report weapons-related incidents connected to the school community. Both changes have direct implications for schools already working on knife crime prevention -- see our knife crime prevention hub for existing statutory context, and our dedicated article KCSIE 2026 and Serious Violence: New Duties on Weapons and Peer Conflict for the full detail on both changes.
Part Five of KCSIE 2026 has been substantially rewritten to highlight the progressive continuum from harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) through to sexual violence . Paragraph 527 is explicit: HSB exists on a continuum and may escalate into sexual harassment or sexual violence. Paragraph 535 makes the operational implication clear -- early intervention in inappropriate behaviour such as misogyny can help prevent escalation to more serious abuse such as sexual harassment and sexual violence.
Paragraph 527 also clarifies the school's response to incidents involving the sharing of nude or semi-nude images: a safeguarding response is always required, whether the sharing was consensual or non-consensual. What differs between the two is the nature and proportionality of the response, not whether a response happens. A school that applies no safeguarding process to a "consensual" sharing incident does not meet the KCSIE 2026 standard.
Safer Recruitment and Multi-Agency Working
Safer recruitment expectations are strengthened with online due-diligence checks on shortlisted candidates and explicit confirmation that trainee teachers sit within the same allegations-against-staff framework as substantive staff. On the multi-agency side, KCSIE 2026 aligns its language with the Family Help model from Working Together 2026, and clarifies notification standards for Operation Encompass . DSLs who want the fuller narrative treatment of these and the gender-questioning pupils change should also read our companion piece, What to Expect from KCSIE 2026 , and our existing KCSIE 2025 compliance guide for the framework that remains in force until September.
What to Do Now
KCSIE 2026 was published as final guidance in July 2026 and comes into force on 1 September 2026. Schools should prepare now but should not replace their current KCSIE 2025 policy until that date. There is real preparation work that can start today:
Frequently Asked Questions
When do the KCSIE 2026 changes come into force?
1 September 2026. Until then, schools and colleges must continue to follow KCSIE 2025 in full.
Is this list of changes exhaustive?
This page summarises the confirmed headline changes. It is not exhaustive and is not a substitute for the full statutory guidance. Always check GOV.UK for the complete document.
Do we need to change our policies before September 2026?
Assign leads, audit materials, and review policy areas now. Do not replace live KCSIE 2026-based policy until 1 September 2026.
Where can I read the full guidance?
On GOV.UK , published by the Department for Education. Always treat the official publication as authoritative over any summary, including this one.
Who to Contact
Safeguarding concerns don't wait for a new edition of KCSIE
- Immediate danger: Call 999
- Report a concern about a child (non-emergency): Call 101 or your local MASH. See our MASH contact finder .
- Mental health crisis, out of hours: NHS 111, option 2. See our mental health and safeguarding guide .
- Childline: 0800 1111
- NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000
Sources: Department for Education. Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026. GOV.UK. | DfE. Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025 (statutory guidance currently in force). | HM Government (2026). Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026. | Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (data-sharing and information-governance context for Operation Encompass notifications). Last reviewed: July 2026.