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The Department for Education has published the 2026 edition of Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE), with the updated statutory safeguarding guidance due to come into force on 1 September 2026.
The guidance, published on 7 July, is currently for information only. Schools and colleges must continue to follow the 2025 version of KCSIE until the end of August.
KCSIE sets out the legal duties that schools and colleges in England must follow to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people under the age of 18. It applies to all schools and colleges and is intended for headteachers, teachers, school staff, governing bodies, proprietors and management committees.
Among the changes for 2026 is the introduction of a new document, Part one: overview for all staff, which is intended to provide a quick-reference guide to safeguarding responsibilities. The Department for Education has emphasised that the overview is supplementary and does not replace Part one: safeguarding information for all staff, which remains the core document that staff are expected to read.
The updated guidance also removes Annex A, which previously provided a condensed version of Part one. As a result, all staff will now be expected to follow the same safeguarding expectations, regardless of whether they work directly with children. Governing bodies and proprietors are expected to ensure that every member of staff reads Part one of the guidance.
A full summary of the changes introduced in the 2026 edition is set out in Annex C of the guidance.
The publication provides schools, colleges and safeguarding professionals with advance notice of the revised requirements ahead of their implementation on 1 September, allowing organisations time to review safeguarding policies, procedures and staff training before the start of the new academic year.
To view the full set of guidance PDFs, click here.
