KCSIE 2026 Consultation: Key Changes Every Safeguarding Professional Must Know

Written By Rachael Bishop

The Department for Education has launched the consultation on proposed revisions to Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE 2026).

These proposals represent some of the most significant safeguarding updates in recent years and will affect every school, trust, college and alternative provision setting in England. The consultation is open until 22 April 2026, with revised guidance expected to come into force in September 2026.

Below, we outline the headline changes and what they could mean for your setting.

Part One – Safeguarding Information for All Staff

Annex A Removed

Annex A will be removed. All staff will now be expected to read the full Part One, reinforcing the message that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.

Further alignment with Working Together to Safeguard Children strengthens multi-agency consistency.

New Early Help Indicators

Clearer indicators of vulnerability, including:

  • Repeated school removals

  • Part-time timetables

  • Patterns that may signal unmet needs

This reinforces earlier intervention expectations.

Clearer Legal Definitions

More precise definitions of rape and sexual assault, supporting accurate understanding and response.

CSE and Criminalisation

Recognition that victims of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) may appear to be perpetrators due to coercion, an important reframing for safeguarding professionals.

Serious Youth Violence

Expanded guidance strengthens awareness and response expectations.

Earlier LADO Consideration

An earlier expectation to consider referral to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) where appropriate.

Part Two – The Management of Safeguarding

Mental Health

Clearer guidance on when mental health concerns escalate into safeguarding matters.

Gender Questioning

Integrated advice on supporting gender-questioning children, with emphasis on:

  • Legal duties relating to single-sex spaces and sport

  • Safeguarding risk assessments

  • Child-centred decision making

Technology and AI

Significant digital updates include:

  • New safeguarding guidance on AI use

  • AI-generated child abuse material

  • Financially Motivated Sexual Extortion (FMSE)

  • Cybersecurity formally recognised as a safeguarding issue

  • Annual filtering and monitoring reviews

Inclusion and Vulnerability

Stronger expectations regarding:

  • Alternative Provision

  • Children with medical needs

  • SEND barriers to disclosure

  • Racism and derogatory behaviour in preventative education

Improved Information-Sharing

Clearer DSL-to-DSL handover expectations when pupils move settings.

Part Three – Safer Recruitment

  • Introduction of a new Single Central Record (SCR) template

  • Clearer rules preventing unnecessary DBS checks for work experience placements

These updates aim to balance safeguarding rigour with proportionality.

Part Four – Managing Allegations

  • Trainee teachers explicitly included within allegations procedures

  • Safeguarding responsibility confirmed for all individuals on site

This reinforces whole-site accountability.

Part Five – Child-on-Child Abuse

The revised structure aligns with the Hackett Continuum, clarifying progression:

  • Early Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB)

  • Sexual harassment

  • Sexual violence

This clearer framework supports proportionate and developmentally informed responses.

Annex Updates

  • AI-generated child abuse material

  • Financially Motivated Sexual Extortion (FMSE)

  • Stronger expectations around DSL cover

  • Clearer articulation of required DSL skills and experience

Evidence Base Development – The DfE Wants Your Views

The consultation also seeks input on emerging safeguarding themes, including:

  • Affluent neglect

  • AI-related risks

  • British Sign Language (BSL) version of KCSIE

  • Children Affected by Domestic Abuse (CADA)

  • Grooming gangs

  • Gaming platforms and exploitation risks

  • Sextortion

  • Non-criminal harmful sexual behaviour

  • Staff self-referral

  • Teenage Relationship Abuse (TRA)

  • Verbal abuse

  • DSL workload and capacity

This signals areas likely to shape future revisions beyond 2026.

Why This Matters

These proposals will shape safeguarding culture, compliance expectations and inspection conversations for years to come.

For Designated Safeguarding Leads, governors, trust leaders, safeguarding partners and education professionals, this consultation is an opportunity to influence the final statutory framework.

Have Your Say

The draft guidance remains open for consultation until 22 April 2026.

Access the full consultation here.

KCSIE 2026 reflects a safeguarding landscape that is:

  • More digitally complex

  • More legally explicit

  • More focused on early identification

  • Increasingly interconnected across agencies.

At RLB Safeguarding, we recommend that settings begin with:

✔ Reviewing Part One training materials
✔ Auditing filtering, monitoring and cybersecurity arrangements
✔ Reviewing child-on-child abuse policies in line with the Hackett framework
✔ Assessing DSL capacity and cover arrangements
✔ Preparing governors for scrutiny of AI and online safety.

If you would like support responding to the consultation or preparing your policies for September 2026 implementation, RLB Safeguarding can help with briefings, training, governance support, consultancy, supervision, and audit. Contact us for a no obligation chat now

Rachael Bishop
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