Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026: Major Overhaul Proposed

The Department for Education has launched a consultation on the most significant revision to statutory safeguarding guidance in years. While aimed at schools and colleges, the draft 2026 guidance contains lessons and benchmarks that any organisation working with children should be paying close attention to. 

The draft Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2026 guidance, published for consultation on 12 February 2026, sets out sweeping changes to how children should be protected from harm. The final version is due for publication on 1 September 2026. Although statutory compliance falls on schools and colleges in England, the guidance increasingly reflects broader societal expectations of what good safeguarding looks like. Expectations that regulators, funders, parents, and the public are applying across all sectors, including sport, leisure, and events.   

Why Should Non-Education Sectors Care? 

Sporting clubs, event organisers, and leisure providers regularly work with children in environments that share many of the same risks schools face — from one-to-one coaching relationships and overnight trips, to digital communication and large public gatherings. Courts, regulators, and safeguarding bodies have long looked to KCSIE as a benchmark of reasonable practice, even where it carries no direct legal force outside education. Organisations that align their own policies with its principles are better placed to demonstrate that they take child protection seriously. 

Key Changes Worth Noting Across All Sectors 

Harmful sexual behaviour as a continuum. The draft frames harmful sexual behaviour, sexual harassment, and sexual violence as a progressive continuum requiring early intervention rather than a reactive response. For sports clubs and event organisers, this reinforces the importance of having clear policies on what constitutes unacceptable behaviour between participants, and acting on low-level concerns before they escalate. 

AI-generated imagery and deepfakes. The guidance updates its language throughout, replacing references to “sexting” with “self-generated intimate images and/or videos including those generated using AI e.g. deepfakes.” This reflects a rapidly evolving threat that is just as relevant to young people in sports clubs and at public events as it is in classrooms. Organisations should review whether their digital safeguarding policies address these emerging risks. 

Technology, mobile phones, and online safety. Schools are now formally expected to operate as mobile-phone-free environments by default. While this may not be directly applicable outside education, the underlying principle, that unmanaged device use creates safeguarding risks, is one all organisations working with children should consider. Reviewing your acceptable use and photography policies is a practical starting point. 

Facilities and changing rooms. The draft introduces explicit requirements around single-sex toilets, changing rooms, and overnight accommodation, including on school trips. Sports and leisure providers, many of whom already navigate these questions in the context of competitions, residential events, and touring, will find the guidance a useful reference point for reviewing their own facilities policies. 

Overnight and residential activities. The guidance tightens expectations around homestay and residential arrangements, including requirements for DBS checks on host families. Event organisers and sports clubs running residential camps or tours should review whether their vetting procedures meet equivalent standards. 

Low-level concerns. One of the most practically valuable sections for any sector is the guidance on low-level concerns — defined as any behaviour that causes unease or a “nagging doubt,” even if it falls short of a formal threshold. The guidance is clear that these must be recorded, shared with the right person, and reviewed for patterns. This culture of early reporting is something every organisation working with children should actively foster. 

Safer recruitment. The draft reinforces expectations around online searches of shortlisted candidates, structured interview questions probing motivations for working with children, and the importance of references being sought before interview. These are practices any organisation should embed as standard, regardless of sector. 

Young carers, SEND, and vulnerable groups. The guidance introduces a new dedicated section on young carers and strengthens content on children with special educational needs and disabilities. For sports and events providers, this is a reminder that vulnerability is not always visible, and that inclusive safeguarding requires active consideration of additional barriers some children face. 

The Broader Takeaway 

What KCSIE 2026 reflects, above all, is a raising of the bar. The guidance signals that safeguarding is no longer a compliance tick-box but an embedded, whole-organisation commitment, one that must be revisited regularly, resourced properly, and led from the top. Whether you run a football academy, a music festival, a leisure centre, or a community sports club, the message is the same: the standard of care children receive in your organisation should be able to withstand scrutiny. 

The consultation is open now. While your organisation may not be required to respond, reviewing the draft is a valuable exercise for any safeguarding lead looking to benchmark and strengthen their own policies and procedures. 

For advice on reviewing your safeguarding framework in light of the KCSIE 2026 draft, please contact our safeguarding team.