KCSIE 2026 for Non-School APs
KCSIE 2026 – What does it mean for Non-School Alternative Provision?
Keeping Children Safe in Education is updated each year and comes into effect from the first of September. Actually, it doesn’t officially apply to non-school AP (NSAP) but it sets the safeguarding standards in schools and they’ll expect the same in the services they commission so it makes sense, as a non-school AP to implement the same changes as schools will.
KCSIE is statutory guidance for schools and colleges, it’s not a legal duty placed directly on non-school alternative provision (AP) settings. However, it matters in two ways that affect how you prepare:
● Through commissioning schools. A school that places a pupil with a NSAP remains legally responsible for that pupil's safeguarding. Schools are required to obtain written confirmation that any AP has carried out appropriate safeguarding checks on staff, these include being told about staff changes mid-placement. Schools also are expected to know where the child is at all times, and to review the placement at least half-termly. If practice in an AP doesn't line up with what KCSIE expects of a safe setting then schools shouldn’t continue to place children with them.
● Through the DfE's Voluntary National Standards for Non-School Alternative Provision (August 2025). These standards are written specifically for Non-School AP and explicitly say to refer to KCSIE when building policies. They aren’t mandatory yet, but the government has said it intends to legislate to make them so, and local authorities are already being encouraged to build approved-provider registers around them. Therefor it makes sense to treat KCSIE 2026 as the reference point your NSAP policies should be checked against. September each year is a sensible review point for all your policies (as that is when KCSIE is updated) and is a good time to update everything to make sure it fits the new guidance.
Key changes and what they mean for Non-School AP
1) DSL Cover
KCSIE 2026 introduces a clearer expectation that schools must plan for safeguarding continuity whenever the designated safeguarding lead is absent. It refers to the plan as ‘robust cover arrangements’. It goes on to explain ‘robust cover’ and says that during term time, the DSL or a deputy should always be available during school or college hours for staff to discuss safeguarding concerns. In an AP this may include having a DSL available during any time that the AP is open. The DSL or a deputy would normally be expected to be available in person – telephone or remote availability is described as being appropriate only in exceptional circumstances.
Whenever the DSL is unavailable, there should be a “clear, reliable, and known arrangement” through which concerns can be raised. Schools don’t have to have a deputy but if they do then they should be trained to the same standard as the DSL with explicit responsibilities should be in their job description. They can have DSL activities delegated to them outside of the normal DSL’s overall safeguarding lead.
For a NSAP following KCSIE they should have safeguarding cover, in person, whilst the setting is open. This may mean training up more staff as DSL’s or where the setting is very small having safeguarding support available elsewhere if the DSL is absent for any reason. The key aim of the 2026 guidance is really about the safeguarding system continuing to operate at all times it is needed and not being reliant of single members of staff.
Also new this year is KCSIE saying that a DSL needs appropriate “skills and experience”. KCSIE 2025 referred to appropriate status and authority but did not expressly include skills and experience in this paragraph. The government says the addition is intended to reinforce that a DSL must have the practical capability, background and expertise needed for the role, rather than merely holding an appropriately senior position. There are lots of options for DSL training available and it is really about preference of delivery (do you prefer face-to-face or online) and looking for a reputable company to deliver it.
2) Child-on-child abuse
The section is renamed "Child-on-child abuse (including harassment and violence)" throughout the guidance. It now explicitly names physical assault and threats made with a weapon, harmful sexual behaviour and misogyny/misandry, and initiation or hazing-type violence as forms of child-on-child abuse. It also states clearly that this can be a safeguarding issue for both the child who was harmed and the child who caused the harm, these should not be treated as simply a discipline matter.
A NSAP’s child protection policy's child-on-child abuse section needs to reflect this wider definition, and staff need to understand that a child who has caused harm may themselves need a safeguarding response, not just a behavioural one. In practice this means recording and actioning safeguarding concerns for those causing harm not just recording incidents on behaviour logs. Some settings keep behavioural logs separate from safeguarding ones but there should be some cross-over, particularly around more serious behaviour incidents where they could be signs of a wider problem for a perpetrator as well as a victim. As well as in a child protection policy this could also be reflected in a behaviour policy.
3) Serious violence and weapons
New content now requires staff to report any concern about a child carrying, using, or expressing intent to use a weapon straight to the DSL (or deputy), who must assess the risk and take action. This includes de-escalating conflict between children where appropriate.
Make sure every member of staff, not just the DSL, knows that any weapon concern is reported immediately, not kept until the end of a session.
4) Mental health
The mental health section has been substantially redrafted. It sets out clearer signs to watch for (marked changes in behaviour, ongoing sleep difficulty, withdrawal, loss of interest in usual activities, signs of self-harm or self-neglect) and it adds a direct crisis instruction: if staff believe a child is in danger, they should call 999 or take the child to A&E immediately, or call NHS 111 if it's urgent but not an emergency. Given an AP cohort often has complex needs, this section deserves particular attention in training for staff. Staff should know exactly what to do in a mental health crisis and preferably generally to support mental health.
5) Online safety, AI and filtering & monitoring
The list of online content risks now includes disinformation, misinformation and conspiracy theories. Two new paragraphs address generative AI, and language around image-sharing has changed from "sexting" to "consensual and non-consensual self-generated intimate images and/or videos including those generated using AI, e.g. deepfakes." Where a setting provides internet access, filtering and monitoring systems must now be reviewed for effectiveness at least once every academic year, with the checks recorded. This is probably one of the weakest areas we see in AP audits with a lot of settings relying on visual supervision to police internet use. Given the risks online and the skills young people have at circumventing online protections a robust filtering and monitoring system is important and is likely to be expected by commissioners. If you provide any internet-connected devices, you need an annual review process and a record of it, this is a new, checkable requirement under KCSIE, not just good practice. https://testfiltering.comwill check your connection and what is filtered and you can run the test for free online. Set up a test monitoring record and run and record it regularly, a bit like you’d test your fire alarm.
6) Mobile phones
For the first time, the expectation that a setting be "phone-free" during lessons, breaks, lunch and time between sessions is on a statutory footing for schools. Again, this is an area that is very variable in NSAP settings. It is worth reviewing your own mobile phone expectations for pupils and aligning with this the wider direction of travel, even though the statutory duty falls on schools rather than APs directly. Some APs allow students to use mobiles to help regulate and others as part of a ‘more relaxed than school’ approach. I’d suggest with this guidance, the recent talk of social media bans and the fact you can’t filter or monitor personal phone use you’ve got to have a really good reason to allow young people to access phones on site. If you do choose to continue to allow young people phone access during a session you should expect to be questioned on it by commissioners.
7) Single-sex facilities and gender-questioning children
New requirements cover separate toilets for boys and girls from age 8, no use of opposite-sex toilets, no undressing in front of the opposite biological sex from age 11, and single-sex overnight accommodation. Separately, new statutory guidance (previously non-statutory, from 2023) sets out how to handle a child or parent's request relating to social transition: settings should not initiate this, parents should normally be involved unless that itself creates a safeguarding risk, and any decisions should be recorded with clear reasoning. This is relevant as a NSAP if your premises include changing or toilet facilities, and relevant to how you should respond if a young person raised a gender-related request with you or with a keyworker.
8) Safer recruitment and regulated activity
Trainee teachers are now treated the same as supply and contracted staff for allegations. Work experience placements for pupils aged 16+ may now count as regulated activity, requiring consideration of a DBS check by the host. A model single central record (SCR) template has been added. Following the Crime and Policing Act 2026, the regulated activity definition has been updated to remove the previous exemption for supervised volunteers. They fall into regulated activity if they train, teach instruct or supervise children on more than 3 days in a rolling 30 day period, or overnight. Although all APs have staff checks in place not every AP has a single central record yet. This should be a staple of your safer recruitment. This also reinforces standard 1.1 of the national standards, which already requires us to hold a single central record for all staff, proprietors and supply staff. Any volunteer working with our pupils, even under supervision, is likely now within scope for an enhanced DBS check. Review your volunteer arrangements and policies against this before September.
9) Information sharing
Guidance is expanded ahead of the incoming statutory Information Sharing Duty. There's a stronger expectation that DSLs have a direct conversation, not just a paper handover, when a child with safeguarding concerns moves between settings. When a pupil moves between an AP and a commissioning school, or between AP providers, DSL’s should be proactively picking up the phone, not just emailing a file. This isn’t always the case with commissioners so strengthens the hand of AP’s wanting to get full information on a young person before they start.
Alternative provision (paragraphs 208–213)
This is the section written directly about AP. It confirms that a commissioning school remains responsible for safeguarding a pupil placed with an AP provider, and must be satisfied the placement meets the pupil's needs. Schools must obtain written confirmation that the AP have carried out appropriate safeguarding checks on staff, and must be told of any staff changes so they can assure themselves new staff have been checked. Schools must always know where a child is during school hours, including any subcontracted or satellite site, and should review placements at least half-termly and immediately, and with a view to termination, if safeguarding concerns arise.
The paragraph also formally references the DfE's voluntary national standards for non-school AP - KCSIE 2026 embeds them more firmly for commissioners so it is more important for NSAP’s to meet those expectations now. Local authorities may use the standards to build a register of approved providers, but the commissioning school remains ultimately responsible and must still carry out its own due diligence. You should expect commissioning schools to ask harder, more specific questions about safeguarding checks, staff changes, and site arrangements from September. Being able to evidence the national standards, particularly a current single central record, a named and trained safeguarding lead, and clear incident-recording will make those conversations far easier. Expect a response from schools when there is a safeguarding concern raised. If you want a positive, constructive response then establishing trust from the beginning with school partners is key. That means regular thorough communication, working with school DSL’s on any issues and keeping good quality records of any concerns and incidents.
10) Medical conditions and SEND
A new paragraph clarifies that a medical condition (including allergies) is not in itself a safeguarding risk indicator, but DSLs should consider whether a medical incident triggers a safeguarding duty.
11) Reading Part A
Staff who weren’t DSL’s or directly working with children used to be able to get away with reading an Annex to summarise the key points of KCSIE. Now all the staff (pupil facing and not) in a school are required to read at least Part A. It makes it sensible for all NSAP to do the same.
What should you do before 1 September 2026
● Audit your single central record against national standard 1.1, every staff member, proprietor, supply worker and now supervised volunteer needs an enhanced DBS check with barred list information, recorded centrally. In addition the standards ask for a medical fitness check (requirements previously for schools). Lots of APs are missing this.
● Review your child protection policy against the changes above.
● Deliver training to all staff to save you time we’ve pulled together a training pack (PowerPoints, script, quiz, sign offs and policy change suggestions) you can buy for a small cost here.
● Collect signed confirmations from every member of staff using a sign-off form, and file these alongside your single central record.
● Check your filtering and monitoring review is scheduled across the academic year, if you provide internet access.
● Review volunteer DBS status in light of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 change removing the supervised-volunteer exemption.
● Be ready for more detailed questions from commissioning schools about your safeguarding arrangements as they update their own due diligence processes.
● Check your DSL cover arrangements do you need to train more staff as DSL’s so that you always have coverage?
● Audit your status against the NSAP national standards we offer a package of policy and paperwork support with consultation, examples and templates to help you evidence how you meet the standards. We also carry out audits for the national standards and with a concentration on safeguarding if you want some external validation and advice.
