KCSIE 2025: status and scope
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025 came into force on 1 September 2025. The GOV.UK publication page states that there are only “technical changes” in the 2025 version, and that the guidance applies to schools and colleges in England. The same page states that all school and college staff should read Part One.
The full KCSIE 2025 document states that it is statutory guidance issued by the Department for Education. It says that schools and colleges in England must have regard to it when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, and that for the purposes of the guidance, children include everyone under the age of 18.
What KCSIE 2025 says safeguarding is
Part One states that safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is “everyone’s responsibility” and that practice should be “child centred.” It also says no single practitioner can have a full picture of a child’s needs and circumstances. The guidance defines safeguarding as providing help and support as soon as problems emerge, protecting children from maltreatment, preventing impairment of health or development, ensuring safe and effective care, and taking action so children have the best outcomes.
Part One also explains why this matters. It states that children and families should receive the “right help at the right time,” and links effective safeguarding to identifying concerns, sharing information, and taking prompt action. In the same section, KCSIE 2025 gives examples of poor practice, including failing to act on early signs of abuse and neglect, poor record keeping, failing to listen to the child, failing to reassess concerns when situations do not improve, and not sharing information with the right people quickly enough.
What this means for Lexia mentors and tutors
KCSIE 2025 is written for schools and colleges, but it is directly relevant wherever Lexia mentors and tutors are working within school or college safeguarding systems. Part One states that school and college staff are particularly important because they are in a position to identify concerns early, provide help, promote children’s welfare, and prevent concerns from escalating. It also says that all staff have a responsibility to provide a safe environment in which children can learn.
For Lexia mentors and tutors working in those settings, the document sets out the practical baseline. Staff should know the child protection policy, behaviour policy, the safeguarding response to children who are absent from education, and the role and identity of the designated safeguarding lead and any deputies. KCSIE 2025 also states that copies of policies and Part One, or Annex A where appropriate, should be provided to staff at induction.
The same section states that all staff should receive safeguarding and child protection training at induction, that this training should be regularly updated, and that staff should receive updates at least annually. It also states that all staff should be aware of the local early help process and the process for making referrals to local authority children’s social care and for statutory assessments. Applied to Lexia mentors and tutors working with schools and colleges, this means they should know the safeguarding route of the setting they are working in before delivery begins.
What KCSIE 2025 says staff must do when concerns arise
Part One is specific on immediate response. It states that staff should maintain an attitude of “it could happen here” where safeguarding is concerned. It then states that if staff have concerns about a child’s welfare, they should “act on them immediately” and follow their organisation’s child protection policy, including speaking to the designated safeguarding lead or a deputy. It also says staff should not assume that a colleague or another professional will take action.
KCSIE 2025 is also clear on confidentiality and disclosures. It states that staff should know how to manage confidentiality appropriately, only involving those who need to be involved, such as the designated safeguarding lead and local authority children’s social care. It further states that staff should never promise a child that they will not tell anyone about a report of abuse, because that may not be in the child’s best interests.
Prevent and KCSIE 2025
KCSIE 2025 includes Prevent within safeguarding. Part One states that children may be susceptible to radicalisation into terrorism and that protecting children from this risk should form part of a school’s or college’s safeguarding approach. It also states that staff should be alert to changes in behaviour that could indicate a child may need help or protection, and that proportional action may include the designated safeguarding lead making a Prevent referral.
The same section states that all schools and colleges are subject to the Prevent duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015. It says this duty should be seen as part of schools’ and colleges’ wider safeguarding obligations, and that designated safeguarding leads and deputies should be aware of local procedures for making a Prevent referral.
What this means for Lexia internal staff
KCSIE 2025 states that it is essential that everybody working in a school or college understands their safeguarding responsibilities. It further states that staff who do not work directly with children should read either Part One or Annex A, depending on what is most effective for their role, and that mechanisms should be in place to assist staff to understand and discharge those responsibilities.
For Lexia internal staff, the factual application is limited but clear where they are supporting school or college delivery. If their role includes safeguarding administration, case handling, reporting, coordination with schools, or support to frontline staff, the relevant KCSIE expectation is that they understand the safeguarding procedures of the setting they are working with and know how concerns are escalated. That is an operational application of the guidance’s requirements on induction, policy awareness, reporting routes, and staff understanding.
Record keeping under KCSIE 2025
Part One states that all concerns, discussions and decisions, and the reasons for those decisions, should be “recorded in writing.” It also states that information should be kept confidential and “stored securely.” Records should include a clear and comprehensive summary of the concern, details of how the concern was followed up and resolved, and a note of any action taken, decisions reached and the outcome.
For Lexia mentors, tutors, and internal staff who are part of a school or college safeguarding process, that means safeguarding records should be factual, timely, and aligned to the relevant setting’s procedures. KCSIE 2025 also states that if a referrer does not receive information back after a referral, they should follow up, and if the child’s situation does not appear to be improving, local escalation procedures should be considered.
Conclusion
Taken on its own terms, KCSIE 2025 does not introduce a new safeguarding framework for September 2025; the GOV.UK publication page says the changes are technical. What it does do is restate the core requirements clearly: safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility, staff must know their safeguarding systems, concerns must be acted on without delay, Prevent sits within safeguarding, and records must be made and kept properly. For Lexia personnel working in or alongside schools and colleges in England, those are the operative points.
