KCSIE 2025- Announcement made by the DfE
In the new update released 1st July 2025, HM Government has announced that an ‘information version’ of KCSIE 2025 will be published next month - with the full guidance coming into force on 1st September 2025.
Schools will be expected to comply with any linked changes to Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) and guidance on gender questioning children, also due for revision.
Similar to the 2024 update, we have limited revisions without any reference to the findings of last year’s consultation. This leaves Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) in a challenging position. At the time of writing, schools have fewer than 14 working days left before the end of term, without access to the finalised guidance that they are legally required to implement from 1st September. This presents delays in organising training, revising policies, or briefing governors.
The confirmation that KCSIE 2025 will contain only technical changes is disappointing. Despite HM Government having had the findings of the Casey Audit, which unearthed severe and systemic safeguarding failures across multiple authorities, there is no introduction of mandatory reporting in this year’s statutory guidance. There is also no mention of implementing the findings of the KCSIE 2024 consultation, which was the rationale given for only limited technical changes last year.
Just as in any safeguarding situation, once you know something, it cannot be ‘unknown’. Yet government office has decided to delay acting on those findings until ‘future iterations’ of the guidance. This is of concern as latest investigative statistics demonstrate children are at risk and in addition does not provide any mechanisms to reduce the workload pressure currently faced by DSLs.
DSLs and school leaders are now facing:
- Uncertainty about what statutory changes will be required
- No clarity on how or when accompanying guidance on RSHE or gender questioning pupils will be released
- An unclear timeline for planning INSET sessions and implementing staff training
- A risk of being non-compliant on 1st September due to the delay in publication
The latest DfE statement states...
'This Government is clear that there are – and will continue to be – further learnings about how we can better protect children in the future as we come to understand more clearly what has gone wrong in the past and schools and colleges will continue to need to play an incredibly important role in this.'
However, as all DSLs and senior leaders know, the protection of children is about what we do now. Safeguarding must be proactive, not reactive. So, it is very disappointing that once again known safeguarding issues are missing from the statutory guidance.
Whilst it is welcome that HM Government speaks of the future intentions to respond to the Casey Audit and the Violence Against Women and Girls strategy; children and schools need additional safeguarding measures now and better support mechanisms for DSLs are essential.
- SSS Learning Training Course – Designated Safeguarding Lead Training for School & Academy Staff
- SSS Learning's Complete Safeguarding Training Suite
Sam Preston (Safeguarding Director) & Sara Spinks (SSS Author and Former Headteacher)
1 July 2025
