Safeguarding

Learn everything your school needs to help keep all your students safe. Read on for information about safeguarding, safeguarding children and safeguarding in schools, in depth analysis from Tes Magazine and supporting training and products for your school.

Teacher stood analysing their safeguarding options

What is safeguarding?

Safeguarding is what we do to promote the welfare of children and keep them safe from harm. Safeguarding and promoting welfare includes:

  • Ensuring children grow up in circumstances that provide them with safe and effective care

  • Protecting children from maltreatment

  • Preventing impairment of children's mental and physical health or development

  • Taking steps to enable children to have the best outcomes

Safeguarding means taking a variety of actions including identifying and assessing risks, and providing support across all agencies and charities that work with children and young people. Each organisation has a specific role to play in safeguarding, and it's important that they work together to ensure that vulnerable individuals are protected.

Teachers protecting their students with safeguarding shields
  • Illustration of three teachers holding blue shields up, protecting a group of figures standing behind them

    Who is protecting the people who protect everyone else?

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  • Illustration of a teacher with a group of happy students, with icons around them showing a shield, phone, text message, and other safeguarding icons

    Safeguarding in schools in 2026: is ‘good enough’ still good enough?

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  • Illustration of a woman on a pink background, with four thought bubbles around her showing a warning sign, a question mark, a hand gesturing to stop, and a blue shield

    Reasonable force and restrictive physical intervention in schools

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  • Illustration of a folder with a blue-lined shield to represent safeguarding. Falling out of the folder are papers with pupils photos and details on them, illustrated question marks, smiley face and exclamation points are around the files.

    Safer recruitment in schools and the single central record

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  • Illustration of a child looking upset at their phone, with a group of people outlined behind them

    Bullying in schools: how to prevent and deal with bullying

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  • Illustration of a boy sat on the floor looking sad, with a teacher kneeling above him and icons around them showing a warning sign, money, camera, and padlock

    Child exploitation and safeguarding: signs of child exploitation and what to do if you spot them

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  • Robot surrounded by icons depicting the AI and the online world

    Artificial intelligence and safeguarding: children and AI

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  • Two polaroid pictures - one small and greyed out, one bigger and in colour

    The importance of seeing the bigger picture in safeguarding

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  • Polaroids next to a computer screen showing a child's life context

    How total safeguarding links to KCSIE

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  • Woman in wheelchair at desk communicating with another woman via laptop

    Reporting safeguarding concerns - your responsibilities as school staff

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  • Teacher stood with their students in a line

    Managing staff allegations of abuse

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  • Illustration of a woman sat at a desk with pen in hand. Another illustrated woman holding a book stands next to the desk looking concerned with her hand placed on the edge of the desk,

    Managing low-level concerns of staff allegations

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  • Man in front of computer surrounded by safeguarding icons

    A guide to selecting the best safeguarding software for schools

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  • Teacher stood with their students in a line

    How to stay safe online for students - 12 online safety tips to teach your students

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  • School surrounded by icons depicting abuse types

    The safeguarding types of abuse to be aware of

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  • Children on mobiles surrounded by icons signifying the online world

    Digital safeguarding in schools - how to protect students in a digital world

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  • Teacher sat at their desk using AI

    Safeguarding in a digital world: what are digital natives?

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  • What is digital resilience? 

    What is digital resilience?

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  • New Duty to Prevent Sexual Harassment: What it means for schools and colleges image

    New Duty to Prevent Sexual Harassment: What it means for schools and colleges

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  • illustrated teacher stood next to student at school desk. Next to them are two students, one boy and one girl, stood alongside a male teacher holding a clipboard.

    Child Protection vs Safeguarding: What is the difference?

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  • Teacher holding a safeguarding shield in front of their students

    Raising awareness of child-on-child abuse

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  • Teachers doing their safeguarding checks on a giant laptop

    Safeguarding - what schools need to do to help with compliance

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  • Students stood in a line in front of a safeguarding shield

    Why is safeguarding so important in schools?

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  • Teacher looking at safeguarding statistics

    The importance of managing safeguarding concerns

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  • A 7-step guide to Ofsted inspections image

    Safeguarding: A 7-step guide to Ofsted inspections

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  • Two students at desk. Ofsted report card is next to them

    Ofsted and safeguarding: how the new framework might impact schools

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  • Illustration of a girl on a smartphone, with a shield above her head. To her left is a circle with two adults in it, and to her right is a circle with a teacher in it.

    Why student voice matters in safeguarding

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  • Illustration of a woman holding a clipboard, with a blue safeguarding shield to her left.

    A guide to school safeguarding processes

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  • Robot surrounded by icons depicting the AI and the online world

    Beyond Efficiency: Why AI in Schools Must Be Both Evolutionary and Transformational

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  • Child crying amongst a crowd

    How does social media affect health and wellbeing of children?

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  • Teacher looking at safeguarding topics on their laptop

    Safeguarding: Understanding sextortion and deepfakes

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Safeguarding Report 2026 - coming soon!

Our UK Safeguarding Report 2026 is on its way. The report collates findings from our 2026 safeguarding survey, reflecting the views and experiences of thousands of school staff across the UK and rest of the world.

It offers a clear picture of safeguarding practice in schools today, identifying the factors that support proactive safeguarding and helping schools take practical steps towards embedding a proactive safeguarding culture in their setting.

The report will be released during Safeguarding Awareness Week – register now to be the first to receive it.

Register for early access

International Safeguarding Report 2026

Safeguarding articles from Tes Magazine

  • Person comforting another person with hand on shoulder

    School referrals to social services hit new high

    Schools made nearly 45,000 more social services referrals last year compared with a decade ago, DfE data shows

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  • Person holding a phone showing an AI generated image of a woman

    AI ‘girlfriend’ apps: what teachers need to know

    AI apps that simulate romantic relationships present a number of hidden dangers, says safeguarding lead Thomas Michael, who explains what schools can do to help protect students

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  • Countryside road with caution and school signs

    How Martyn’s Law will affect schools - and why leaders should act now

    Schools will already fulfil many of the requirements of new anti-terrorism legislation for public premises but there are still important new duties to consider, says Professor Michael Green

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  • Woman holding head in hands

    3 in 4 teachers warn misogyny is a big problem in schools

    Headteachers’ leaders call for more support and guidance to tackle misogyny in schools as new research suggests it is a growing issue

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  • Child looking at a tablet reading "parental control"

    KCSIE 2025: What has changed

    The DfE has published updated Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance for 2025 – here’s what schools need to know

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  • 5 major government safeguarding proposals schools should know Tes Magazine image

    5 major government safeguarding proposals schools should know

    From enhanced data sharing to the use of a single identifier for children, here’s how safeguarding will evolve next year.

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  • Social media in schools the pros and cons in a changing landscape Tes Magazine image

    Social media in schools: the pros and cons in a changing landscape

    With many schools reassessing their use of social media platforms, Nuzhat Uthmani weighs up the benefits and the potential challenges of having an online presence.

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  • My week as chief standards officer at City of London Academies Trust Tes Magazine image

    My week as...chief standards officer at City of London Academies Trust

    In our ‘My Week As’ series, a senior sector leader reveals what a typical week looks like in their role. Here, we talk to Mouhssin Ismail.

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  • Call to investigate impact of existing mental health support on pupils Tes Magazine image

    Call to investigate impact of existing mental health support on pupils

    NEU says schools ‘do not have the resources or staff to continue carrying the weight of a broken system’.

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  • Do your pupils understand the consequences of their online actions Tes Magazine image

    Do your pupils understand the consequences of their online actions?

    After the spread of misinformation online had disastrous consequences this summer, it’s an ideal time to explore digital responsibility with your pupils.

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  • My week as director of safeguarding at Endeavour Learning Trust Tes Magazine image

    My week as...director of safeguarding at Endeavour Learning Trust

    In our ‘My Week As’ series, a senior sector leader reveals what a typical week looks like in their role. For this article, we talk to Heather Fowler.

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  • Safeguarding are your male students caught in the manosphere Tes Magazine image

    Safeguarding: are your male students caught in ‘the manosphere’?

    Online misogyny is a growing problem, and it goes far beyond the rhetoric of Andrew Tate. Safeguarding lead Thomas Michael explores three key terms school staff should understand.

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  • 5,000 schools to play non-contact rugby under plan to grow the sport Tes Magazine image

    5,000 schools to play non-contact rugby under plan to grow the sport

    Change comes amid fears over players’ welfare – but full-contact rugby union should be offered for under-15s and up, says review led by MAT chief.

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Safeguarding children

All children and young people have a right to be and feel safe in your setting or organisation, and their parents or carers also have a right to expect that their child will be safe in your organisation’s care.

Find out more

Teacher stood with their students with stars above them

Safeguarding in schools

It's essential that everybody working in a school understands their safeguarding responsibilities. Here we explain what safeguarding in schools means and why it's so important.

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Teachers and students stood with a giant safeguarding shield

Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE)

Keeping Children Safe in Education is a vital part of safeguarding policy and procedures for education settings. On this page you will learn more about this important statutory guidance from the DfE. You will also find additional support that will help your school to comply with the guidance; helping to create a safe environment for all.

Teacher stood in front of their school with the students playing

Safeguarding FAQs

How we can help

We have great tools that can help you to safeguard the children in your care.

  • Teachers doing safeguarding checks

    Safeguarding training

    Keep your entire school community up to date with the latest safeguarding knowledge with unlimited access to over 80 expert-written online training courses in safeguarding, compliance, health and safety, and wellbeing.

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  • Teacher safeguarding her pupils

    MyConcern

    Support staff to easily record and monitor safeguarding concerns. Enabling early interventions by identifying trends and patterns and helping to inform decision-making with our case management system, MyConcern, now part of Tes.

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Stay at the forefront of safeguarding