The Department for Education has released guidance outlining when teachers are entitled to physically restrain students in schools.

The guidance says that all members of school staff “have a legal power” to use “reasonable force” to prevent students from causing injury, committing a criminal offence, damaging property or causing disorder among pupils.

According to the DfE, reasonable force is defined as “using no more force than is necessary for the least amount of time, the application of which will depend on the circumstances”.

The DfE says that staff who are “likely” to need to use reasonable force should be “adequately trained in its safe and lawful use”, and school leaders should be responsible for making decisions on the training provided.

Appropriate use of ‘reasonable force’

The guidance says that “headteachers and staff they authorise” have a statutory power to search pupils if they have “reasonable grounds” to suspect they have prohibited items, but not belongings only banned by the school rules.

The guidance says that in order to do so, staff may use reasonable force in their efforts.

The DfE also advises that “schools should not have a no contact policy”, and they should refrain from granting “any requests by parents or staff members not to use reasonable force and/or other restrictive intervention”.

The guidance states: “The adoption of a no contact policy at a school can leave staff unable to intervene where reasonable in the circumstances to fully protect pupils. School leaders should adopt sensible policies which allow and support their staff to make appropriate physical contact.”

According to the guidance, school staff should consider whether the use of restrictive interventions is necessary and proportionate, and think about pupils’ welfare in each individual circumstance.

The updated guidance also provides clarity on the use of seclusion. The DfE says that seclusion should “only be used as a safety measure to protect others from harm when a pupil is experiencing high levels of emotional or behavioural dysregulation”.

It says the intervention should not be used by staff members “through threat of punishment” and that confined areas should be safe and “not feel threatening or intimidating”. They should have permanent supervision.

Pupils with SEND

The new guidance also sets out specific measures for how staff should work with pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

According to the DfE, pupils with SEND can be subject to “disproportionate” uses of restrictive interventions. To combat this, it says that schools should aim to understand “underlying triggers” of challenging behaviours, and utilise staff “who know individual pupils well”.

Prior to the updated guidance, unions had raised concerns about revisions on restraint, cautioning that the changes may result in pupils with SEND being treated unfairly.

As of September, schools are now required to report each “significant incident” involving the use of reasonable force, which the DfE defines as “any incident where the use of reasonable force goes beyond appropriate physical contact between pupils and staff”.

Previous Tes analysis showed that one in four primary teachers and leaders had to restrain a pupil in the first half term of the 2024-25 academic year.

In Scotland, a bill tabled by Labour MSP Daniel Johnson outlining statutory guidance on the use of restraint in schools currently sits at the first stage of the legislative process.

Scottish children’s commissioner Nicola Killean said the bill would be “absolutely vital” in giving greater protection to pupils.

The Scottish statutory guidance will be effective from April 2026.

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