KCSiE 2026: What are the new expectations for filtering and monitoring?
Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2026 brings in new requirements for schools’ senior leadership team (SLT) to review the filtering and monitoring systems they have in place.
What is filtering and monitoring?
Filtering and monitoring refers to the online safety systems schools and colleges use to restrict access to harmful content and track online activity across their networks and devices. These safeguards are a key part of a school's safeguarding duties, helping to protect children from inappropriate or dangerous material online.
What did the previous guidance require and what has changed?
The previous guidance required governing bodies and proprietors to ensure their school or college had appropriate filtering and monitoring systems in place and to regularly review their effectiveness (KCSIE 2025: paragraph 140).
This requirement's been built upon in the new guidance (KCSIE 2026: paragraph 171), which now requires the review to be undertaken at least once every academic year.
That review must be carried out by the SLT member responsible for filtering and monitoring, with support from the school’s designated safeguarding lead and IT support.
What do schools need to do now?
You'll need to update your policy to reflect the new requirement for an annual filtering and monitoring review and, importantly, ensure you have:
- An SLT member responsible for filtering and monitoring.
- A process to ensure a review led by that SLT member takes place every academic year.
- Evidence that a review has taken place.
Training and support for your SLT lead
Your SLT member responsible for filtering and monitoring may need training and support to keep up to date with what filtering and monitoring systems can offer. An understanding of the DfE filtering and monitoring standards is a good place to start - without that knowledge, it's difficult for them to carry out an informed review.
KCSiE 2026: Key changes and next steps
Our free resource hub to help schools and colleges understand what's different, what it means for your organisation, and what actions to take now.
Contents
- KCSiE 2026: DSL cover arrangements – what does the guidance require?
- KCSiE 2026: Expanded guidance on mental health in schools
- KCSiE 2026: Guide to key changes in the definitions of abuse
- KCSiE 2026: Managing allegations against individuals not employed by your school or trust
- KCSiE 2026: New cross-cutting obligations on misogyny and misandry
- KCSiE 2026: New guidance brings changes to work experience supervision
- KCSiE 2026: New guidance on gender-questioning children
- KCSiE 2026: New guidance relating to child-on-child abuse
- KCSiE 2026: Online search requirements for schools softened
- KCSiE 2026: Safeguarding children with medical conditions in schools
- KCSiE 2026: Volunteers and removal of the 'supervision exemption'
- KCSiE 2026: What schools need to know about child exploitation
- KCSiE 2026: What the statutory mobile phone guidance means for schools
Contact
Dai Durbridge
Partner
dai.durbridge@brownejacobson.com
+44 (0)330 045 2105
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