Restraint in Schools in England
The government are consulting on new draft guidance
After more than a decade campaigning on the misuse of restraint in schools along with family carer campaigners and others, we are pleased to share that the Department for Education have committed to:
- Introduce a legal requirement for schools to record every significant incident of use of force and report these incidents to the parents of the pupils involved, effective from September 2025
- Revise the Department for Education Guidance on the “Use of Force” with an emphasis on the need to minimise the need for all restrictive interventions by focussing on prevention and de-escalation strategies and data analysis.
A draft of the revised guidance is now available, and a consultation is being held.
The Department for Education has stated that a future work programme will use the collected evidence and consultation responses to consider whether the Department develops and delivers additional targeted policy interventions and to consider any outstanding Equality and Human Rights Commission recommendations.
We encourage everyone to respond to this important consultation. The consultation closes on 29th April 2025.
To find out more about the concerns that have been raised about the use of restraint in schools, the Department for Education proposals and how we would like to see the guidance further strengthened, see: