These Regulations may be cited as the Schools (Recording and Reporting of Seclusion and Restraint) (England) Regulations 2025.
The Schools (Recording and Reporting of Seclusion and Restraint) (England) Regulations 2025
Published: Thu 18th Dec 25
These Regulations establish comprehensive, mandatory procedures for schools in England, effective from 1st April 2026, requiring school staff to keep written records of every incident where a pupil is secluded, restrained, or immobilized, and mandating that these records (with specified safeguarding exceptions) are supplied to the pupil's parents as soon as practicable; the rules also amend the standards for independent and non-maintained special schools to enforce equivalent recording and reporting duties concerning seclusion, restraint, and use of force incidents.
Arguments For
Establishing clearer, mandatory procedures for accurately recording all instances where a pupil is secluded, restrained, or immobilized by school staff ensures accountability and provides essential data for safeguarding and policy review.
Mandating the timely reporting of these incidents to parents facilitates transparency between the school and the home, allowing for collaborative management of challenging student behaviour.
Applying consistent recording and reporting standards across schools maintained by local authorities, independent schools, and non-maintained special schools creates a level playing field regarding pupil welfare monitoring.
Including provisions to withhold information from parents if it poses a risk of significant harm to the pupil provides a necessary safeguarding mechanism, prioritizing the child's immediate welfare over automatic disclosure.
Arguments Against
Implementation across different school types (local authority maintained, independent, non-maintained) may lead to inconsistencies where existing bespoke procedures are already in place, potentially creating administrative burden during the transition to the 1st April 2026 commencement date.
The requirement to report incidents unless it causes 'significant harm' might lead to legal challenges regarding the definition and threshold of 'significant harm' in practice, forcing staff (R) to make difficult judgments.
Excluding 'use of force incidents' already recorded under Section 93A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 from these new regulations could lead to fragmented record-keeping if the scope of 'seclusion/restraint' significantly overlaps with 'use of force'.
The definition of 'seclusion' (detaining a pupil alone except for the staff member) and 'restraint' might be interpreted too broadly or narrowly by different school bodies, requiring ongoing clarification.
The Secretary of State enacted these Regulations by using legal authority granted under specific sections of the Education Act 1996 and the Education and Skills Act 2008.
Citation, commencement, extent and application1.
(1)
(2)
These Regulations come into force on 1st April 2026.
(3)
These Regulations extend to England and Wales.
(4)
These Regulations apply in relation to schools in England.
Regulation 1 establishes essential details of the instrument.
It sets the official title as the Schools (Recording and Reporting of Seclusion and Restraint) (England) Regulations 2025.
The rules become legally active on 1st April 2026.
Although they extend geographically to England and Wales, their actual application is limited specifically to schools located in England.
Interpretation2.
In these Regulations—
“parent”, in relation to a pupil, has the meaning given by section 576 of the Education Act 19963 in relation to a child or young person, but includes a local authority who provide accommodation for the pupil under section 20 of the Children Act 19894;
“seclusion or restraint incident” has the meaning given in regulation 4(1)(a).
Regulation 2 defines key terms used throughout the document.
The term 'parent' refers to the definition in Section 576 of the Education Act 1996, but it also explicitly includes a local authority if they are providing accommodation for the pupil under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989.
A 'seclusion or restraint incident' is defined by its meaning established in Regulation 4(1)(a).
Meaning of seclusion etc.3.
(1)
For the purposes of these Regulations a member of school staff (“S”) secludes a pupil (“P”) if they detain P alone in a place apart from any other person (except S) otherwise than as a disciplinary penalty, including by—
(a)
physically obstructing P’s way of leaving the place,
(b)
securing the place so that P cannot leave it, or
(c)
causing P to believe that they will be punished if they leave the place.
(2)
For the purposes of these Regulations S restrains or immobilises P if they restrict P’s movement otherwise than as a disciplinary penalty, including by—
(a)
holding or binding P’s body or part of it,
(b)
securing P to a fixed or heavy object, or
(c)
depriving P of an auxiliary aid that they usually use to help them move.
(3)
In this regulation “disciplinary penalty” has the same meaning as in Chapter 1 of Part 7 of the Education and Inspections Act 20065).
Regulation 3 precisely defines what constitutes 'seclusion,' 'restraint,' and 'immobilisation' for the purpose of these rules, provided the action is not taken as a 'disciplinary penalty.' Seclusion means detaining a pupil alone by physically blocking exit, securing the area, or causing the pupil to fear punishment for leaving.
Restraint or immobilisation involves restricting movement by holding, binding, securing the pupil to an object, or removing an aid they use for movement. 'Disciplinary penalty' takes its meaning from the Education and Inspections Act 2006.
Recording and reporting seclusion etc. by members of school staff4.
(1)
The governing body of a school maintained by a local authority must ensure that a procedure is in place for—
(a)
keeping a written record of each incident in which a member of the staff secludes, restrains or immobilises a pupil for whom education is being provided at the school (a “seclusion or restraint incident”), and
(b)
supplying a copy of that record (except those where the pupil is aged 20 or over or provision made under regulation 5 applies) to each parent of the pupil as soon as practicable after the incident.
(2)
The governing body must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the procedure is complied with.
(3)
The procedure must require that the record is made as soon as practicable after the incident.
For schools maintained by a local authority, the governing body must establish and enforce a procedure.
This procedure must require a written record ("seclusion or restraint incident") of any such event involving a pupil receiving education at the school.
The procedure must also ensure a copy of this record is given to the pupil's parent as soon as possible, unless the pupil is over 20 or Regulation 5 applies.
The governing body is responsible for taking reasonable steps to ensure compliance, and records must be written promptly after the incident occurs.
Provision for safeguarding of pupils5.
A procedure under regulation 4(1) must include provision to the effect—
(a)
that a person (“R”) who would otherwise be required by the procedure to supply a copy of a record of a seclusion or restraint incident to a parent must not supply it to that parent if it appears to R that doing so would be likely to result in significant harm to the pupil, and
(b)
that if it appears to R that there is no parent of the pupil to whom R could supply a copy of the record without that being likely to result in significant harm to the pupil, R must supply it to the local authority (within the meaning of the Children Act 1989) within whose area the pupil is ordinarily resident.
Regulation 5 requires the procedure mentioned in Regulation 4 to include safeguarding provisions.
A responsible person (R) must withhold the incident record from a parent if providing it is likely to cause significant harm to the pupil.
If there are no parents to whom the record can safely be disclosed, R must instead send the record to the local authority where the pupil normally lives, based on the Children Act 1989 definitions.
Use of force incidents6.
A procedure under regulation 4(1) need not provide for any action to be taken in relation to a seclusion or restraint incident that also constitutes a use of force incident within the meaning of section 93A of the Education and Inspections Act 20066 and therefore falls to be recorded under the procedure that is in place at the school in accordance with that section.
If an incident qualifies as both a seclusion/restraint incident under these rules and a 'use of force incident' requiring recording under Section 93A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, the procedure established under Regulation 4 does not need to mandate separate action for the seclusion/restraint aspect.
The recording required under Section 93A is sufficient.
Amendment of the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 20147.
(1)
The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 20147 are amended as follows.
(2)
In the Schedule (independent school standards)—
(a)
in Part 3 (welfare, health and safety of pupils), after paragraph 16, insert—
“16A.
(1)
The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor—
(a)
ensures that a procedure is in place for recording each use of force incident in accordance with section 93A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 (“the 2006 Act”);
(b)
ensures that a procedure is in place for recording each incident in which a member of the staff secludes, restrains or immobilises a pupil for whom education is being provided at the school (a “seclusion or restraint incident”); and
(c)
takes all reasonable steps to ensure that both procedures are complied with.
(2)
The procedure under sub-paragraph (1)(b) must require that the record is made in writing as soon as practicable after the incident.
(3)
The procedure under sub-paragraph (1)(b) need not provide for any action to be taken in relation to a seclusion or restraint incident that also constitutes a use of force incident within the meaning of section 93A of the 2006 Act and therefore falls to be recorded under the procedure referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(a).
(4)
For the purposes of this paragraph a member of school staff (“S”) secludes a pupil (“P”) if they detain P alone in a place apart from any other person (except S) otherwise than as a disciplinary penalty, including by—
(a)
physically obstructing P’s way of leaving the place;
(b)
securing the place so that P cannot leave it; or
(c)
causing P to believe that they will be punished if they leave the place.
(5)
For the purposes of this paragraph a member of staff (“S”) restrains or immobilises a pupil (“P”) if they restrict P’s movement otherwise than as a disciplinary penalty, including by—
(a)
holding or binding P’s body or part of it;
(b)
securing P to a fixed or heavy object; or
(c)
depriving P of an auxiliary aid that they usually use to help them move.
(6)
In this paragraph—
“disciplinary penalty” has the same meaning as in Chapter 1 of Part 7 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006;
“staff” includes supply staff and volunteers.”, and
(b)
in Part 6 (provision of information)—
(i)
before paragraph 32 insert—
“31A.
The standards about the provision of information by the school are those contained in this Part.”,
(ii)
in paragraph 32(1), for “about the provision of information by the school”, substitute “in this paragraph”
, and
(iii)
after paragraph 32, insert—
“32A.
(1)
The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor—
(a)
ensures that the procedures for recording use of force incidents and seclusion and restraint incidents referred to in paragraph 16A(1)(a) and (b) include procedures for information about each such incident (except where the pupil concerned is aged 20 or over or provision made under sub-paragraph (2) applies) to be provided to each parent of the pupil as soon as practicable after the incident; and
(b)
takes all reasonable steps to ensure that those procedures are complied with.
(2)
A procedure under sub-paragraph (1)(a) must include provision to the effect—
(a)
that a person (“R”) who would otherwise be required by the procedure to provide a parent with information about an incident must not provide it to that parent if it appears to R that doing so would be likely to result in significant harm to the pupil; and
(b)
that if it appears to R that there is no parent of the pupil to whom R could provide information about the incident without that being likely to result in significant harm to the pupil, R must provide information about the incident to the local authority (within the meaning of the 1989 Act) within whose area the pupil is ordinarily resident.
(3)
In this paragraph “parent”, in relation to a pupil, has the meaning given by section 576 of the Education Act 1996 in relation to a child or young person, but includes a local authority who provide accommodation for the pupil under section 20 of the 1989 Act.”.
Regulation 7 amends the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, applying new duties to independent schools.
Owners (proprietors) must implement procedures to record both use of force incidents (under the 2006 Act) and seclusion/restraint incidents (as defined locally).
They must also ensure reports on seclusion/restraint incidents are provided to parents promptly, unless the pupil is over 20 or disclosure risks significant harm, in which case the local authority receives the report.
The definitions for seclusion, restraint, and parentage are mirrored from the earlier regulations, and staff now explicitly includes supply staff and volunteers.
Amendment of the Non-Maintained Special Schools (England) Regulations 20158.
(1)
The Non-Maintained Special Schools (England) Regulations 20158 are amended as follows.
(2)
In the Schedule, in Part 2 (requirements to be complied with by a school while approved under section 342(1) of the Education Act 1996), after paragraph 27, insert—
“Reporting and recording of use of force, seclusion and restraint
27A.
(1)
The proprietor must—
(a)
ensure that a procedure for recording and reporting use of force incidents is in place in accordance with section 93A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 (“the 2006 Act”), and
(b)
ensure that a procedure is in place for—
(i)
recording each incident in which a member of the staff secludes, restrains or immobilises a pupil for whom education is being provided at the school (a “seclusion or restraint incident”), and
(ii)
reporting each seclusion or restraint incident (except those where the pupil is aged 20 or over or provision made under sub-paragraph (4) applies) to each parent of the pupil as soon as practicable after the incident, and
(c)
take all reasonable steps to ensure that both procedures are complied with.
(2)
The procedure under sub-paragraph (1)(b) must require that a record of a seclusion or restraint incident is made in writing as soon as practicable after the incident.
(3)
The procedure under sub-paragraph (1)(b) need not provide for any action to be taken in relation to a seclusion or restraint incident that also constitutes a use of force incident within the meaning of section 93A of the 2006 Act and therefore falls to be recorded under the procedure referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(a).
(4)
The procedure under sub-paragraph (1)(b) must include provision to the effect—
(a)
that a person (“R”) who would otherwise be required by the procedure to report an incident to a parent must not report it to that parent if it appears to R that doing so would be likely to result in significant harm to the pupil, and
(b)
that if it appears to R that there is no parent of the pupil to whom R could report the incident without that being likely to result in significant harm to the pupil, R must report the incident to the local authority (within the meaning of the 1989 Act) within whose area the pupil is ordinarily resident.
(5)
A procedure for recording incidents under sub-paragraph (1)(a) or (b) may provide for incidents to be recorded in the incident book kept under paragraph 27.
(6)
For the purposes of this paragraph a member of school staff (“S”) secludes a pupil (“P”) if they detain P alone in a place apart from any other person (except S) otherwise than as a disciplinary penalty, including by—
(a)
physically obstructing P’s way of leaving the place,
(b)
securing the place so that P cannot leave it, or
(c)
causing P to believe that they will be punished if they leave the place.
(7)
For the purposes of this paragraph a member of school staff (“S”) restrains or immobilises a pupil (“P”) if they restrict P’s movement otherwise than as a disciplinary penalty, including by—
(a)
holding or binding P’s body or part of it,
(b)
securing P to a fixed or heavy object, or
(c)
depriving P of an auxiliary aid that they usually use to help them move.
(8)
In this paragraph—
“disciplinary penalty” has the same meaning as in Chapter 1 of Part 7 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006;
“parent”, in relation to a pupil, has the meaning given by section 576 of the 1996 Act in relation to a child or young person, but includes a local authority who provide accommodation for the pupil under section 20 of the Children Act 1989;
“staff” includes supply staff and volunteers.”.
Regulation 8 updates the Non-Maintained Special Schools (England) Regulations 2015 to impose equivalent requirements on these specific schools.
The proprietor must ensure procedures exist to record use of force and seclusion/restraint incidents, and to report restraint/seclusion incidents to parents promptly, subject to safeguarding exceptions (pupils over 20 or risk of significant harm requiring LA notification).
Definitions for seclusion, restraint, and parent are consistent with previous sections, and 'staff' includes supply staff and volunteers.
Olivia Bailey
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Department for Education
This section records the signing of the statutory instrument.
The Regulations were made by Olivia Bailey, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department for Education, on 15th December 2025.
Explanatory Note
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations impose duties relating to the recording of incidents where pupils at schools in England are secluded, restrained or immobilised by members of staff, and informing parents about such incidents.
Regulation 3 sets out what these Regulations mean when they refer to secluding, restraining or immobilising a pupil.
Regulation 4 imposes the main duties in relation to schools maintained by local authorities. The governing body must ensure that their school has, and follows, a procedure for keeping a record of any incident of this kind and for providing a copy of that record to the pupil’s parent or parents (as defined in regulation 2). But regulation 5 adds that a copy should not be given to a parent if that would result in harm coming to the pupil.
There is a separate requirement, in section 93A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 (“the 2006 Act”), for schools to have procedures for recording and informing parents of incidents when force is used against pupils. Regulation 6 of these Regulations provides that, if an incident would qualify to be recorded and reported under both section 93A of the 2006 Act and these Regulations, it need only be handled under section 93A.
The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (“the 2014 Regulations”) set out the main regulatory requirements for independent schools. Regulation 7 of these Regulations amends the 2014 Regulations so that those regulatory requirements include duties of recording and reporting seclusion and restraint similar to the ones that regulations 3 to 6 impose on schools maintained by local authorities.
Similarly, regulation 8 amends the Non-Maintained Special Schools (England) Regulations 2015 so that the main regulatory requirements for non-maintained special schools also include equivalent duties.
Regulations 7 and 8 also provide for the reporting and recording of uses of force to be incorporated into the regulatory requirements for independent schools and non-maintained special schools respectively.
An Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside this instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.
The Explanatory Note details the purpose and structure of the Regulations.
It clarifies that the primary duty is recording seclusion/restraint incidents and informing parents in schools maintained by local authorities, subject to safeguarding review as per Regulation 5.
It notes that incidents already covered by the use of force rules (Section 93A of the 2006 Act) only need to be managed under those existing rules (Regulation 6).
Finally, it explains that Regulations 7 and 8 extend these recording and reporting obligations, including those relating to use of force, to the regulatory standards governing independent schools and non-maintained special schools.
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