GovWire

Guidance: Use of reasonable force in schools

Department For Education

January 15
10:31 2025

class="gem-c-govspeak govuk-govspeak gem-c-govspeak--direction-ltr govuk-!-margin-bottom-0">

This is for school leaders and school staff.

It applies to:

  • local-authority-maintained schools
  • academies and free schools
  • pupil referral units
  • non-maintained special schools
  • independent schools

This guidance provides clarification on the use of force:

  • to help school staff feel more confident about using reasonable force when they feel it is necessary
  • to make clear the responsibilities of school leaders and governing bodies in respect of this power

Updates to this page

Published 17 July 2013
Last updated 15 January 2025 +show all updates
  1. 'Sixth-form colleges' removed from the 'it applies to' list on this page.

  2. First published.

Sign up for emails or print this page

Related Articles

Comments

  1. We don't have any comments for this article yet. Why not join in and start a discussion.

Write a Comment

Your name:
Your email:
Comments:

Post my comment

Recent Comments

Follow Us on Twitter

Share This


Enjoyed this? Why not share it with others if you've found it useful by using one of the tools below: