Policy paper

How DfE handles whistleblowing disclosures

Published 10 June 2025

Applies to England

What is whistleblowing 

Whistleblowing is the disclosure of information which, in the reasonable belief of the whistleblower, is made in the public interest.  Whistleblowing disclosures tend to show that one or more of the following has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur: 

• a criminal offence (this may include, for example, types of financial impropriety such as fraud) 
• a breach of a legal obligation 
• a miscarriage of justice 
• danger to the health or safety of any individual 
• damage to the environment 
• deliberate covering up of wrongdoing in the above categories

You can make a whistleblowing disclosure directly to DfE.

Your employer is also required to have appropriate whistleblowing procedures in place that ensure that concerns are handled properly and fairly. 

Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA), you have additional protections if you are a worker raising a concern in the public interest and you have privileged knowledge of the educational institution.  

How we define whistleblowing 

DfE use a definition of whistleblowing distinct from the legal definition. This is to protect volunteers and employees. 

We define whistleblowing as: 

A public interest concern about wrongdoing, malpractice or poor practice raised by any individual or group of individuals who can reasonably be expected to have privileged knowledge of the governance or administration of the institution (such as a current or recent member of staff, or a current or recent member of the governing body). 

Your disclosure 

Your disclosure will be subject to: 

• confidentiality

• anonymity

• DfE’s data retention policy 

As a whistleblower, you are protected by law, and you should not be treated unfairly or lose your job because you raised a concern.  

What we will do with your disclosure 

After receiving your disclosure, we’ll assign it to the relevant team. They will then: 

• gather further information 

• refer the case to another organisation (for example, Ofsted or the police) if necessary 

If there is sufficient evidence, we will look to hold individuals or organisations to account. Depending on our findings, our actions will include: 

• seeking assurances that an academy trust is meeting its statutory requirements 

• using our intervention powers as outlined in the academy trust handbook and support and intervention in schools statutory guidance

• publishing an investigation report in line with our investigation publishing policy

• referring to the police for consideration of criminal sanctions 

• referring to regulatory bodies including the Charity Commission and Insolvency Service 

• recovering funds and possibly termination of contracts 

Confidentiality 

Unless DfE are under a legal obligation to do so, we will not share your personal details with any third party without first obtaining your consent.

We also owe a duty of confidentiality to others and will not be able to share details of any action which we have deemed appropriate.

Anonymity 

You can disclose information anonymously.

This may make it harder for you to benefit from the protections of PIDA. This is because an anonymous disclosure may make it difficult to show that any detriment you may experience has occurred.

Making an anonymous disclosure may also make it harder for us to conduct any potential investigations.

Data retention 

Our retention policy means that we will keep your information for up to 10 years. If you have not been in contact with DfE for 5 years, we may reach out to you asking if you would like your information deleted or de-activated from our system.  

If you choose to have your information de-activated, it means your information will be retained on the data system but not visible by everyday users.  

There are circumstances where we may need to keep your information indefinitely for research and statistical purposes. There are measures to safeguard this information.