GOV.UK
Guidance
Searching, screening and confiscation at school
- From:
- Department for Education
- Part of:
- Schools: departmental advice and School and college behaviour and attendance
- Published:
- 14 February 2014
- Last updated:
- 23 September 2016, see all updates
- Applies to:
- England
Guidance explaining the powers schools have to screen and search pupils, and to confiscate items they find.
Documents
Searching, screening and confiscation: advice for schools
Ref: DFE-00034-2014 PDF, 278KB, 16 pages
Details
This is for:
- school leaders
- school staff
- governing bodies
- local authorities
It applies to:
- local-authority-maintained schools
- academies and free schools
- pupil referral units (these provide education for children who can’t go to a mainstream school)
- non-maintained special schools (for children with special educational needs that the Secretary of State for Education has approved under section 342 of the Education Act 1996)
The guidance covers:
- powers to search without consent
- prohibited items schools can search for
- powers to confiscate items found during searches
Document information
Published: 14 February 2014
Updated: 23 September 2016
- Added link on p.13 to the UK Council for Child Internet Safety’s advice on responding to ‘Sexting in schools and colleges’.
- First published.