Guidance

Searching, screening and confiscation at school

• From: Department for Education
• 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.

Document

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

+ full page history

1. 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’.
2. 14 February 2014 First published.

From: Department for Education