GOV.UK
Guidance
Searching, screening and confiscation at school
Guidance explaining the powers schools have to screen and search pupils, and to confiscate items they find.
Document
Detail
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