DfE Statutory Guidance update: Use of Reasonable Force in Schools – How Handsam Can Help

The new DfE Statutory Guidance update on ‘Restrictive interventions, including use of reasonable force, in schools’ came into force for all schools in England on 1st April 2026. The full guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/use-of-reasonable-force-in-schools

This wholly replaces the previous guidance which was entitled ‘Use of reasonable force’.

Clients should be aware that the new guidance is significantly different, for example mandating that ‘Schools should not have a ‘no contact’ policy’. It also introduces a new category of Seclusion, redefines clearly some other terminology, such as the difference between Restraint and Restrictive Intervention, and vastly increases the requirement for recording and reporting.

What is a ‘Seclusion’?

The new guidance defines Seclusion as ‘a non-disciplinary intervention involving keeping a pupil confined to a place away from others and prevented from leaving’ and confirms that Seclusion ‘should only be used as a safety measure to protect others from harm when a pupil is experiencing high levels of emotional or behavioural dysregulation. In such circumstances, the pupil is not acting with intent. Seclusion should not be implemented by staff through threat of punishment. The place to which the pupil is confined should be safe and not feel threatening or intimidating to the pupil. The pupil should be supervised at all times during the period of seclusion. As soon as the immediate risk of harm has reduced, the pupil should be allowed to leave.’ (see page 8 of the guidance)

Recording and Reporting

Page 14 of the new guidance confirms the vastly increased duties to record and report on any of these interventions. All of them need to be recorded and in a higher level of details than has ever been required before.

There is then also a duty on schools to ‘evaluate all incidents involving the use of restrictive intervention as soon as practicable after the event to understand why it was used, the impact on pupils and staff, any patterns and trends, and how the use of restrictive interventions might be avoided in future, for example by amending or introducing a behaviour support plan.’

Also, the guidance states that all incidents ‘must be recorded as soon as practicable after the event. It should be recorded by the staff member(s) involved and they should endeavour to do this no later than the same day. The procedure must require that a record of any such incident is made in writing as soon as practicable after the incident. The requirement to record applies even if the use of restrictive interventions in certain circumstances is agreed with parents as part of a pupil’s behaviour support plan.’

Policy Updates

Additionally, school/academy/trust policies will need to be updated to reflect the new statutory guidance. Handsam Ltd can assist with this.

Handsam Support

Please contact info@handsam.co.uk if you would like to book a demonstration of the Handsam behaviour module which covers all these recording and reporting needs and/or would like to benefit from policy support and our team will assist you.

Schools should record the following details as a minimum:

• Names of pupil and staff directly involved;

• Any relevant needs or circumstances of the pupil, including whether the pupil involved has an identified special educational need or disability and their SEN status code;

• Time, date, location and approximate duration of the intervention;

• Brief account of the incident, including what led up to the incident, identified or potential triggers if known, any preventative or de-escalation strategies used, and (where relevant) what type of reasonable force was applied, the degree of force, and details of any physical injuries sustained;

• Brief account of why the use of force was assessed as necessary in that instance; and

• Any post-incident support, such as details of any medical treatment for injuries or other adverse impacts Schools may also wish to record additional details to support their evaluation of incidents to identify best practices and areas for improvement. For example, the pupil’s and/or witnesses’ accounts of what happened, when and how parents were notified, and what follow-up has taken place.

Finally, parents [carers] must be informed ‘as soon as practicable after the incident, and they [schools] should endeavour to do this no later than the same day.’

All of this can now be achieved in the newly updated Behaviour module of the Handsam system. The system allows you to record simply which type of restrictive intervention was utilised, when, where, why and who by and towards in a format which will be very familiar to Handsam system users. Reports can be run at local school/academy level and at trust level to evaluate and trends and patterns, notably relating to individuals. The definitions are also clearly displayed in the system allowing staff to become familiar with them and understand the differences in a straightforward manner, while parents can be alerted via the module too.