91����

The Department for Education has been accused of showing “scant regard” for schools after it published a raft of significant policy updates just weeks before the end of term.

There are concerns that new and updated DfE guidance regarding safeguarding, exclusions and enrichment has left schools without the time needed to implement the changes required, with leaders describing the situation as “unprecedented”.

Since June, the DfE has outlined updates or additional expectations for schools in numerous policy documents, with an expectation that they will be compliant with these changes at the start of the next academic year.

This includes:

• Teacher pay
• Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE)
• Updates to Working Together to Improve School Attendance
• Changes to Ofsted inspections for 2026-27
• New enrichment framework and benchmarks

The updates come amid existing worries about workload pressures among teachers and school staff.

Leora Cruddas, chief executive at the Confederation of School Trusts, said: “School trusts support the principle of many of the government’s reforms, but we need to be realistic about the speed and scale of change.

“Late announcements on policy and funding severely limit the ability of trusts to plan ahead, and this is before considering the sheer amount and level of detail in many of the changes. We need government to put much more trust in professional judgement, rather than attempt to prescribe everything.”

Late DfE policy updates

Safeguarding responsibilities outlined in KCSIE have been broadened, with schools expected to adhere to new guidance on pupils questioning their gender, AI-generated deepfakes and data protection, among other topics.

The DfE has also offered “greater clarity” in its expectations surrounding , with schools now expected to register pupils at the same time every day and .

New enrichment benchmarks have also been published, outlining schools’ responsibilities in providing activities across five different categories, including “strategically aligned” and “broad and well-rounded” offers.

There have also been updates to teacher pay and Ofsted inspections, and schools are expected to adhere to all of the updates by the start of the 2026-27 academic year.

For Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, the circumstances and timeframe are “far from ideal”.

He told 91����: “The volume of policy updates and expectations published by the DfE late in the summer term shows scant regard for school planning and the wellbeing of the workforce.”

Pointing to updates on safeguarding responsibilities, Mr Di’Iasio questioned “how on earth” the DfE could expect schools to digest, update and train staff in the timeframe provided.

“Schools have not had anywhere near enough time to make sense of these requirements and implement them, and they will be left doing the best they can in circumstances which are far from ideal and could have been avoided,” he told 91����.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said: “Being landed with this avalanche of guidance and updates so close to the end of the school year has been deeply unhelpful.”

Mr Whiteman told 91���� that it is “extremely difficult” for schools to digest so much guidance, and said it shows “a lack of regard” for workload implications.

“We appreciate the political turmoil has had an impact and led to some delays, including to the pay award announcement, but schools should not pay the price for this and the DfE must do better in future,” he said.

“There is also a bigger question over how much of the guidance thrust upon schools is really necessary and useful, and we would urge the department and government to ask these questions every time new advice is being considered.”

Under-pressure staff consider leaving

Simon Oxenham, chief operating officer at The Woodard Academies Trust and finance lead for the Institute of School Business Leadership, told 91���� that the DfE is creating “workplace chaos” in updating guidance so late.

“The mess the DfE have created is unprecedented, with some long-serving colleagues suggesting they are considering leaving the sector as the pressure coming from the fear of non-compliance is too great a burden,” he said.

“To think we can collate, digest all the new information, and amend a raft of policies and procedures whilst simultaneously updating budgets, doing free school meals eligibility checks, managing summer works projects, and then expect us to shoehorn additional meetings into September to get approvals done, suggests a total lack of understanding and appreciation of the sector.”

Mr Oxenham added that he believes the DfE has been “strategically ambiguous” in its delivery and made working groups in the sector “impotent” by not listening or consulting before decisions are made.

Julia Polley, headteacher at The Wensleydale School, a comprehensive in North Yorkshire, said the DfE has delivered “mixed messages” and a “huge overload of additional work” for schools and trusts, particularly those that may enter the window for Ofsted inspection in September.

The DfE has been approached for comment.

��

��

��