FAQs on regulated activity with children and young people

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 removed the supervision exemption from the definition of regulated activity with children. Previously, certain activities carried out by volunteers could fall outside regulated activity because a person already in regulated activity – such as a teacher – supervised them sufficiently.

From 1 September 2026, a volunteer who teaches, trains, instructs, cares for, or supervises children is in regulated activity where the relevant frequency or overnight criteria are met, even if a teacher is present throughout.
 

Regulated activity is work that a person barred from working with children must not undertake. It is an offence for a barred person to engage in regulated activity, and for someone to permit a barred person to do so. Schools therefore need to establish that affected volunteers are not barred from working with children.

The September change concerns the supervision exemption. It does not replace the wider definition of regulated activity or mean that every role involving contact with children automatically qualifies.

The main group affected is volunteers whose work was previously treated as outside regulated activity because they were supervised. Examples include regular reading helpers, classroom volunteers, and volunteers helping on overnight school trips.

DfE guidance explains that paid school staff who have contact with children are already in regulated activity, so this change principally affects volunteers in schools. 

DfE guidance refers to activities undertaken frequently, on more than three days in a 30-day period, or overnight. DBS specifies the overnight period as between 2am and 6am. A weekly reading volunteer is an example of someone affected; a volunteer helping once a month ordinarily does not meet the frequency threshold for this activity.

For the “more than three days” test, count days within a rolling 30-day period – not simply within a calendar month. Four qualifying days meet that test.

Yes, qualifying activities across multiple settings count towards the period condition. Someone who volunteers on four days within the relevant period, each at a different school, can therefore be in regulated activity even though they attend each school only once.

Schools should ask volunteers about relevant activity elsewhere. The DfE encourages schools to work together to decide who applies for the enhanced DBS check with children’s barred list information, with the volunteer providing details to each setting.

Volunteers engaging in regulated activity need an enhanced DBS check with children’s barred list information. An enhanced DBS certificate without that information does not establish the person’s children’s barred list status.

For an existing volunteer newly brought into regulated activity by the change, KCSIE 2026 paragraph 385 states that the school or college must check their children’s barred list status.

No. Review the role and the checks already obtained rather than automatically rechecking every volunteer. The key questions are whether the role now falls within regulated activity and whether the existing checks included children’s barred list information.

Where an affected volunteer has a recent enhanced DBS check without barred list information and no break in service, the DfE permits eligible schools and colleges to obtain a standalone children’s barred list check. Otherwise, the normal route is an enhanced DBS check with children’s barred list information.
 

Eligible schools and colleges can obtain one through the DfE’s check a teacher’s record service. Despite its name, the service can be used for affected volunteers in the limited circumstances specified by the DfE.

The DfE says this route should only be used where:

• the person will begin regulated activity before receiving their DBS certificate.
• the school has recently obtained an enhanced DBS check without children’s barred list information and there has been no break in service.

Do not assume that supervision alone makes this acceptable. The role remains regulated activity where the criteria are met.

DBS explains that the legislative change itself does not automatically require organisations to suspend someone merely because an application is being processed. However, decisions must take account of sector-specific requirements; schools must follow DfE guidance and KCSIE, including the requirements for checking barred list status.

For eligible schools, the DfE provides the standalone barred list route where a volunteer will begin regulated activity before the certificate arrives. KCSIE also states that a volunteer on whom no checks have been obtained must not be left unsupervised or allowed to work in regulated activity.
 

Yes. KCSIE 2026 paragraph 386 states that volunteers must not begin working in settings covered by the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework until the enhanced DBS certificate with children’s barred list information has been received. This is particularly relevant to school-based nursery and reception provision.

Schools must therefore check the applicable EYFS requirements rather than assume that the arrangements available elsewhere in the school can be used in early years.
 

They cannot continue undertaking regulated activity. The DfE states that a barred person volunteering in a supervised role affected by the change would need to inform the setting and immediately cease volunteering in regulated activity. Continuing supervision does not make that activity permissible.

DBS checks for volunteers are free of charge. The DBS Update Service is also free for volunteers and can enable employers to check the status of an appropriate certificate without applying for a new check.

No. “Not in regulated activity” does not mean “no safeguarding checks or assessment needed.” KCSIE expects schools to consider the role and use a recorded risk assessment to determine appropriate checks for volunteers outside regulated activity.

Depending on the role, the appropriate check may be an enhanced DBS check without barred list information or a basic DBS check. Children’s barred list checks are not available simply because a person may encounter children; eligibility depends on the role.
 

No. The change concerns whether supervision removes a role from regulated activity – not whether supervision is useful or appropriate. Schools can continue to supervise volunteers and use other safeguards; supervision simply cannot substitute for the checks required for regulated activity.

The change also applies to sports clubs, charities, youth organisations, outdoor activity providers, and cultural organisations where the regulated activity criteria are met.

As a practical review step, schools should ask relevant providers whether they have reassessed affected roles and checking arrangements. This is especially pertinent where a provider previously relied on a senior instructor or coach supervising another adult.