By Neil Smith, ASCL Independent Sector Specialist

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 gained Royal Assent on 29 April, and while much of its content is specific to children studying in state schools, there are important features which apply to all children and educational settings. What follows is a summary of my initial thoughts on these features:

1.    Use of mobile phones in schools: the previously non-statutory guidance will become statutory, and schools to have a policy that prohibits the use and possession of smartphones by pupils during the school day.

2.    Referral to the Teaching Regulation Agency: the categories of those who will be liable for referral has been expanded to include those working in FE, independent training providers, online schools and independent educational institutions which previously were not categorised as schools. 

3.    Extension of the Secretary of State’s powers with regard to private schools: new powers will be issued over such matters as unauthorised material changes, serious concerns over regulatory or safeguarding failings which could result in the Secretary of State temporarily closing a school or sending Ofsted in to inspect provision.

4.    Greater collaboration over safeguarding: 

• Ofsted and ISI will no longer require DfE action to allow sharing of information.
• Each child will be issued with a single identifying number to simplify review of potential safeguarding and welfare issues across different agencies.
• The Act requires safeguarding partners such as local authorities, the NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) and police forces to establish at least one multi-agency child protection team in each council area. These multi-agency teams must include someone with education experience. The role of this person will be to bring insights on the experiences of children locally, and on how arrangements impact on the education and childcare system. DSLs in independent schools should therefore be aware who this education sector representative is and be willing to share relevant information with them. 

5.    Material changes: further information is expected on the changes to material applications, but the Act introduces three new categories of material change:

• Buildings occupied by the education provider and made available for student use.
• Whether the education provider is a special institution.
• Where the provider is a special institution, a change to the type or types of special educational needs for which it makes provision.

6.    Fit and proper proprietors: the Act requires a proprietor, or those with certain significant roles in a proprietor body, to be “fit and proper”, in addition to the existing due diligence checks, before the individual, or Chair of a proprietor body, is approved to run or open an independent school.

As stated in the introduction, most of the changes introduced by the Act apply principally to state schools, and where they do affect other schools, it appears at this stage as though the ‘target’ is unauthorised private schools and unsuitable owners. However, over time, the increased powers for the DfE over private schools may well be applied in mainstream independent schools. The real implications of this Act for mainstream independent schools may therefore be felt in the medium to long term rather than the immediate future.