# Does the serious violence duty apply to schools?

Source page: https://pupilprotect.co.uk/glossary/serious-violence  
Last updated: 2026-10-20  
Publisher: Pupil Protect (Glacier Labs Ltd)

> Schools aren't the main duty holders under the Serious Violence Duty. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 places the duty to plan and prevent serious violence on specified authorities such as the police, councils, youth offending teams, health and fire services. Schools, academies, independent schools and PRUs are 'educational authorities' (a type of 'relevant authority'): they must be consulted on the local strategy, must collaborate if asked, and must carry out actions the strategy gives them, subject to limits in section 15(7).

## The short answer

The Serious Violence Duty has two tiers.

- **Specified authorities** carry the main duty. They are listed in Schedule 1 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022: chief officers of police, fire and rescue authorities, probation services and youth offending teams, integrated care boards in England (local health boards in Wales), and county, district and unitary councils (statutory guidance, paragraph 20).
- **Relevant authorities** are a second group: educational, prison and youth custody authorities (section 15(1)). Schools fall here.

So schools are not named duty holders in the first tier. But they do have legal duties, which apply when the partnership involves them.

## Which schools count

Section 12 and Schedule 2 define "educational authority". For schools, it means:

- the governing body of a community, foundation or voluntary school, or community or foundation special school
- the proprietor of an academy, 16 to 19 academy or alternative provision academy
- the proprietor of a non-maintained special school approved under section 342 of the Education Act 1996
- the proprietor of any other registered independent school
- the management committee of a pupil referral unit

Schools used wholly for children under compulsory school age are excluded. Further education colleges are covered by a separate entry. A school is an educational authority for each local government area it is located in.

## What schools must do

| Duty | Where in the Act |
|---|---|
| Be **consulted** when the specified authorities prepare the local strategy | Section 8(4) |
| **Collaborate** with a specified authority or another relevant authority if asked | Section 15(3) and (5) |
| **Carry out actions** the strategy specifies for them | Sections 8(5) and 15(4) |
| **Have regard** to the Secretary of State's guidance | Section 19 |

Schools may also choose to collaborate without being asked (section 15(1)).

The duties to collaborate and to carry out actions don't apply where, or to the extent that, complying would be incompatible with another legal duty, would harm the school's ability to carry out its functions, would be disproportionate to the need, or would mean unreasonable costs (section 15(7)). The statutory guidance repeats these four limits (paragraph 300).

Section 16 also allows educational authorities to share information with specified authorities for the purposes of the duty, without breaching confidentiality. It doesn't override data protection law. The guidance says personal data about a specific child held by a school "should only be shared for the purposes of keeping children safe and promoting their welfare" (paragraph 299).

## What the statutory guidance asks of education

The Home Office statutory guidance was published in December 2022 and is still current. Its education section (paragraphs 291 to 300) says:

- Engagement in education "is a strong protective factor" against involvement in serious violence (paragraph 291).
- The partnership should choose a **strategic education representative** or group to link it with individual schools (paragraph 296). In practice, most schools will deal with the duty through that representative, not directly.
- Schools should provide data they already have to share under existing duties, such as data on exclusions and persistent absence (paragraph 299).
- Schools should give insight into risk factors for children locally, support the strategy, and deliver agreed actions at school level where required (paragraph 299).

## What KCSIE 2026 adds

KCSIE 2026 has a serious violence section in Part one (paragraphs 51 to 54) and in Annex A, both updated this year.

- **Weapons.** Staff should report any concern about a child carrying or using a weapon, or planning to, to the DSL. The DSL assesses the risk to the pupil and others and, depending on the risk, puts a safety and support plan in place (paragraph 51).
- **Who is at risk.** Risks are higher for children with disrupted education, such as suspensions, permanent exclusions or alternative provision, or a history of offending (paragraph 52).
- **Indicators.** Increased absence, a change in friendships or relationships with older people, a big drop in attainment, self-harm or changes in wellbeing, unexplained injuries, and unexplained gifts or possessions (Annex A).
- **Times and places.** Violence often peaks just before or after school and on journeys. Schools should try to understand where those places are and work with partners to make them safer (Annex A).
- **Support.** Early, evidence-based support, such as trusted adults, mentoring or therapeutic support, is vital. KCSIE points to the Youth Endowment Fund's guidance and self-assessment tool (paragraph 53).
- **Partners.** Home Office-funded Violence Reduction Units operate in 20 police force areas, and each must include at least one education representative in its core membership (Annex A).

KCSIE confirms that the duty "does not replace or duplicate existing safeguarding duties" (Annex A).

## What to do in practice

- **Find out who represents schools** on your local serious violence partnership or Violence Reduction Unit, and how to feed in.
- **Read the local strategy.** It is published (section 8(7)). Check whether it gives schools any actions.
- **Keep good data.** Concerns recorded with where and when they happened, alongside exclusion and attendance data, are what the partnership will ask for. See [contextual safeguarding](https://pupilprotect.co.uk/glossary/contextual-safeguarding).
- **Link to exploitation.** Serious violence and [child criminal exploitation](https://pupilprotect.co.uk/glossary/cce) often overlap.
- **Share lawfully.** Follow KCSIE and your data protection policy. See [information sharing in safeguarding](https://pupilprotect.co.uk/glossary/information-sharing).

## Questions

**What is the serious violence duty?**  
A legal duty in Part 2, Chapter 1 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, in force since 31 January 2023. It requires specified authorities in each local government area, such as the police, councils, youth offending teams, health and fire services, to work together to identify the kinds and causes of serious violence locally and to prepare, publish and carry out a strategy to prevent and reduce it.

**Does the serious violence duty apply to schools?**  
Yes, but as 'educational authorities', not as specified authorities. Schedule 2 of the Act lists governing bodies of maintained schools, proprietors of academies and independent schools, and PRU management committees, among others. They must be consulted on the local strategy, must collaborate with the partnership if asked, and must carry out actions the strategy specifies for them, unless one of the exceptions in section 15(7) applies.

**What is the serious violence duty statutory guidance?**  
The Home Office's Serious Violence Duty statutory guidance, published in December 2022. It is still the current version: when we checked GOV.UK on 20 October 2026 it had last been updated in June 2023, to add accessible versions. Paragraphs 291 to 300 are the section on education. Schools must have regard to it when exercising functions under the duty (section 19).

**What counts as serious violence?**  
The Act doesn't define it. Each partnership decides, considering the maximum penalty for the offences involved, the impact on victims, how common it is locally and its impact on the community (section 13(6)). Violence includes domestic abuse, sexual offences, violence against property and threats of violence, but not terrorism.

## Sources

- [Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, Part 2, Chapter 1: functions relating to serious violence, sections 8 to 19, in force 31 January 2023 (legislation.gov.uk)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/32/part/2/chapter/1), checked 2026-10-20
- [Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, Schedule 2: educational, prison and youth custody authorities](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/32/schedule/2), checked 2026-10-20
- [Serious Violence Duty: statutory guidance (Home Office, December 2022), paragraphs 5, 13, 20, 28 to 30 and 291 to 300](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/serious-violence-duty), checked 2026-10-20
- [Keeping children safe in education 2026 (DfE, in force from 1 September 2026): paragraphs 51 to 54, and Annex A, Serious violence](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6ac3c09c11ed58342ad8e4ac/Keeping_children_safe_in_education_2026.pdf), checked 2026-10-20

## Related

- [Child criminal exploitation and county lines](https://pupilprotect.co.uk/glossary/cce)
- [Contextual safeguarding](https://pupilprotect.co.uk/glossary/contextual-safeguarding): Mapping where pupils feel unsafe and sharing it with partners.
- [Information sharing in safeguarding](https://pupilprotect.co.uk/glossary/information-sharing)
- [Persistent and severe absence](https://pupilprotect.co.uk/glossary/persistent-absence)
- [Safeguarding and DSL jobs](https://pupilprotect.co.uk/jobs/role/safeguarding)

## In Pupil Protect

In Pupil Protect Safeguard, the report builder groups concerns by location, form, month or weekday. Pattern alerts flag 3 pupils in one form with child-on-child or online safety concerns within 14 days, so the DSL team can see where harm is clustering. [See pattern alerts in Safeguard](https://pupilprotect.co.uk/safeguard#patterns)