The short answer
The designated safeguarding lead (DSL) is responsible for online safety. Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) 2026 says the DSL “should take lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection (including online safety and understanding the filtering and monitoring systems and processes in place)”. It adds: “This should be explicit in the role holder’s job description” (paragraph 127 and Annex B).
So online safety isn’t a separate job that sits outside safeguarding. It is part of the DSL’s job.
Is there an official online safety lead?
No. Neither KCSIE 2026 nor the DfE’s filtering and monitoring standards create a role called “online safety lead”, “e-safety coordinator” or “digital safeguarding lead”. We checked both on 20 October 2026.
These titles are common in schools, and some writers have argued for a dedicated digital safeguarding role in every school. That is a proposal, not a requirement. If your school uses one of these titles, treat it as a local role that supports the DSL, not one that replaces them.
The only named roles in the guidance are:
| Role | Where it comes from | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Designated safeguarding lead | KCSIE paragraph 127, Annex B | Lead responsibility for safeguarding, including online safety and understanding filtering and monitoring |
| Deputy DSL | KCSIE paragraph 130, Annex B | Can carry out the DSL’s work if trained to the same standard |
| Senior leader responsible for filtering and monitoring | DfE filtering and monitoring standards, KCSIE paragraph 173 | Making sure the standards are met, leading the annual review |
| Governor responsible for filtering and monitoring | DfE filtering and monitoring standards | Governance oversight of the standards |
What can be delegated
KCSIE Annex B says the DSL’s activities “can be delegated to appropriately trained deputies”, but “the ultimate lead responsibility for child protection … remains with the designated safeguarding lead” and “should not be delegated”.
In practice, that gives schools three options:
- The DSL does it. Common in small schools.
- A deputy DSL leads on online safety day to day. They must be trained to the same standard as the DSL, and the role should be in their job description (KCSIE paragraph 130 and Annex B). This suits schools with a high volume of online cases.
- Another member of staff coordinates online safety teaching and resources. For example, a computing or PSHE lead. They are not dealing with safeguarding cases. Any concern about a child still goes to the DSL or a deputy.
Whatever you choose, write it down. Staff should know who to go to, and the job descriptions should match.
Filtering and monitoring: who does what
The DfE’s filtering and monitoring standards split the work four ways:
- Governors and proprietors have overall strategic responsibility. They should name a member of the senior leadership team and a governor to be responsible for meeting the standards.
- The senior leadership team scopes what the school needs, including for generative AI. It buys the systems, documents what is blocked and why, reviews how well they work and oversees reports.
- The DSL leads on safeguarding and online safety. That includes checking reports, responding to concerns that filtering and monitoring raise, and assuring governors that the systems work.
- IT support, in-house or contracted, maintains the systems, provides reports and acts on checks.
KCSIE 2026 says the annual review should be carried out by “the SLT member responsible for filtering and monitoring, with the support of the school’s designated safeguarding lead and IT support” (paragraph 173). The DSL can be that senior leader as well, if they are on the leadership team, but they don’t have to be. For the review itself, see our guide to filtering and monitoring in schools.
What the DSL needs to know
Annex B says the DSL’s training should help them “understand the unique risks associated with online safety” and have “the relevant knowledge and up to date capability required to keep children safe whilst they are online”. It also asks them to recognise the additional risks online for children with SEND.
KCSIE 2026 groups online risks into four areas: content, contact, conduct and commerce (paragraph 165). It has added generative AI to the contact risk, and AI-generated explicit images to the conduct risk.
What everyone else does
- All staff get online safety training at induction, including what is expected of them on filtering and monitoring. They get updates at least once a year (paragraph 12).
- Governors make online safety “a running and interrelated theme” across policies, the curriculum, staff training and the DSL’s role (paragraph 166).
- The child protection policy sets out the school’s approach to online safety, including filtering and monitoring (paragraph 169).
- Leaders should consider an annual review of the school’s whole approach to online safety, backed by a risk assessment (paragraph 181). KCSIE suggests the 360 safe tool or the LGfL online safety audit, and the UKCIS questions for governing boards (paragraph 182).