How long to keep a child protection file
Enter a child’s date of birth to find when their child protection file can be reviewed for deletion.
- Based on the IRMS toolkitThe retention schedule most schools in England use, plus KCSIE 2026. Checked 20 October 2026.
- Nothing you enter leaves your browserThe calculator runs on this page. Nothing is sent or stored.
Find the review date
For the child protection file held by the last school the child attended.
Guidance, not legal advice. Your school’s or trust’s retention schedule comes first. If you’re unsure, ask your data protection officer or local authority.
The rules
There’s no law that sets one period for every school. Most schools follow the IRMS toolkit.
- Child protection files: the 25th birthday, then review
The IRMS Information Management Toolkit for Schools says to keep child protection information held in a separate file until the child’s date of birth plus 25 years, then review it. The period was agreed with the Safeguarding Children Group, on the understanding that the main copy of the information is on the local authority’s children’s social care record.
If child protection records are kept on the pupil file instead, they should be in a sealed envelope and kept for as long as the pupil file.
- The last school keeps it
When a child moves school, Keeping children safe in education 2026 (Annex B) says the DSL should transfer the child protection file to the new school as soon as possible: within 5 days for an in-year move, or within the first 5 days of a new term. It goes separately from the main pupil file, securely, and you should get confirmation it arrived. So the file usually ends up with the last school the child attended.
The IRMS toolkit says the school a pupil leaves should consider keeping a copy of the child protection file.
- Review doesn’t mean delete
- On the review date, decide whether the file is still needed. Delete it securely if not (shred paper copies), or record why you are keeping it and when you’ll look again.
When to keep it longer
- Allegations of child sexual abuse: 75 years recommended
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) recommended in its final report (October 2022, recommendation 17) that records known to relate to allegations or cases of child sexual abuse are kept for 75 years, with review periods. The government said in April 2025 that it would direct the Information Commissioner to produce a code of practice, and that the code can’t make 75 years compulsory but will give best practice.
The 2019 IRMS toolkit told schools to treat records the Inquiry might need as under a legal hold while it was running. The Inquiry has since reported. If your school received a notice from the Inquiry, ask your data protection officer whether it still applies.
- Legal claims, investigations and inquiries
- The IRMS toolkit says parts of a record may need to be kept longer, for example if litigation is pending. Don’t delete anything that relates to an ongoing or likely legal claim, an investigation or an inquiry.
- Your own schedule
- Your trust, local authority or data protection officer may set a longer period. The IRMS toolkit is guidance, so your school’s own retention schedule comes first.
- Allegations about staff are a different record
- Records of allegations against an adult are kept on that person’s file, not the child’s. KCSIE 2026 says to keep them at least until the person reaches normal pension age, or for 10 years from the allegation if that’s longer.
Pupil records
- Primary schools
- Keep the pupil record while the child is at the school. It then goes with them to their next school.
- The last school
The last school, usually a secondary, keeps the pupil record until the pupil’s 25th birthday, then reviews it. A school is the last school if the pupil left a secondary at 16 or for post-16 or independent education, or left any school for elective home education, went missing from education, or left the UK.
SEN and other support service records can be kept until the pupil is 31, so the school can defend a claim that it failed to provide a sufficient education.
Sources, checked 20 October 2026:
- IRMS Information Management Toolkit for Schools, retention schedule 3.2.1, 3.2.3 and 3.2.4 (2019 edition). The current toolkit is for IRMS members only.
- IRMS Academies Toolkit 2019: Pupil Records guidance (retention and the last known school).
- Keeping children safe in education 2026 (DfE statutory guidance, in force from 1 September 2026), Annex B and paragraph 500.
- IICSA final report, H.5: Access to records (October 2022).
- Tackling child sexual abuse: progress update (Home Office, 9 April 2025), paragraph 81.
Retention questions
How long should a school keep a child protection file?
The IRMS Information Management Toolkit for Schools says to keep child protection information held in a separate file until the child’s 25th birthday (date of birth plus 25 years), then review it. The last school the child attended keeps it. Keep it longer if there is a legal claim, investigation or inquiry, or if it relates to allegations of child sexual abuse.
Which school keeps the child protection file when a pupil moves?
The new school. Keeping children safe in education 2026 says the DSL should transfer the file as soon as possible: within 5 days for an in-year move, or within the first 5 days of a new term. It goes separately from the main pupil file, and you should get confirmation it arrived. The IRMS toolkit says the school the pupil leaves should consider keeping a copy.
Do schools have to keep child protection records for 75 years?
Not by law. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse recommended keeping records known to relate to allegations or cases of child sexual abuse for 75 years, with reviews. The government said in April 2025 that it would ask the Information Commissioner for a code of practice, and that the code can’t make 75 years compulsory.
Can we delete a child protection file on the child’s 25th birthday?
Not automatically. The 25th birthday is when the file should be reviewed. Check that you were the last school, that there is no legal claim, investigation or inquiry, and that nothing in it relates to allegations of child sexual abuse. Then delete it securely or record why you are keeping it.
How long do schools keep pupil records?
In the IRMS toolkit, a primary school keeps the pupil record while the child is there, then passes it to the next school. The last school, usually a secondary, keeps it until the pupil’s 25th birthday, then reviews it. SEN and other support service records can be kept until the pupil is 31.
Retention in Pupil Protect
Coming soon: you’ll set your own retention period. By default, records will be kept until the pupil’s 25th birthday, then reviewed, and your DSL reminded 90 days before anything is deleted. How Pupil Protect handles your data.