Use of Reasonable Force in Schools: What's Changed from April 2026

For the first time in over a decade, the government guidance on using force in schools has been significantly updated.

From 1 April 2026, the Department for Education's long-standing Use of Reasonable Force guidance (2013) has been replaced by a more comprehensive document: Restrictive Interventions, including the Use of Reasonable Force, in Schools.

If you work in a school – whether as a teacher, teaching assistant, pastoral lead, or senior leader – this matters for you.

In this post we'll cover:

• Why Has the Reasonable Force in Schools Guidance Changed?

• What's New: Restrictive Interventions, including the Use of Reasonable Force, in Schools

• What Does The New Guidance Mean in Practice?

• How To Train Your Staff

• How Do I Get Access to flick's Education Courses?

Why Has the Reasonable Force in Schools Guidance Changed?

Over the past 13 years the landscape has shifted: greater awareness of pupil mental health, a more diverse range of needs in the classroom, and a recognition that schools needed clearer, more practical support all drove the changes.

The new guidance is broader in scope, more detailed in its expectations, and introduces new statutory duties that schools are now legally required to follow.

What's New: Restrictive Interventions, including the Use of Reasonable Force, in Schools

The updated guidance introduces the umbrella term restrictive interventions to describe any means used to prevent, restrict, or subdue a pupil's movement – whether physical or non-physical.

This includes reasonable force, but also non-physical actions such as removing a mobility aid or blocking a doorway.

Key changes to guidance include:

• Seclusion is now formally addressed. Keeping a pupil confined away from others must only ever be used as a safety measure – not as a punishment. Every instance must now be recorded and reported to parents under new legal regulations.

• Stronger recording and reporting duties. Schools must record every significant use of force and report it to parents, ideally the same day. Written reports must include the time, date, reason, type of force used, and details of any injuries.

• Greater focus on SEND. Schools must co-produce behaviour support plans with pupils and parents, identify individual triggers, and where there is an identified risk, have risk assessments in place – a legal requirement under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

• Prevention first. The guidance places de-escalation and early intervention at its heart, with schools expected to take a whole-school approach to reducing the need for restrictive interventions in the first place.

• No "no contact" policies. Schools must not operate a no-contact policy or agree to individual requests that reasonable force will never be used.

The core legal power for staff to use reasonable force in specific circumstances has not changed – but the expectations around how that power is exercised, documented, and reviewed are considerably more robust.

What Does The New Guidance Mean in Practice?

School leaders should review their existing policies to ensure they align with the new guidance, ensure staff are trained in line with the updates, and make sure recording and reporting procedures are fit for purpose.

The shift to this new framework represents a significant step forward in how schools are expected to approach pupil safety – and with statutory duties now in play, getting it right is not optional.

How Can I Train Our Staff?

At flick, we've updated our Restraint in Education and Restraint in Care courses to reflect the very latest guidance, so you can be confident your staff are learning from content that is accurate, current, and legally compliant.

Whether you're a school, pupil referral unit, or care setting, our courses give your team the knowledge and confidence they need to act safely, lawfully, and in the best interests of the pupils and young people in their care.

Read More: How to Keep Up with Changing Education Laws and Regulations

How Do I Get Access to flick's Education Courses?

Signing up to flick's simple e-learning subscription gives you and your staff unlimited access to the flick library of 155+ award-winning courses across safeguarding, childcare and education, health and safety, and much more.

If your organisation has its own Learning Management System, you can also licence any flick course or bundle of courses to sit directly on yo

ur own platform.

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