KCSIE 2024 Changes: A Quiet Year for KCSIE, a Busy Year for the Filtering Standards
KCSIE 2024 was mostly about bringing school guidance into line with Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023. The bigger news for filtering and monitoring came later in the year, when the DfE substantially revised its filtering and monitoring standards.
What changed in 2024, side by side
To understand 2024 you need to follow two documents: the statutory guidance itself and the DfE standards it points to. Most schools only watched the first and missed the second.
- Safeguarding definitionUpdated to match Working Together 2023, including protection from maltreatment inside or outside the home, including online.
- Early helpNew triggers, such as children frequently going missing, multiple suspensions and a parent in custody.
- Abuse, neglect and exploitationThe phrase replaced "abuse and neglect" where relevant.
- Absence from educationWording changed to unexplainable and/or persistent absences.
- Filtering and monitoringNo major new wording listed in the published summaries.
- January 2024Digital leadership and governance, laptops, desktops and tablets, and digital accessibility standards added.
- 20 May 2024Cyber security standards restructured into seven standards for leaders and IT support.
- 22 October 2024Filtering and monitoring standards substantially revised.
- 6 November 2024Links to broadband comparison and register templates added.
- StatusFiltering and monitoring described as a standard schools should already meet.
What carried forward from 2023 without change
The DSL's lead role
Lead responsibility for safeguarding still included online safety and understanding the filtering and monitoring systems and processes in place.
Staff training
Induction and refresher training still covered filtering and monitoring expectations, roles and responsibilities for all staff.
The four standards
KCSIE still listed the four filtering and monitoring standards: roles, an annual review, blocking without harming learning, and effective monitoring.
Regular review wording
Governing bodies were still to make sure systems were in place and their effectiveness regularly reviewed, with the standards asking for at least annually.
Proportion and over-blocking
The warning against over-blocking and the factors governors weigh, such as age range and risk, stayed in place.
Cyber security
Schools were still to consider the DfE cyber security standards, which were themselves rebuilt in May 2024.
We could not find new filtering and monitoring wording listed among the 2024 KCSIE changes. If your trust's summary says otherwise, check it against the edition's own table of changes before rewriting policy.
Back the wider definition with a filter that follows the device
If online harm is part of safeguarding wherever a child is, the filter has to reach beyond the school building. Our hosted CIPA filter does that through a private encrypted link, and it keeps the same category rules at school and away from it.
- Nothing is installed on the laptops, so there is no agent to fall out of date
- Public encrypted DNS and browser settings that skip the filter are blocked by default
- VPN/Proxy/Anonymizers stays blocked even when a staff PIN is used
The new safeguarding definition puts "online" in the core
KCSIE 2024 adopted the Working Together 2023 definition of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. One element names online harm directly, which matters when someone asks whether online risk is "really" a safeguarding issue.
Providing help and support to meet children's needs as soon as problems emerge.
Protecting children from maltreatment, whether inside or outside the home, including online.
Preventing impairment of children's mental and physical health or development.
Making sure children grow up with safe and effective care, so they have the best outcomes.
For the DSL
Online incidents belong in the same safeguarding process as any other concern, recorded and followed up in the same way.
Inside or outside the home
Harm that starts on a home device and surfaces in school is still the school's concern once staff are aware of it.
For the filter
Filtering reduces exposure on school systems. It cannot reach home broadband or mobile data, so teaching and parent work carry that part.
Policy tip: if your child protection policy quotes the safeguarding definition, replace the old wording with the 2024 version, which later editions kept. Then check that your online safety section uses the same language, so staff see online harm as part of safeguarding rather than an IT topic.
Working Together 2023 also shaped the multi-agency language in KCSIE 2024. Online concerns that need early help or a referral follow the same local arrangements as any other concern.
The rest of the 2024 revision, and why a DSL cares
None of these items is about technology, but several change how online concerns are recognised and recorded.
| Change | Summary in our words | Online safety relevance |
|---|---|---|
| Early help triggers | Staff should be alert to children frequently missing from education, home or care, those with multiple suspensions or at risk of exclusion, and those with a parent in custody. | Children out of school spend more unsupervised time online, often outside any filter. |
| "Abuse, neglect and exploitation" | The wording was widened throughout where relevant. | Online exploitation, including financial and sexual, sits clearly in scope. |
| Definition of abuse | Clarified that harm can include witnessing the ill-treatment of others, especially domestic abuse. | Pupils may see harmful material shared by others; that exposure can itself cause harm. |
| Data protection | Schools were pointed to the DfE data protection guidance for schools. | Monitoring and filtering logs contain personal data and need a DPIA and retention rules. |
| Alternative provision | The placing school remains responsible for the safeguarding of pupils in alternative provision. | Ask how online safety is handled at the provider, including any devices issued. |
| Recording decisions | DSLs should record the rationale for decisions, not just the concern and the outcome. | When an alert leads to no action, write down why. |
| LGBT and gender questioning | The section was placed under review pending separate guidance. | Avoid over-blocking support and health resources while guidance is settled. |
What the October 2024 filtering and monitoring standards update covered
On 22 October 2024 the DfE substantially revised the filtering and monitoring standards. The four headline standards stayed the same, but the detail under them grew. These were the areas the update addressed.
Governing body responsibilities
Clearer expectations on governors assigning a senior leader and a governor to make sure the standards are met.
Link to KCSIE online safety
The standards were tied more directly to the online safety requirements in KCSIE.
Generative AI in the review
The annual review was to consider risks from generative AI as part of the school's risk profile.
Safe search
Safe search expectations were set out, so search results are filtered as well as websites.
Devices without filtering
Guidance on handling devices that cannot run the school's filtering.
Bring your own device
Measures for personal devices connecting to the school network.
New bypass technologies
Recognition that some newer technologies reduce how well filtering works, and need managing.
In-person monitoring
More on supervision by staff as part of a monitoring strategy, not only software.
Incident response
Expectations for policies on what happens after a monitoring incident.
The current text of each standard is explained in our DfE filtering and monitoring standards guide. The standards have been updated several times since, including in 2026.
New names from the 2024 review, as our data labels them
The October 2024 update asked schools to think about generative AI, safe search and bypass tools. These labels come from our database.
| Domain | Categories in our data | 2024 topic |
|---|---|---|
| perplexity.ai | AI / LLM Tools | AI answer engine pupils may try |
| grammarly.com | AI / LLM Tools | AI writing help that looks harmless |
| bing.com | Advertising/Marketing, Search Engines & Platforms | Search engine in the safe search conversation |
| duckduckgo.com | Search Engines & Platforms | Alternative search that reviews should include |
| hide.me | VPN / Proxy / Anonymizers | Bypass service |
What schools needed to do after the 2024 changes
Because KCSIE 2024 was light on filtering, many schools did nothing. The October standards update was the real prompt to act. These eight steps covered both, and most of them still apply under the current edition.
Refresh the safeguarding definition
Update policy wording so the definition includes protection from maltreatment inside or outside the home, including online.
Add generative AI to the risk profile
List which AI tools pupils and staff can reach and decide which are allowed. Our AI tools blocklist for schools helps here.
Check safe search is enforced
Test search engines and image search on each device type, signed in and signed out.
Find unfiltered devices
Make a list of devices that cannot run the filter, and record how risk is managed for each.
Review BYOD and guest access
Personal devices on the school network should meet appropriate rules. See BYOD filtering in schools.
Tackle bypass routes
Check VPN apps, proxy sites, browser extensions and encrypted DNS. See blocking proxy sites in schools.
Write an incident response
Agree who leads when monitoring flags an incident, what happens next and how outcomes are recorded.
Record the review
Use a dated record for the annual review and any trigger reviews. Our annual review checklist covers it.
A starter for the generative AI part of your review
The October 2024 update asked schools to think about generative AI when they review filtering and monitoring. Few schools had a method. These questions give the review group a place to start.
| Question | Why ask it | Where the answer comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Which AI tools can pupils reach today? | You cannot judge risk on tools you do not know about. | Filter reports grouped by the AI / LLM Tools category. |
| Which tools are approved for learning, and for which ages? | Many AI services set minimum ages, and the DfE expects schools to respect them. | Senior leaders and curriculum leads, recorded in policy. |
| Are AI image generators and companion chat apps blocked for pupils? | These carry the highest risk of harmful or sexualised content and unhealthy attachment. | Filter settings tested on each device type. |
| Can staff use AI tools without entering personal data? | DfE guidance says personal data should not be put into generative AI tools. | Staff guidance and training records. |
| Does monitoring cover AI tools pupils are allowed to use? | Allowed tools still need oversight, through the product's own logs or school monitoring. | Product documentation and the DSL. |
| What happens when a new AI tool appears? | New tools launch every week; a review should not wait a year. | A trigger in your review process. |
The DfE guidance on AI is covered in our page on DfE generative AI guidance for schools. For specific tools, see blocking AI image generators on school Chromebooks and AI companions in schools.
Finding the gaps before a reviewer does
Any device on the school network follows the one DNS setting, and a private encrypted link covers devices used elsewhere. Each school's activity reports show what was requested, so the unfiltered corners are easier to spot.
Six mistakes schools made in the 2024 cycle
These are common patterns, not failings of any one school. Each is easy to fix once spotted.
Reading only KCSIE
Schools that waited for a KCSIE change missed the October standards update, which carried the real detail for 2024.
Copying last year's review
A review record that repeats last year word for word suggests nothing was tested. Record what you actually checked this year.
Blocking all AI
A blanket block can stop approved tools and push pupils to personal phones. Decide tool by tool and age by age.
Ignoring guest Wi-Fi
Visitor and personal device networks often run weaker rules, even though pupils may use them.
No owner for bypass routes
VPN apps and proxy sites fall between IT and safeguarding unless someone owns them.
Reports with no reader
Weekly summaries that land in an IT mailbox do not meet the intent that concerns reach the DSL.
The other DfE standards that arrived in 2024
Three new standard areas appeared early in 2024 and the cyber security standards were rebuilt in May. Each one touches filtering somewhere.
| Standard area | Added or changed | Where it meets filtering and monitoring |
|---|---|---|
| Digital leadership and governance | Added January 2024 | A senior digital lead works with the DSL; registers record the filtering contract and devices. |
| Laptops, desktops and tablets | Added January 2024 | Devices should be centrally managed, and filtering and monitoring checked against KCSIE. |
| Digital accessibility | Added January 2024 | Security settings should not block accessibility features pupils rely on. |
| Cyber security | Restructured into seven standards, 20 May 2024 | Firewalls, anti-malware and account controls sit alongside the web filter. |
Each area has a checklist in our guide to the DfE digital and technology standards for schools.
Who should read what from 2024
DSL
The new safeguarding definition, early help triggers and the recording of decision rationale. Then the incident response and in-person monitoring parts of the October standards update.
IT lead or provider
Safe search, devices without filtering, BYOD and bypass technologies in the standards update, plus the rebuilt cyber security standards from May.
Senior leader
Governing body responsibilities, the generative AI risk profile in the annual review, and the new digital leadership and governance standard.
Governor
The summary of KCSIE changes, and confirmation that a named senior leader and governor own filtering and monitoring.
Teachers
How to report a harmful site that got through, how to request an unblock, and the school's position on AI tools in lessons and homework.
Trust central team
A shared baseline of blocked categories for all schools, with local additions recorded and reviewed by each school.
Where website categories helped with the 2024 update
Several of the October 2024 topics, such as bypass technologies and generative AI, are easiest to handle with a well-maintained category list.
VPN / Proxy / Anonymizers
A dedicated category for bypass sites, kept current as new proxy domains appear daily.
AI / LLM Tools
Plus a set of 11,800+ AI-tool domains in 18 categories, updated daily, for the generative AI part of the review.
Fresh domains
About 300,000 newly registered domains categorised every day and checked again after a week and a month.
Category filtering is one layer only. It does not monitor messages or behaviour and does not replace the IWF and police-assessed terrorism lists from accredited providers. Concerns go to the DSL through your safeguarding process. See the category database or our hosted DNS filter.
The 2024 review tasks beside what the hosted filter can do
Each row names a task from the 2024 cycle and says where the filter helps and where it does not.
| 2024 task | Where the hosted CIPA filter helps | What stays with the school |
|---|---|---|
| Add generative AI to the review | AI / LLM Tools can be switched per school | The decision on which tools are allowed |
| Find unfiltered devices | Activity reports per school; private link for off-network devices | Listing the devices that exist |
| New bypass routes | VPN/Proxy/Anonymizers blocked, encrypted DNS that skips the filter blocked by default | Pupil education about workarounds |
| Record the review | Policy record and a log export | The review meeting itself |
| Incident response | Fast list changes, applied in seconds | The safeguarding procedure |
| Monitoring | Not offered, since it is not a monitoring tool | A separate system and staff |
KCSIE 2024 changes: questions DSLs ask
Did KCSIE 2024 change filtering and monitoring?
Not in a major way. The published summaries of the 2024 changes focus on aligning KCSIE with Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 and do not list new filtering and monitoring wording. The bigger 2024 change for filtering came from the DfE revising its filtering and monitoring standards in October 2024.
When did KCSIE 2024 come into force?
KCSIE 2024 was published for information on 24 May 2024 and came into force on 2 September 2024. A small amendment followed on 3 September 2024.
What is the online angle of the new safeguarding definition?
The definition of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children was updated to match Working Together 2023. It includes protecting children from maltreatment inside or outside the home, including online, which makes online harm part of the core definition.
What changed in the October 2024 filtering and monitoring standards update?
The DfE substantially revised the standards. The update covered governing body responsibilities, the online safety requirements in KCSIE, the annual review including generative AI risk, safe search, devices without filtering, bring your own device, new technologies that reduce filtering effectiveness, in-person monitoring and incident response.
Is KCSIE 2024 still in force?
No. KCSIE 2025 replaced it on 1 September 2025, and KCSIE 2026 has been in force since 1 September 2026.
Cost depends on how many schools and devices you filter, and a quote lands within one business day. A pilot at one school lets your DSL see the 2024 changes reflected in real blocks and reports before you commit.
Talk to us about your school or trust
If your review turned up bypass routes, uncategorised sites or AI tools you cannot see, we can show how up-to-date category data closes those gaps.