Staff code of conduct: what to publish on your school website
Your staff code of conduct, covering relationships with pupils, social media and how to raise concerns.
Check this on my websiteWho it applies to
- Published on
- The school's own website
- School type
- Academies and maintained schools
- School stage
- All stages, from early years to sixth form
- Does not apply to
- No school types are excluded
When it's due
Keep it up to date
There's no fixed date. Update it whenever something changes.
What's needed
Publish your staff code of conduct on the policies page on your website, or link to the trust's, covering low-level concerns, whistleblowing, use of technology and staff and pupil relationships.
What it must contain
3 parts- Covers low-level concerns, allegations against staff and whistleblowingShould: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.
- Sets out acceptable use of technologies, including mobile devicesShould: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.
- Sets out rules on staff-pupil relationships and communications, including social mediaShould: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.
What the official sources say
Set out in 1 official source:
Keeping children safe in education
• a staff behaviour policy29 (sometimes called the code of conduct) which should, amongst other things, include low-level concerns, allegations against staff and whistleblowing, plus acceptable use of technologies (including the use of mobile devices), staff/pupil relationships and communications including the use of social media, and
Should: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.§ para 123, page 37
As good practice governing bodies and proprietors should set out their low-level concerns policy within their staff code of conduct and safeguarding and child protection policies as set out in Part two of this guidance.
Good practice: Recommended as good practice. Not required.§ para 513, page 121
Questions schools ask
Do schools have to publish a staff code of conduct?
For academies and maintained schools, it's recommended in official guidance, but isn't a legal requirement in itself.
What does a staff code of conduct need to cover?
Covers low-level concerns, allegations against staff and whistleblowing; Sets out acceptable use of technologies, including mobile devices; Sets out rules on staff-pupil relationships and communications, including social media.
When do we need to update our staff code of conduct?
Keep it up to date. There's no fixed date. Update it whenever something changes.
Where does the requirement for the staff code of conduct come from?
It is set out in Keeping children safe in education.
Recent changes to the official guidance
The official sources for this requirement don't publish dated change notes. We check them for changes ourselves.
We last checked these sources on 21 September 2026.
Is this on your school's website?
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Official sources last checked 21 September 2026 · register version 1.0.4