Seclusion in schools: what counts, what must be recorded, and how it differs from removal

What counts as seclusion?

The DfE guidance on restrictive interventions, in force from April 2026, defines seclusion as a non disciplinary intervention that keeps a pupil confined to a place away from others and prevents them from leaving, whether by physical obstruction, by blocking, or by making them believe they will be punished if they try to leave. No lock is needed. An adult standing in a doorway, a door held shut, or a pupil told they will be in trouble if they come out can all meet the definition.

The guidance says seclusion should only be used as a safety measure to protect others from harm when a pupil is experiencing high levels of emotional or behavioural dysregulation. It is not a disciplinary response, the pupil should be supervised at all times, and the pupil should be allowed to leave as soon as the immediate risk of harm has reduced.

Seclusion, removal and a calm space: three things that look alike

A calm or regulation space the pupil can leave. This is neither seclusion nor removal. The Behaviour in schools guidance calls these separation spaces, sometimes sensory or nurture rooms, used for non disciplinary reasons such as a planned response to sensory overload. Good practice is to name them in the pupil's support plan, but they are not restrictive interventions.

Removal from the classroom. This is disciplinary: a pupil is required to spend a limited time out of the classroom, for serious disciplinary reasons, at the instruction of a member of staff. The Behaviour in schools guidance expects education to continue in a supervised setting, parents to be told the same day, and removal data to be analysed for repeat patterns and for any disproportionate effect on pupils who share protected characteristics. It also says pupils should never be locked in the room of their removal.

Seclusion. This is a safety measure, not a sanction: the pupil is kept away from others and cannot leave, because of an immediate risk of harm. It must be recorded, and parents must be told.

The trap is the room that drifts from one to another. A calm room becomes seclusion the moment a pupil who wants to leave is stopped. A removal room becomes harder to describe if pupils are told they will be punished for leaving. If either happens in your school, ask whether the arrangement now meets the seclusion definition, and take advice.

What must be recorded, and when are parents told?

The recording and reporting section of the guidance is statutory. For every use of seclusion, as for restraint, the record must include at least who was involved, the time, date and place, roughly how long it lasted, the pupil's needs and circumstances including SEND, a brief account of why it was necessary, any injury, and the support given afterwards.

Parents must be told as soon as practicable, and schools should aim for no later than the same day. A maintained school gives parents a copy of the record; an academy, other independent school or non maintained special school gives them the information in writing. Both duties apply even when the use of seclusion in certain circumstances has been agreed with parents in a behaviour support plan.

What should governors see?

The guidance says governing bodies should regularly review and interrogate data on restrictive interventions, including repeat patterns and triggers and any disproportionate use for pupils who share protected characteristics. For seclusion that means the number of incidents, the pupils involved by SEND status, year group and sex, how long each lasted, where it happened, whether parents were told on the day, and what changed afterwards. Read it next to the restraint records and the removal data: the same pupils often appear in all three.

Sources: DfE, Restrictive interventions, including use of reasonable force, in schools, in force from April 2026; DfE, Behaviour in schools, February 2024.