Physical Intervention in Schools – One Year Review of Guidance

Parents and carers

This report summarises feedback from parents and carers regarding the use of physical intervention in schools between November 2024 and November 2025. It reflects views on awareness, communication, incident reporting, concerns, and involvement in decision‑making processes.

A total of 112 respondents completed the survey, with some questions answered by a smaller subset where applicable (notably those whose children had experienced intervention).

Use of Restraint and Seclusion

Respondents were asked whether their child had experienced any form of restraint or seclusion in the past year:

16% (18) reported that intervention had been used.

72% (81) reported that it had not.

12% (13) were unsure.

This indicates that while use of restraint and seclusion is not widespread among this sample of parents and carers - a notable minority of children have experienced it - and some parents are unsure whether it occurred.

Communication and Notification

When the parents of children who had experienced restraint in school between November 2024 and November 2025 were asked if they were notified with the timeframe set out in the 2024 guidance, the answers varied by restraint type:

• 40% of those where it was applicable answered yes to being notified within the timeframe of physical restraint
• 33% of those where it was applicable answered yes to being notified within the timeframe of mechanical restraint
• 65% of those where it was applicable answered yes to being notified within the timeframe of seclusion
• 50% of those where it was applicable answered yes to being notified within the timeframe of other types of restraint.

Parental Concerns About the Use of Intervention

All respondents were asked whether they had concerns about the use of restraint in their child’s school:

27% Yes

53% No

21% Don’t know

Among those with concerns, the following themes were identified:

Most Common Concerns

Risk of injury – 87%

Lack of training – 87%

Lack of reporting – 83%

Lack of support discussions – 73%

Post‑incident report not provided – 67%

Slow reporting – 40%

Other concerns – 37%

Awareness of School Policy

Parents and carers were asked whether they were aware of their school’s physical intervention policy:

16% Yes

79% No

5% Don’t know

This suggests that most parents and carers that responded to the survey are unaware of the policy governing such significant interventions, limiting their ability to engage or challenge practices.

Parental Involvement in Support Planning

Only a small minority of parents and carers (10%) reported involvement in discussions where physical intervention formed part of a support plan, with the majority (88%) of respondents reporting that they were not involved.

Awareness of How to Raise Concerns

When parents and carers were asked if they knew how to raise concerns about restraint, 41% answered “Yes”, 46% “No” and 13% answered “Don’t know”

This suggests that almost half of parents and carers responding lack clarity on reporting pathways.