In October 2024, the DfE made updates to their digital and technology standards; Filtering and monitoring standards for schools and colleges. You can read our existing blog series here on the other technology standards.
All schools and colleges have a statutory responsibility to keep young people safe, both online and offline. Schools and colleges should ensure they have appropriate filtering and monitoring systems in place, according to the statutory guidance, Keeping children safe in education.
Summary of recommended standards from the DfE
Filtering is a preventative measure, to protect online users from accessing inappropriate, harmful or illegal content online. Filtering solutions identify and block web links and content in the form of text, images, audio and video.
Monitoring is a reactive measure, monitoring and sometimes recording activity online. Solutions are installed on devices and generate reports and/or alerts if usage is illegal, harmful or inappropriate, including online bullying. These solutions don’t block users from seeing content or stop them taking action on the internet.
The DfE make a number of recommendations for filtering and monitoring. The outline of these recommendations is below:
Identify and assign roles and responsibilities to manage your filtering and monitoring systems
Governing bodies and proprietors have the overall responsibility for filtering and monitoring and they should assign roles to ensure the standards are being met. The senior leadership team (SLT) is responsible for tasks such as purchasing filtering and monitoring systems, documenting decisions, reviewing effectiveness of filtering and monitoring systems, providing reports and completing actions following alerts. Senior leaders should work with governors or proprietors, the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) and IT support to help ensure they are meeting the recommendations.
Review your filtering and monitoring provision at least annually
Filtering and monitoring reviews should be undertaken at least once every academic year, making sure to reflect the specific use of technology in your school or college. The review should identify any additional filtering or monitoring that is required. Technical requirements include considering the risk profile of students; taking into consideration age, special educational needs and additional languages.
Although reviews should take place at least once a year, they should also be put in place if a safeguarding risk is identified, there is a change in working practice, new devices or technology is introduced (such as AI), major software updates are implemented, or major network or technical changes occur.
Filtering systems should block harmful and inappropriate content, without unreasonably impacting teaching and learning
It’s important that schools recognise the limitations of filtering systems and that they are not 100% effective. Filtering systems should also be carefully managed so that they do not unreasonably impact teaching and learning, and do not prevent students from learning how to assess and manage risk.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) provide lists of illegal websites that filtering providers should block as part of their service. Your school or college shouldn’t be able to disable or edit these blocklists. Filtering solutions require specialist knowledge from both safeguarding and IT support to be effective.
Have effective monitoring strategies that meet the safeguarding needs of your school or college
For monitoring to be effective, it must alert the relevant parties to incidents that are of concern, urgently, allowing for prompt action. As a minimum, your monitoring plan should include weekly monitoring reports highlighting incidents. It should also include immediate reports when an incident is classed as high-risk, for example, those of a malicious, technical or safeguarding nature.
When should you meet the standards?
You should already be meeting these standards. Talk to your IT support provider or inhouse team if you believe you are not fulfilling all of the requirements.
How should you meet the standards?
Senior leaders should work with governors or proprietors, the DSL and IT support in all aspects of filtering and monitoring.
Related Standards
See our related posts in this series:
Broadband internet standards for schools and colleges
Cyber security standards for schools and colleges
Read the standards in detail
You can find the DfE’s standards in full by following the link: Filtering and monitoring standards for schools and colleges.
How we can help
We can offer advice and guidance on the DfE filtering and monitoring standards, contact us today if you have any questions or require a quote for monitoring and filtering services.