The use of force, including
restraint and the restriction of
liberty, in education settings
HMI April 2013
Reasons for this training
 There is an increasing number of complaints about potentially
inappropriate use of force and restraint including restriction of liberty
within education settings.
 The session aims to increase your confidence and knowledge about the
difference between what is acceptable force and what is unacceptable
in a variety of situations.
 The session aims to ensure inspectors have a better understanding
about when they need to make a judgement and report on the use of
force within education settings and also when to refer issues to the
Compliance, investigation and enforcement team (CIE).
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013
The Use of Reasonable Force
Advice for headteachers, staff and governing bodies
Non-statutory guidance, DfE (2012)
What is reasonable force?
 Force is usually used either to control or restrain - ranging from
guiding a pupil to safety by the arm to break up a fight or where a
student needs to be restrained to prevent violence or injury.
 ‘Reasonable in the circumstances’ means using no more force
than is needed.
 Control means either passive physical contact, e.g. standing between
pupils or blocking a pupil's path, or active physical contact such as
leading a pupil by the arm out of a classroom.
 Restraint means to hold back physically or to bring a pupil under
control.
 School staff should always try to avoid acting in a way that might
cause injury, but in extreme cases it may not always be possible to
avoid injuring the pupil.
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013
When can reasonable force be used in
schools?
 To prevent pupils from hurting themselves or others, from
damaging property, or from causing disorder.
 Whether or not to physically intervene is a professional
judgement dependent on the individual circumstances.
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013
4
When can reasonable force be used?
Examples include:
 removing disruptive children from the classroom where
they have refused to follow an instruction to do so
 preventing a pupil behaving in a way that disrupts a
school event or a school trip or visit
 preventing a pupil leaving the classroom where allowing
the pupil to leave would risk their safety or lead to
behaviour that disrupts the behaviour of others
 preventing a pupil from attacking a member of staff or
another pupil, or to stop a fight in the playground
 restraining a pupil at risk of harming themselves through
physical outbursts.
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013
5
When can reasonable force be used in
FE?
Members of staff in an institution which is within the further education
sector may use force as is reasonable in the circumstances to prevent a
student at the institution from doing or continuing to do any of the
following:
 committing an offence
 cause personal injury to, or damage to the property, of any
person (including the student himself)
 prejudicing the maintenance of good order and discipline at the
institution or among any of its students, whether during a
teaching session or otherwise.
This power may be exercised both on the institution’s premises or
elsewhere when the member of staff has lawful control or charge of
the student.
The use force to control or restrain in further education settings
Joint publication DfES and AoC
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty, in education settings 04 2013
6
When can reasonable force be used?
Discuss what evidence you would want to explore to ensure
the staff at the school or college had a clear and consistent
interpretation of reasonableness.
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013
Unacceptable techniques
The following restraint techniques present unacceptable risk
and must not be used:
 the ‘double basket hold’ which involves holding a person’s
arms across their chest’;
 the ‘seated double embrace’ involves two members of
staff forcing a person into a sitting position and leaning
them forward, while a third monitors breathing; and
 the ‘nose distraction’ technique which involves a sharp
upward jab under the nose.
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013
Other key points
 There is no requirement to have a policy on the use of
force but schools must have a behaviour policy. It is
good practice for this to set out the school’s approach
to the use of force.
 Schools should not have a ‘no contact’ policy.
 Any policy should acknowledge the school’s legal duty
to make reasonable adjustments for disabled children
and pupils with special educational needs.
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013
Other key points
 Schools should decide whether any members of staff
need additional training to carry out their responsibilities,
taking account of the needs of its pupils.
 Schools do not require parental consent to use force.
 It is good practice for schools to speak to parents about
serious incidents involving the use of force and to
consider how best to record such serious incidents. It is
up to schools to decide whether it is appropriate to report
the use of force to parents.
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013
Power to search pupils without consent
In addition to the general power to use reasonable force described above,
head teachers and authorised staff can use such force as is reasonable given
the circumstances to conduct a search for the following “prohibited items”:
knives and weapons
alcohol
illegal drugs
stolen items
tobacco and cigarette papers
fireworks
pornographic images
any article that has been or is likely to be used to commit an
offence, cause personal injury or damage to property.
Force cannot be used to search for items banned under the
school rules.








The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013
Who can use reasonable force?
 All members of school staff have a legal power to use
reasonable force.
 This includes any people whom the headteacher has
temporarily put in charge of pupils – such as unpaid
volunteers or parents accompanying pupils on a school
organised trip.
It is always unlawful to use force as a punishment.
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013
 Time-out - the restriction of access to all positive
reinforcements as part of a planned and structured
behavioural programme.
 Withdrawal - the removal from a situation which causes
anxiety or distress to a location where the pupil can be
continuously observed and supported until ready to
resume usual activities. The location may also be called a
relaxation room.
 Internal exclusion – The most common use in schools
is to describe the removing a pupil from normal
timetabled lessons and their placement in supervised
education in a separate room, sometimes with a small
number of other pupils. It can be an alternative to fixed
term exclusion. It is sometimes mistakenly called
‘seclusion’ but this means forcing a child to spend time
alone against their will.
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013
It is an offence to lock a person in a room
without a court order except in an emergency,
for example where the use of a locked room is
a temporary measure while seeking
assistance.
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013
Inspectors should consider:
 If the use of force was reasonable
 If the use of force is part of a planned strategy, or a
response to an emergency/safety situation
 the extent to which the focus of the strategy is on the
prevention of the need for the use of force
 the quality of the behaviour and risk assessment that
takes into account the individual needs of the young
person
 the effectiveness of the strategy – for example in terms
of frequency and duration of use
 the reasonableness of the use of force
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013
Guidance on the use of restrictive interventions
for staff working with children and adults who display
extreme behaviour in association with learning
disability and/or autistic spectrum disorders’ (DfES
2002)
(also called ‘Guidance for restrictive physical interventions:
How to provide safe services for people with learning
disabilities and autistic spectrum disorders’ (DH 2002)
 Wide ranging guidance including prevention and risk
assessment, recording, post-incident management, staff
training.
 Page 5 provide a good outline of contents of records
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013
Guidance on the use of restrictive physical
interventions for pupils with severe behavioural
difficulties (DfES, 2003)
Guidelines to provide practical advice for local authorities
and special schools on policies and risk assessment.
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013
Reporting concerns
 Inspectors must refer the information to Ofsted’s
compliance, investigation and enforcement (CIE) team if the
setting’s approach to the management of children and
young people’s behaviour is considered not to be
appropriate, including the use of the unacceptable
techniques, and may place them at risk. Social care
inspectors must also inform their inspection team manager.
 The CIE team may arrange for a case review to consider
the risk to children and young people, and whether the
setting is failing to safeguard and protect them from harm.
The case review would consider the most appropriate next
step to take, including whether the need to initiate child
protection procedures.
The use of force, including restraint and the restriction of liberty April 2013