What UK Law Requires Schools to Have in a Concussion Policy

# What UK Law Requires Schools to Have in a Concussion Policy

**Key takeaways**

- UK law does not specify the words "concussion policy," but schools have a clear duty of care that extends to head injuries sustained in sport and PE.
- Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) is the safeguarding framework that connects concussion management to a school's legal obligations.
- A defensible school concussion policy must cover identification, immediate response, stand-down rules, graduated return to play, return to learn, and documentation.
- The difference between a policy (what you will do) and a protocol (how you will do it) matters practically and legally.
- Operating without a documented policy is an increasingly exposed position as insurers and inspectors raise the bar.

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A pupil takes a knock to the head during a Tuesday afternoon fixture and carries on playing. Three days later, their parents report that something is wrong. Who is responsible, and what should the school have had in place? The answer lives in UK law, the current safeguarding framework, and the November 2024 UK Concussion Guidelines for Grassroots Sport. This article sets out exactly what a school concussion policy must contain, and why schools that treat it as optional are taking a serious governance risk.

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## The short answer: what UK law actually requires

No single piece of legislation says "schools must publish a concussion policy." But the legal obligation is there anyway, assembled from several sources.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires employers - which includes schools - to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of employees and anyone else affected by their activities, including pupils. Head injuries in sport and PE sit squarely within that duty.

Common law duty of care goes further. A school stands in loco parentis during the school day and at fixtures. Courts have consistently held that this duty requires schools to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm. A concussion that worsens because a pupil was not removed from play, or that causes long-term damage because the graduated return was skipped, is a foreseeable harm. The absence of a documented policy makes the school's position in any claim significantly harder to defend.

The [Sport and Recreation Alliance's UK Concussion Guidelines for Grassroots Sport (November 2024 update)](https://sportandrecreation.org.uk/files/uk-concussion-guidelines-for-grassroots-non-elite-sport---november-2024-update-061124084139.pdf) are not statute, but they set the standard of reasonable practice. In any future legal or insurance dispute, the question will be: did the school meet the standard that guidance says a reasonable organisation should have met?

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## Understanding "duty of care" in practice

Duty of care is not an abstract concept. In the concussion context it means:

- Having systems to identify suspected concussion during sport and PE.
- Removing a player immediately when concussion is suspected, without waiting for confirmation.
- Following a documented stand-down period before any return to contact activity.
- Supporting the pupil's return to learning before their return to sport.
- Keeping records that show each of those steps was followed.

If a school cannot demonstrate all five, it cannot demonstrate that it discharged its duty of care. A policy document alone is not enough; there must also be evidence that it was followed.

The 2024 UK Grassroots Guidelines are explicit: a minimum 21-day stand-down applies to under-18s with confirmed or suspected concussion before return to full contact. This is a floor, not a target. A school policy that allows earlier return to contact activity is not aligned with current guidance, and that misalignment creates legal exposure.

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## KCSIE and concussion: where they intersect

[Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2), updated annually by the Department for Education, is the statutory guidance that all schools in England must have regard to. It defines safeguarding broadly as protecting children from harm, including harm to their physical health.

Concussion sits within that definition. A pupil who receives a second concussive impact before recovering from the first faces a risk of severe neurological harm. Second Impact Syndrome (SIS) is rare - fewer than 20 documented cases globally - but it is catastrophic and preventable. The protocols that prevent it are safeguarding measures.

KCSIE also requires schools to have a designated safeguarding lead (DSL) who is responsible for ensuring appropriate systems are in place. Most DSLs focus, rightly, on abuse and exploitation. But a concussion that is mismanaged because the school had no protocol is a safeguarding failure of a different kind. The DSL, the head of sport, and the headteacher share responsibility for closing that gap.

Inspectors from Ofsted and the Independent Schools Inspectorate increasingly ask about systems for managing physical welfare incidents. A concussion policy is part of the evidence base they expect.

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## What every school concussion policy must contain

A compliant, defensible school concussion policy needs to cover at minimum:

**1. Identification.** What observable signs trigger removal from play? The policy should reference the [Concussion Recognition Tool (CRT6)](https://concussioninsportgroup.com/scat-tools/) as the appropriate sideline tool for non-medical staff, and make clear that suspected concussion - not confirmed concussion - is the trigger for immediate action.

**2. Immediate response.** The "if in doubt, sit them out" principle, derived from the November 2024 UK Grassroots Guidelines, must be stated explicitly. The policy should specify who has authority to remove a player and what that decision-maker does next.

**3. Communication.** How are parents notified? How is the pupil's pastoral team informed? A concussion disclosure does not stay with the sports department; it must reach whoever oversees the pupil's academic programme.

**4. Stand-down and graduated return to play.** The policy must specify the minimum stand-down period (21 days for under-18s before return to contact), the stages of the graduated return to sport protocol, and who can sign off each stage. It should be clear that medical clearance is required before return to full contact for under-18s.

**5. Return to learn.** Cognitive rest and academic accommodation in the early recovery phase are now embedded in UK guidance and CISG consensus. The policy must address who coordinates this within the school.

**6. Documentation.** Every incident, every communication, and every stage of the return pathway must be recorded and retained. The policy should name the system used and specify the retention period.

**7. Review.** The policy must state when it will be reviewed (at minimum annually, and following any incident), and who is responsible for reviewing it.

If you are reviewing your current school concussion policy, you can audit it against the seven domains of the [Luca Safe Concussion Framework at /lscf/](/lscf/), which maps directly to this structure.

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## Policy vs protocol: why you need both

A policy states what the school will do and why. A protocol states how it will be done, step by step, in the moment.

The policy belongs in the school's safeguarding and health and safety documentation. It is approved by governors, reviewed annually, and shared with parents on request.

The protocol is the operational document that a teacher, coach, or welfare officer actually uses. It should be laminated, accessible at fixtures and training sessions, and brief enough to follow under pressure. It should answer: what do I look for, what do I do in the first five minutes, who do I call, and what do I record?

Most schools that have a concussion document have a policy without a protocol. The policy sits in a folder; the pitch-side reality is unscripted. When something goes wrong, the gap between the two is exactly what comes out in an investigation.

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## Where most schools fall short (and how to fix it)

The most common gaps:

- **No parent communication procedure.** Parents report that they were told informally, by the pupil, two days after the event. That is not a system.
- **No return-to-learn pathway.** The sports department follows a graduated return to sport; nobody tells the English teacher to reduce cognitive load for three days.
- **No documentation.** Staff relied on memory. When queried six months later, there was no record.
- **Stand-down periods that predate the 2024 update.** Policies written in 2021 or 2022 may reference stand-down periods that no longer reflect current guidance.
- **No governance trail.** There is a policy, but no record of when it was last reviewed, whether staff were trained, or whether it was applied in practice.

Fixing each of these is not a large project. It is a matter of assigning ownership, updating documentation, and building the habits that produce a record. The investment is small; the exposure from not making it is not.

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## Next steps for school leaders

1. Locate your current concussion policy and check when it was last reviewed. If it pre-dates November 2024, it needs updating.
2. Check whether it covers all seven elements listed above. Policy, protocol, identification, stand-down, graduated return, return to learn, documentation.
3. Ask your head of sport whether staff have received training in the CRT6 this academic year.
4. Check whether the DSL is aware of their role in the concussion governance framework.
5. Review your documentation system. If a concussion incident happened last term, can you locate the full record today?

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Photo: Richard Law, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

## Sources

1. Sport and Recreation Alliance. *UK Concussion Guidelines for Grassroots Sport (November 2024 update).* https://sportandrecreation.org.uk/files/uk-concussion-guidelines-for-grassroots-non-elite-sport---november-2024-update-061124084139.pdf
2. Department for Education. *Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024.* https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2
3. Health and Safety Executive. *Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.* https://www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/hswa.htm
4. Concussion in Sport Group. *Concussion Recognition Tool 6 (CRT6).* https://concussioninsportgroup.com/scat-tools/

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Audit your current concussion policy against the Luca Safe Concussion Framework, free to download at [/lscf/](/lscf/). The framework maps each of the seven elements above to a documented, operational standard that schools can implement, evidence, and review.