Filtering and monitoring: what leaders are now expected to do
The filtering and monitoring standards put clear responsibility on senior leaders — not just the IT provider. Here's what that means.
For years, filtering and monitoring was treated as something 'the IT company handles'. The strengthened DfE standards make clear it's a leadership responsibility, and inspectors are asking about it.
In practice, four things are now expected. First, a senior leader and a governor should be assigned clear responsibility for filtering and monitoring. Second, the school should understand what its systems actually block and log — not just assume they work. Third, provision should be checked and tested, not taken on trust. And fourth, it should be reviewed at least annually.
The gap for most schools isn't the technology — it's the ownership and the evidence. Systems are usually in place, but no-one has written down who's responsible, when it was last checked, or what the test showed.
Closing that gap is straightforward: assign the roles, run a documented test of the filtering (including checking it catches what it should and alerts the right people), and record the review. Keep it simple and repeatable so it happens every year.
This is safeguarding, not IT admin. Getting it right protects children and protects leaders — and it's one of the quickest compliance wins a school can make.
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