Boarding schools: national minimum standards
The national minimum standards that boarding schools must meet to safeguard and protect the children in their care.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This guidance is for:
- school leaders
- school staff
It applies to:
- boarding schools maintained by the local authority
- independent boarding schools
It contains a statement of national minimum standards for boarding schools that provide accommodation for children.
National minimum standards for residential special schools are also available.
Updates to this page
Published 1 November 2012
Last updated 518 SeptemberMay 2022
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Update history
2026-05-18 12:08
Updated ‘National minimum standards for boarding schools’, details in document history.
2022-09-05 09:25
Removed ‘National minimum standards for boarding schools: in force until 5 September 2022’ and replaced with current ‘National minimum standards for boarding schools’.
2022-09-01 16:31
Updated ‘National minimum standards for boarding schools: in force from 5 September 2022’ to add footnote 44 explaining that standard 20.10 (regarding boarders accessing staff residential accommodation) does not apply to public or shared use spaces. If such a space does exist within staff accommodation, the school should clearly communicate this in relevant policies and have a clear policy on safely managing the use of such spaces. New hyperlinks for QEG and AEGIS also added.
2022-05-20 13:45
Added ‘National minimum standards for boarding schools: in force from 5 September 2022’.
Details
This guidance is for:
- school leaders
- school staff
It applies to:
- boarding schools maintained by the local authority
- independent boarding schools
It contains a statement of national minimum standards for boarding schools that provide accommodation for children.
National minimum standards for residential special schools are also available.
Updates to this page
Published 1 November 2012
Last updated 518 SeptemberMay 2022
+ show2026
href="#full-history">+ show all updates
-
Update history
2026-05-18 12:08
Updated ‘National minimum standards for boarding schools’, details in document history.
2022-09-05 09:25
Removed ‘National minimum standards for boarding schools: in force until 5 September 2022’ and replaced with current ‘National minimum standards for boarding schools’.
2022-09-01 16:31
Updated ‘National minimum standards for boarding schools: in force from 5 September 2022’ to add footnote 44 explaining that standard 20.10 (regarding boarders accessing staff residential accommodation) does not apply to public or shared use spaces. If such a space does exist within staff accommodation, the school should clearly communicate this in relevant policies and have a clear policy on safely managing the use of such spaces. New hyperlinks for QEG and AEGIS also added.
2022-05-20 13:45
Added ‘National minimum standards for boarding schools: in force from 5 September 2022’.
Details
This guidance is for:
- school leaders
- school staff
It applies to:
- boarding schools maintained by the local authority
- independent boarding schools
It contains a statement of national minimum standards for boarding schools that provide accommodation for children.
National minimum standards for residential special schools are also available.
Updates to this page
Update history
2026-05-18 12:08
Updated ‘National minimum standards for boarding schools’, details in document history.
2022-09-05 09:25
Removed ‘National minimum standards for boarding schools: in force until 5 September 2022’ and replaced with current ‘National minimum standards for boarding schools’.
2022-09-01 16:31
Updated ‘National minimum standards for boarding schools: in force from 5 September 2022’ to add footnote 44 explaining that standard 20.10 (regarding boarders accessing staff residential accommodation) does not apply to public or shared use spaces. If such a space does exist within staff accommodation, the school should clearly communicate this in relevant policies and have a clear policy on safely managing the use of such spaces. New hyperlinks for QEG and AEGIS also added.
2022-05-20 13:45
Added ‘National minimum standards for boarding schools: in force from 5 September 2022’.