Confidentiality and safeguarding in school counselling — when must you share?
Confidentiality is what makes counselling work: young people talk openly when they trust that what they say will stay in the room. In a school, however, confidentiality is never absolute. Every member of staff — including counsellors employed or contracted by the school — works within the safeguarding framework set out in Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) and Working Together to Safeguard Children.
This guide explains how the two fit together. It is general information, not legal advice; follow your school's safeguarding policy and seek advice from your DSL and supervisor.
Confidentiality is "limited", not "absolute"
The BACP Ethical Framework commits counsellors to respecting client confidentiality, and also recognises that there are circumstances in which information must be shared — in particular to protect a client or others from serious harm. In a school, the safeguarding duty is explicit: KCSIE says staff should never promise a child that they will not tell anyone about a report of abuse, because that may not be in the child's best interests.
So the working rule is:
- Most of what a pupil says stays confidential between the pupil, the counsellor and (in anonymised form) clinical supervision.
- Information that suggests a child is at risk of significant harm must be shared with the DSL, following the school's safeguarding procedures.
Situations that usually require sharing
The exact threshold is a matter for professional judgement and your school's procedures, but the following typically require you to speak to the DSL:
- disclosure of physical, sexual or emotional abuse or neglect,
- serious risk of self-harm or suicide,
- risk of serious harm to others,
- indicators of child sexual or criminal exploitation, county lines, radicalisation, female genital mutilation (FGM), forced marriage or domestic abuse,
- a child who is missing, or at risk of going missing, from education or home.
Some of these carry specific legal duties. For example, teachers in England and Wales have a mandatory duty to report known cases of FGM in under-18s to the police. Check how this applies to your role with your DSL.
Explain the limits at the start — every time
Pupils should know the limits of confidentiality before they disclose, not after. Most school counselling services cover this in a first-session agreement. A simple, age-appropriate explanation might be:
"What you say here is private. I won't tell your teachers or your parents what we talk about. The only time I would need to share something is if I was worried that you, or someone else, might be seriously hurt. If that happens, I'll try to talk to you first about who I need to tell and why."
Record in your notes that you explained confidentiality and that the pupil understood it. Revisit it if the pupil seems unsure, or when the context changes.
Sharing with the pupil, where possible
Where it is safe to do so, tell the pupil what you are going to share, with whom, and why — and invite their views. This maintains trust and respects their autonomy. It is not appropriate to warn a pupil if doing so would put them or someone else at greater risk, or could compromise a police or social care enquiry.
Consent is not always needed to share safeguarding information
Data protection law does not stop you sharing information to keep a child safe. The DfE's information-sharing advice for safeguarding practitioners is clear that UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 are not barriers to justified information sharing. The Data Protection Act 2018 includes a specific condition allowing special category data to be processed for "safeguarding of children and of individuals at risk" where consent cannot reasonably be obtained or would prejudice the safeguarding purpose.
What is required is that sharing is necessary, proportionate, relevant, accurate, timely and secure — and recorded. See our guide on what to share with the DSL.
Parents and confidentiality
Parents do not automatically have a right to know what their child discusses in counselling. Where a pupil is competent to make their own decisions about counselling (see our guide to Gillick competence and consent), their confidentiality should generally be respected, subject to the safeguarding limits above. Your school's policy should set out how parents are informed about the counselling service in general terms.
Record your decisions — including decisions not to share
When you consider sharing and decide it is not necessary, write down what you considered and why. A brief, dated note of your reasoning, ideally discussed with your supervisor, demonstrates sound professional judgement if the decision is later reviewed.
Official sources
- Department for Education, Keeping children safe in education
- HM Government, Working together to safeguard children
- Department for Education, Information sharing advice for safeguarding practitioners
- Data Protection Act 2018, Schedule 1, paragraph 18 — safeguarding of children and of individuals at risk
- Home Office, Mandatory reporting of female genital mutilation: procedural information
- BACP, Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions
This guide is general information for school counsellors and pastoral staff in the UK. It is not legal advice. Always follow your school's safeguarding, data protection and records policies, and take advice from your DSL, DPO or supervisor on individual cases.