How School Leaders Can Use the New Information Sharing Rules

As a school leader, you manage tight budgets, limited staff time, and a growing list of statutory duties. The transition of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) between schools is often a major administrative bottleneck. Valuable pupil data frequently gets lost, delayed, or trapped behind cautious administrative barriers.

Now, the government has introduced a new statutory information sharing duty under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act. This change represents a major shift in how schools share pupil data. Instead of viewing data sharing as a compliance risk, leaders can use this new statutory duty as a strategic tool to streamline SEND transition data between schools, specialists, and local authorities.

This guide explains how to use these legislative changes to support your dyslexic and neurodivergent pupils. By updating your protocols, you can ensure that vital intervention strategies are in place from day one.

The New Information Sharing Duty: What Has Changed?

In September 2026, the Department for Education published draft statutory guidance on the information sharing duty introduced in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act. You can read the official consultation on the Information sharing duty statutory guidance.

Alongside this, the government updated its core practitioner guide, Information sharing to safeguard children and young people. This guidance clarifies when and how practitioners should share information to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Historically, many school leaders and Data Protection Officers (DPOs) have been hesitant to share detailed SEND records due to fears of violating data privacy laws. This caution often leads to "data siloing."

The new statutory guidance clarifies that sharing information to support a child's wellbeing and educational progress is not just permitted; it is actively encouraged. It establishes that timely information sharing is essential for effective safeguarding and welfare support. For school leaders, this provides the legal confidence to share detailed support profiles with incoming schools or external specialists without unnecessary administrative delays.

To understand how these records are managed from a family's perspective, you can read our guide on how does the school share my child's SEND records?.

How This Impacts Transition Planning for Neurodivergent Pupils

Transition points—such as moving from primary to secondary school—are highly challenging for dyslexic and neurodivergent pupils. When a child with dyslexia changes schools, their support system often resets to zero.

An incoming school might spend months reassessing a pupil, during which time the child falls behind and experiences rising anxiety. This delay is costly for your school budget and harmful to the pupil's education.

Under the new information sharing rules, you can establish proactive transition pathways. You can securely transfer comprehensive support histories well ahead of the pupil's first day. This includes:

• Specific classroom accommodations that have proven successful.
• Past reading fluency and phonics progress data.
• History of specialist interventions.
• Assistive technology preferences and access arrangements.

When you share this data early, the receiving secondary school can prepare immediately. For example, they can ensure teachers are briefed on active reading strategies, which is especially important for older pupils. You can explore how secondary schools support these transition years in our post on Active KS3 English: Engaging Year 7 and 8 Struggling Readers.

Practical Steps to Update Your School's Data-Sharing Protocols Safely

To benefit from this guidance, school leaders must update their internal policies. This ensures that staff share data confidently, lawfully, and efficiently. Here are four practical steps to implement in your school:

1. Review Your Information Sharing Agreement (ISA): Update your school's ISA to reference the new statutory guidance under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act. Work with your DPO to ensure your privacy notices explicitly cover transition data sharing.
2. Standardise the SEND Transition Pack: Create a digital, secure, and structured "SEND Profile" for transitioning pupils. Do not rely on loose paper files. Ensure this pack contains clear, actionable data regarding reading levels, phonics intervention history, and successful accommodations.
3. Train Staff on the "Wellbeing" Threshold: Ensure your SENCO and safeguarding leads understand that promoting a child's educational welfare is a valid, lawful basis for sharing information under the new guidance.
4. Maintain Transparency with Parents: Keep parents informed about what data is being shared and why. Transparency builds trust and reduces anxiety. For a parent's perspective on this process, you can share our resource on Who Holds My Child’s School Records? A Parent's Guide to Data Privacy.

Using Shared Data to Target Early Intervention

Receiving high-quality data early allows school leaders to allocate resources strategically. Instead of waiting for a pupil to struggle or fail their initial assessments, you can target interventions from their first week.

For instance, if transition records show a pupil has consistently struggled with reading fluency, you can immediately place them into a structured literacy program. This targeted approach prevents the compounding academic frustration that many dyslexic pupils experience in secondary school.

This is where accessible, evidence-based tools can assist your teaching staff. Our app, Lexy, provides multisensory structured literacy practice based on Orton-Gillingham principles. It is designed for iOS and Mac, and we offer a free tier that includes support for up to five students, making it easy for schools to trial. You can find out more about our school options on our Lexy for schools page.

Using tools like Lexy alongside your newly streamlined data sharing protocols allows your team to deliver immediate, personalized support. This proactive approach saves staff time, protects your budget from expensive emergency interventions, and ensures every pupil has the tools they need to succeed.