2026 Staffing and Safety Priorities for Education Leaders
The pressures on educational settings continue to intensify. In 2026, education employers face a fast-evolving employment law landscape, heightened health and safety expectations, and increasing scrutiny from regulators, staff, parents and the media.
From managing day-to-day issues like staff absence and wellbeing to ensuring compliance with changing employment legislation and health and safety duties, education leaders must get the fundamentals right – or risk costly claims, enforcement action, and reputational damage.
This practical webinar will help you understand the key staffing and safety priorities for education providers in 2026, what’s changing, and where leaders should focus their attention to stay compliant and protected.
22 January, 9.30 am - 10.30 am
Why attend?
Education leaders and governors are operating in an increasingly complex risk environment. Employment disputes are rising, health and safety standards are under sharper inspection, and expectations around staff wellbeing, safeguarding and accountability continue to grow.
Join Solicitor and Head of WorkNest’s Education Team Jane Hallas and Regional Health & Safety Manager Maria Leonard for this free 60-minute session specifically aimed at headteachers, HR leaders, school business managers, governors, and trust leaders.
We’ll cut through the noise, highlighting the most important legal and compliance priorities for 2026 to help you proactively reduce risk, protect your people, and run your school with confidence.
What we will cover:
- Employment law priorities for 2026: Key legal developments affecting education in respect to people management and evolving employee rights. (Including the Employment Rights Act)
- Health and safety priorities for 2026: Key risk areas, emerging trends, and where HSE inspectors are focusing their attention.
- Practical steps for education leaders: Clear actions and checks to help you review your approach, spot gaps, and strengthen compliance in the year ahead.
Have a question for our hosts?
When registering, share any challenge or scenario you’re currently facing. We’ll address as many as possible during the session or follow up with you after the webinar
Can't make it live?
Register anyway and we’ll send you the full recording and practical resources in the weeks after the webinar has taken place.
Register for our free session
IOSH Managing Health & Safety Risks in the Education Sector
2 Hour Course
The Education sector presents a variety of unique hazards and risks.
This exclusive course has been specially designed by Ellis Whittam based on our extensive knowledge and experience of working with schools, colleges and other education and training providers. Largely equivalent to the IOSH Managing Safely course, it focuses solely on the Education sector and is compressed into two days in recognition of the limited time you have available.
Webinar review
“Having attended a few WorkNest webinars, I am always impressed with the no-nonsense, well-balanced guidance they provide. Their advice gives me confidence to deal with situations that may arise in an appropriate way and the fact that they follow up with answers to all the questions posed during the webinar is an added bonus.”
Mary Greig, Scaled Solutions
Better with WorkNest
Protecting organisations and achieving results
Owing to our unrivalled support and expertise, we’re consistently high achievers when it comes to protecting organisations and achieving results.
3x
More employment lawyers
Across our non-SRA and SRA entities, we have over three times as many qualified employment lawyers than any of our larger competitors, guaranteeing the best possible advice.
4x
Reduced claims risk
Our Employment Law clients are nearly four times less likely to face a Tribunal claim compared to the national average, and almost twice as likely to successfully defend one.
100%
Qualified consultants
All of our Health & Safety specialists are IOSH qualified (or equivalent), mainly Chartered or Graduate, ensuring they possess the skills and expertise to support you effectively.
1,500
Years of experience
Together, our experts have over 1,500 years’ collective experience of supporting organisations with their compliance, so you can be sure you’re in safe hands.
Who we work with
Proud to support over 40,000 UK employers
Our clients range from small businesses with fewer than 50 staff at a single location, through to large household names employing thousands of people at multiple sites across the UK. Whatever your size or sector, we have solutions to suit your needs.
