Sir David Bell's independent review (Review), which was published on 21 October 2026, sets 27 recommendations for schools and colleges in England. School leaders and governors should expect closer scrutiny of how they define, record and respond to antisemitism.
In Brief
- The Review, commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE), makes 27 recommendations and calls for a system-wide, coherent approach to prevention, recognition and response.
- The Review recommends wider adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, strengthened safeguarding guidance, and amendments to the Teachers' Standards.
- The Review also recommends that Ofsted and the Independent Schools' Inspectorate build inspector capability on antisemitism.
- None of the 27 recommendations is yet binding law or statutory guidance but the government has already publicly stated that it accepts all the recommendations; schools should therefore track implementation closely, particularly any changes to Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) and the Teachers' Standards.
What does the Review actually say?
The Review's central finding is that schools and colleges are generally committed to inclusion, but lack a shared reference point for identifying antisemitism and lack confidence in responding to it consistently. It recommends that the Secretary of State for Education encourage all schools and colleges to adopt the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, first adopted by the UK Government in 2016, as "a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews", including its illustrative examples.
Beyond definition, the Review calls for the DfE to strengthen KCSIE so that racism and prejudice, including antisemitism, are expressly recognised as capable of constituting harm and raising safeguarding concerns, moving antisemitism out of a purely behavioural or disciplinary frame. It also recommends updated behaviour and anti-bullying guidance, clearer reporting and recording systems with a dedicated antisemitism category, and amendments to the Teachers' Standards so that antisemitic conduct is expressly incompatible with professional standards, both within and outside school, including online.
On training and curriculum, the Review recommends that the DfE commission a dedicated antisemitism training package for school and college leaders and Designated Safeguarding Leads, and encourage its integration into existing safeguarding, equalities and anti-racism training. It also recommends that antisemitism understanding be embedded in initial teacher training and the early career framework, alongside wider curriculum recommendations covering Holocaust education, religious education, citizenship, media literacy and online safety, and pastoral and tutorial provision.
On staff protection, the Review separately recommends that school and college employers maintain a robust reporting, escalation and response process for antisemitic abuse, bullying or harassment directed at staff and, where relevant, governors and trustees, whether the conduct involves pupils, students, parents, colleagues or third parties. This sits alongside, but is distinct from, the Teachers' Standards amendments already referred to above.
What does the Review say about ensuring accountability in schools?
The Review recommends that Ofsted and the ISI each build inspector training and confidence specifically on evaluating how effectively leaders identify, manage and prevent antisemitism, and that the DfE commission both inspectorates to undertake thematic work on this question, separately and within their respective remits.
Currently, neither inspection framework treats antisemitism as a standalone judgement area; it is assessed indirectly through broader categories such as leadership, culture and safeguarding, or through compliance with the Independent School Standards. It does likely become a theme for inspection and schools should expect inspectors to ask more targeted questions about antisemitism-specific policy, training and recording in future inspection cycles, rather than treating it as subsumed within general equalities or behaviour provision.
What should schools do about political impartiality and controversial discussion?
The Review identifies significant uncertainty among staff about navigating political expression, impartiality duties, and discussion of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with some professionals avoiding the topic altogether for fear of complaint.
The Review recommends that school leaders carefully consider the time, place and manner of political expression, including staff dress codes and pupil uniform policy on political symbols, flags or slogans, ensuring compliance with impartiality duties while remaining mindful of inclusion and respectful dialogue. Notably, Sir David Bell stopped short of recommending an outright ban on political symbols, citing the risk of legally untested or unworkable rules; schools retain discretion, but must exercise it against their existing statutory duties.
What happens next?
The Review creates no new duties of its own. Its recommendations depend on the DfE, Ofsted, the ISI and others choosing to act. Schools should treat the Review as a strong signal of direction.
There is also a genuine tension the Review surfaces but does not fully resolve: the boundary between legitimate political or historical discussion of Israel and antisemitism. The Review itself finds increasing prevalence of anti-Israel attitudes alongside confusion about where legitimate expression ends and antisemitism begins, which will remain a live risk area for staff training, pastoral handling of incidents, and safeguarding judgement calls.
What should schools do now?
- Review current pupil policies against the Review's direction of travel to identify likely areas for amendment: behaviour, anti-bullying, speaking visitors, safeguarding and online safety policies should be checked for whether they would already satisfy a strengthened KCSIE position that antisemitism may constitute harm.
- Enhance capability within recording systems to confirm whether antisemitic incidents can be separately categorised and tracked, rather than folded into general bullying or behaviour logs.
- Assess staff and governor training: consider whether current safeguarding, equalities and anti-racism training gives staff genuine confidence to recognise and respond to antisemitism, including online manifestations.
- Review staff codes of conduct, and HR reporting and escalation procedures, to confirm they provide a clear route for staff, governors and trustees to report antisemitic abuse, bullying or harassment, including incidents involving pupils, parents or third parties.
- Revisit political impartiality practice, particularly uniform and dress code policy on political symbols, and guidance for staff on discussing the Israel-Palestine conflict, against existing Education Act 1996 and DfE guidance.
- Engage with ISI and Ofsted developments as inspector training and thematic review work is rolled out, and monitor DfE announcements on KCSIE and Teachers' Standards amendments before they take effect.
- Be live to working with religious leaders to increase organisational understanding of trends and concerns.
How Mishcon de Reya can help
Our Education team advises independent schools, academy trusts and governing bodies on safeguarding policy, political impartiality duties, equality law, staff conduct and misconduct processes, and engagement with Ofsted and ISI inspections. We can help you benchmark current policies and training against the antisemitism Review's recommendations, advise on handling individual incidents, and prepare your school for the accountability changes likely to follow.
To discuss what the antisemitism review means for your school, please contact a member of the Education Group at Mishcon de Reya.