Yes, unless your head has said otherwise.
The law’s default runs the way most staffrooms assume it does not: any paid member of staff may impose a disciplinary penalty, and it is the head teacher who has to decide to take that away. Unpaid staff — volunteers, a parent helper — need the head’s authorisation instead. So a teaching assistant setting a detention is not doing something irregular.
updated 8 Jul 2026last checked 1 Aug 2026
What the source actually says
The condition that decides who may impose a penalty:
“The second condition is that the decision to impose the penalty on the pupil was made— (a) by any paid member of the staff of the school, except in circumstances where the head teacher has determined that the member of staff is not permitted to impose the penalty on the pupil, or (b) by any other member of the staff of the school, in circumstances where the head teacher has authorised the member of the staff to impose the penalty on the pupil and it was reasonable for the head teacher to do so.”
— Education and Inspections Act 2006, s.91(4), current text as revised legislation
That sits alongside two other conditions in the same section: the penalty must not breach any statutory requirement or prohibition and must be “reasonable in all the circumstances” (s.91(3)), and the decision must be made on the premises or when the pupil is under a staff member’s lawful control or charge (s.91(5)).
DfE’s current guidance applies the same default to detentions:
“The headteacher can decide which members of staff can issue detentions. For example, a headteacher could limit the power to heads of year or heads of department only, or they could decide that all members of staff, including support staff, can impose detentions.”
— Behaviour in schools, DfE, February 2024, pp.20–21 — the sentence runs across the page break, with only the page number and a footnote reference between “can impose” and “detentions” DfE
And it expects the decision to be written down and shared:
“This should be laid out clearly in the behaviour policy and communicated clearly to all pupils, parents, and staff.”
— ibid., p.21 DfE
Your school may still require it
Your school can narrow this as far as it likes — sanctions logged by the class teacher only, detentions set by heads of year, a rule that support staff refer rather than impose. That is the head exercising exactly the power s.91(4)(a) gives them. It is a school decision, not a legal ceiling.
See also Do I need parents' permission to keep a pupil after school? and Does my school have to have a behaviour policy?.