Yes.
In England the head teacher’s rules must identify the items a search may be made for. That is a duty on the school, and it is also the thing that makes your search lawful: for anything outside the short statutory list of prohibited items, the power exists only because your school’s rules named it. If the rules are silent about vapes, energy drinks or whatever this term’s problem is, that is a gap in the policy — not something for you to fill in on the spot.
updated 1 Jan 2006last checked 22 Aug 2026
What the source actually says
The requirement on the rules:
“In relation to a school in England, rules made under subsection (4) must identify the items for which a search may be made.”
— Education and Inspections Act 2006, s.89(4A), current text as revised legislation.gov.uk
The rules it is talking about are the ones the head teacher’s measures have to contain:
“The measures which the head teacher determines under subsection (1) must include the making of rules and provision for disciplinary penalties (as defined by section 90).”
— Education and Inspections Act 2006, s.89(4), current text as revised legislation.gov.uk
The search and seizure provisions then hang off that category. An item is seizable if there are reasonable grounds to suspect it is prohibited:
“(1) A person carrying out a search under section 550ZA may seize any of the following found in the course of the search— (a) anything which that person has reasonable grounds for suspecting is a prohibited item; (b) any other thing which that person has reasonable grounds for suspecting is evidence in relation to an offence.”
— Education Act 1996, s.550ZC(1), current text as revised legislation.gov.uk
And the statute has a separate disposal rule for the school-rules category specifically, which is the clearest sign it is treated as a distinct class:
“(6B) A person who seizes an item that is a prohibited item by virtue of section 550ZA(3)(g) (item for which search may be made under school rules) under subsection (1) must return it to its owner, retain it or dispose of it.”
— Education Act 1996, s.550ZC(6B), current text as revised legislation.gov.uk
“(6C) In deciding what to do with an item under subsection (6A) or (6B), the person who seized it must have regard to guidance issued for the purpose of this section by the Secretary of State.”
— Education Act 1996, s.550ZC(6C), current text as revised legislation.gov.uk
Two practical consequences. Naming an item in the rules brings it inside the search power — so the answer to “we can’t search for those” is often that the rules should say so and do not. And the school-rules category is the one where reasonable force may not be used, which is a separate limit covered elsewhere.
Your school may still require it
Your school decides what goes on that list, and can lawfully keep it far shorter than the law allows, or require every search to be authorised case by case. The statute obliges the rules to be explicit; it does not oblige them to be generous.
See also Can I search a pupil who refuses?, Can I be made to search a pupil? and Does the school have to tell me what the behaviour measures are?.