For families of children with serious allergies, the school day carries questions that many other parents never need to ask.

Does every teacher know about the allergy?

Will lunchtime staff recognise the signs of anaphylaxis?

Where is the child’s adrenaline auto injector?

Can it be reached immediately?

What happens during sports, school trips, clubs, transport, or an unexpected emergency?

Will the pen be effective if and when needed?

From September 2026, schools in England will operate under a stronger national framework for allergy safety. The changes, widely known as Benedict’s Law, represent an important shift from inconsistent local practice towards clearer responsibilities, better training, stronger policies, and improved access to emergency adrenaline.

This is a landmark step.

But having an adrenaline pen somewhere on school premises is not the same as being prepared to use it.

Real allergy safety requires a complete system. The right medication must be available, accessible, in date, correctly stored, and supported by people who know how and when to act.

 

A lasting legacy for Benedict

Benedict’s Law is named in memory of Benedict Blythe, who was five years old when he died following an allergic reaction at school.

His parents, Helen and Peter Blythe, campaigned for stronger national protections so that other children would not face the same gaps in allergy safety. Their work, together with allergy organisations, families, healthcare professionals, and campaigners, helped bring the issue to national attention.

The new framework is therefore more than an administrative change.

It reflects something families affected by serious allergies have understood for years: allergy safety cannot depend on luck, individual awareness, or whether one particular staff member happens to be present.

Every school needs a plan.

Every member of staff needs a basic level of understanding.

Every child at risk needs reliable access to effective emergency treatment.

 

What is changing for schools?

The Department for Education published its final statutory guidance for allergy safety in schools on July 6, 2026. It applies to maintained schools, academies, free schools, and pupil referral units in England. The government also intends to introduce equivalent requirements for independent and non maintained special schools through the relevant regulatory standards.

From September, schools must have an allergy safety policy, publish it, keep it under review, and have regard to the new statutory guidance.

The government has also announced plans for schools to stock spare adrenaline auto injectors and provide allergy awareness training for staff. The final guidance explains that additional regulations will be introduced to formalise further requirements around spare adrenaline devices and training.

The framework focuses on several essential areas:

• A dedicated allergy safety policy

• Staff training in allergy awareness and emergency response

• Individual Healthcare Plans for pupils who need specific support

• Access to prescribed and spare adrenaline devices

• Safe participation in school trips and external activities

• Recording and learning from serious incidents and near misses

These are not separate administrative tasks. Together, they form the foundation of a safer school environment.

 

Why a policy matters

A policy should not be a document that sits unread on a website.

It should explain how allergy safety works throughout the school day.

Who is responsible for implementing the policy?

How are pupils with allergies identified?

How is information shared with teachers, catering staff, lunchtime supervisors, substitute teachers, transport providers, and activity leaders?

Where is emergency medication stored and how is it kept protected from the heat?

Who checks expiry dates?

What happens during a school trip?

How does the school respond after a reaction or near miss?

The statutory guidance states that a named senior leader should be responsible for the allergy safety policy. The policy should be reviewed at least annually, published, and used to explain how the school will reduce allergen risks, train staff, provide access to adrenaline, and support pupils during visits and trips.

The difference between a good policy and an ineffective one is whether people can follow it in a real emergency.

 

Training must extend beyond the classroom teacher

A serious allergic reaction may not happen during a lesson.

It may happen in the lunch hall.

On the playground.

During football practice.

On the school bus.

At an after school club.

During a class trip.

That is why allergy awareness cannot be limited to the school nurse, first aid team, or the child’s main teacher.

The government’s framework calls for allergy safety training across school staff, including recognising an allergic reaction, responding to anaphylaxis, and understanding the use of adrenaline devices. The guidance also emphasises the need for robust emergency response plans because anaphylaxis can progress rapidly.

Training should create confidence before an emergency occurs.

Staff should know:

• The signs of a serious allergic reaction

• Where the adrenaline device is located

• How to bring the device to the child without delay

• How to administer it correctly

• When to call emergency services

• What information must be shared after the incident

In an emergency, uncertainty costs time.

Preparation helps staff act.

 

Accessibility is not optional

Emergency medication is only useful when it can be reached immediately.

The statutory guidance states that adrenaline should be administered as soon as possible and within five minutes in a case of anaphylaxis. It also says that adrenaline devices should not be locked away or stored in an office with restricted access. Spare devices should be kept in a safe, central location that remains accessible.

This creates an important operational question for every school:

Can the right device reach the child within minutes, wherever the reaction happens?

A single central location may work during normal classroom hours. It may be less effective during outdoor activities, events in another building, sports days, or trips away from the school.

Schools need to think beyond where medication is stored.

They must consider how quickly it can move and be kept safe.

 

A spare device does not replace the child’s prescribed medication

Spare adrenaline devices provide an important additional layer of preparedness.

They may be needed when a child’s own device is unavailable, cannot be found, is empty, is damaged, or does not function correctly. They may also be required during an unexpected first reaction in a pupil without a previous allergy diagnosis.

The guidance notes that up to 20 percent of anaphylaxis reactions in schools happen in children without a pre existing allergy diagnosis. It therefore expects schools to stock spare devices in suitable dosages for emergency use.

However, a school’s spare device is not intended to replace the child’s prescribed adrenaline.

Children at risk of anaphylaxis should continue to have access to both of their prescribed devices. Their Individual Healthcare Plan should explain where the medication is stored, how it can be accessed, who can administer it, and what should happen during an emergency.

Preparedness needs both layers:

The child’s prescribed medication and a reliable school backup.

 

Medication condition is part of emergency readiness

There is another part of preparedness that deserves more attention.

The adrenaline device must not only be present. It must also have been stored correctly.

The Department for Education guidance specifically states that prescribed and spare adrenaline devices must be stored at room temperature according to the manufacturer’s instructions. They should not be exposed to extreme heat, placed in direct sunlight, or refrigerated.

This matters because emergency medication may remain in a school for months.

It may be carried between classrooms.

Stored near a window.

Taken outside for sports.

Placed in a vehicle during a trip.

Carried in a backpack during an excursion.

Left in an area that becomes unusually hot or cold.

A school can check the expiry date and still overlook what the medication has experienced since it arrived.

That is why medication protection should be considered part of the school’s wider allergy safety process.

Schools should ask:

Where will the device be stored?

Is that area exposed to sunlight?

Does the temperature change during weekends or school holidays?

How will prescribed devices be protected during sports and trips?

Who checks that storage continues to follow the manufacturer’s instructions?

A device can be accessible and still be inadequately protected.

Both issues matter.

 

School trips require the same standard of preparedness

Children with allergies should be able to participate fully in school life.

They should not be excluded from trips, sports, events, or outdoor activities simply because managing their medical needs requires planning.

The statutory guidance says that schools should conduct a risk assessment for pupils at risk of anaphylaxis who take part in activities away from the premises. Pupils should have their own adrenaline devices with them, and trained staff should be available to administer adrenaline during an emergency. Schools may also consider taking spare devices on certain trips, provided this does not leave the school without adequate backup.

The trip plan should consider:

• Who is carrying the medication

• How it will remain accessible

• How it will be protected during transport and outdoor activities

• Which staff members are trained

• Where the nearest emergency medical support is located

• What happens if the group separates

The child’s safety plan must travel with the child.

 

From compliance to a culture of preparedness

The greatest opportunity created by Benedict’s Law is not simply better compliance.

It is the chance to create a different culture around allergy safety.

A culture where children are believed.

Where parents do not need to repeat the same warnings to every new staff member.

Where teachers understand that anaphylaxis is time critical.

Where food safety, medication access, training, and inclusion are connected.

Where near misses are reviewed instead of forgotten.

Where children with allergies can take part in school life without being made to feel like a problem.

The guidance calls on schools to record serious incidents and near misses, communicate with families, review what happened, and use those lessons to improve policies and procedures.

This is essential.

A near miss is not evidence that the system worked.

It is an opportunity to identify where it nearly failed.

 

The beginning of a safer standard

Benedict’s Law is an important step forward for children, parents, teachers, and school communities.

It establishes that allergy safety cannot remain informal or inconsistent.

Schools need policies.

Staff need training.

Children need individual plans.

Adrenaline devices need to be available.

Emergency medication needs to be accessible and properly stored.

Incidents need to be reviewed.

Most importantly, children with serious allergies need to know that the adults around them are prepared to act.

The law creates the framework.

Schools must now turn that framework into everyday readiness.

Because in an anaphylactic emergency, it is not enough for an adrenaline pen to be somewhere nearby.

It must be ready when a child needs it most.

 

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Source: Allergy safety in schools Statutory guidance for governing bodies of maintained schools and proprietors of academies in England July 2026