Department for Education publishes statutory allergy safety guidance for schools

On 6 July 2026, the Department for Education published the long-anticipated statutory guidance on allergy safety in schools, also known as ‘Benedict’s Law’. The guidance comes into force from 1 September 2026.

Governing bodies of maintained schools and special schools (excluding maintained nursery schools), management committees of pupil referral units and proprietors of academies (excluding 16-19 academies) must have regard to this guidance in fulfilling their statutory duties.

While this guidance doesn’t currently apply to independent and non-maintained special schools, the government intends to introduce equivalent requirements through the relevant regulatory standards in 2027.

Section 34 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 has amended the statutory duty to make arrangements to support pupils at school with medical conditions. This amendment requires schools to publish, maintain and regularly review a dedicated allergy safety policy. The guidance also requires schools to stock ‘spare’ adrenaline devices and provide allergy awareness training for all relevant staff.

Allergy safety policies

Responsibility for putting an allergy safety policy in place sits with the governing body. In the case of academy trusts, this falls to the trust itself and each academy within it should designate an allergy safety lead to oversee day-to-day implementation. Trusts will need to make clear how oversight of individual schools is managed within their scheme of delegation.

These policies will need to be reviewed at least once a year and the government intends to establish this as a statutory duty through forthcoming regulations. Where an incident or ‘near miss’ highlights a potential gap, a more immediate review should follow. Schools are also expected to involve pupils with allergies, along with their parents and staff, when drawing up or revising their policy.

The guidance also encourages schools to run allergy safety drills, much like fire drills. The idea is that staff can practise responding to a simulated anaphylaxis scenario in a safe environment, with the outcomes recorded and fed back into policy reviews.

Allergy safety policies will need to be made available on the school’s website and in hard copy on request. Again, the government plans to put this on a statutory footing through forthcoming regulations.

From an inspection standpoint, allergy safety arrangements are expected to form part of the evidence base when inspectors assess safeguarding and the support offered to pupils with medical conditions.

Schools are expected to help pupils understand and, over time, take ownership of managing their allergy. This includes encouraging them to carry their own medication and adrenaline devices where it’s appropriate to do so. Any decisions around self-management should be tailored to the individual, with regard to the pupil’s maturity, understanding of the risks and relevant safeguarding considerations.

The guidance is clear that allergy safety policies should spell out what amounts to unacceptable practice. The examples given include restricting access to medication, disregarding medical advice, taking a one-size-fits-all approach to allergy support and excluding pupils from everyday school life — whether activities, trips or mealtimes — because of their allergy. Schools should also not place the burden on parents to come in and administer medication themselves.

Finally, the guidance maps out the areas that a compliant allergy safety policy should address. These range from staff training and emergency response protocols to the wellbeing of affected pupils, minimising allergen exposure, maintaining Individual Healthcare Plans, stocking ‘spare’ adrenaline devices, making adjustments for school trips and establishing clear processes for recording and learning from incidents.

Requirement of ‘spare’ adrenaline devices

Following the government listening to families and campaigners, including Helen Blythe of the Benedict Blythe Foundation and the National Allergy Strategy Group, schools will be expected to stock ‘spare’ adrenaline devices for emergency use, ensuring they are of the correct dosage for their pupils.

These ‘spare’ devices aren’t meant to replace a pupil’s personal medication but rather serve as a vital safety net.

The ‘spare’ devices will need to be accessible at all times in a safe and central location, such as the reception, school office or staff room. They will need to be stored at room temperature and out of the reach of children. ‘Spare’ adrenaline auto-injectors should always be stocked in pairs. Most schools will need to obtain two pairs at different dosages to cater for pupils of different ages and schools with larger sites should consider whether additional pairs are needed to ensure that adrenaline can be administered within five minutes of an emergency.

Allergy safety training

All staff on site in pupil-facing roles will need to receive allergy awareness training at least once a year. This requirement excludes contractors with non-pupil facing roles. The guidance is clear that first aid training alone is not sufficient. Allergy awareness training will need to include content such as:

• Knowing where to find information on allergy triggers
• Understanding and recognising anaphylaxis
• Knowing how to respond in an emergency
• Understanding the impact an allergy can have on a child or young person’s wellbeing.

Potential liability for non-compliance

While the guidance operates on a ‘have regard to’ basis, a decision not to comply should be supported by a clear and justifiable reason. In practice, departure without good reason is likely to be difficult to defend.

From an inspection perspective, allergy safety arrangements are expected to form part of the evidence base when inspectors assess safeguarding, meaning that gaps in compliance could have direct consequences for inspection outcomes.

Looking ahead, a number of requirements that are currently framed as expectations under the guidance are expected to be given statutory footing through forthcoming regulations. These include the duty to have a named senior leader responsible for allergy safety, the duty to review the allergy safety policy at least annually, the duty to publish the policy, the duty to record serious incidents and ‘near misses’ and the requirements to stock ‘spare’ adrenaline devices and provide allergy awareness training.

While the guidance doesn’t specify a timetable for these regulations, the allergy provisions of the Act are expected to come into force in 2027. Schools that delay compliance may therefore find themselves in breach of statutory duties.

Further information

Our Education team can support and advise schools to ensure they comply with this new statutory guidance, including assisting with the drafting and review of allergy safety policies, the curation and delivery of allergy safety training and responding to incidents and ‘near misses’. The statutory guidance can be accessed here. The Department for Education has also recommended a supporting resource for schools implementing the guidance.

This creation of this article was assisted by Lucas Hancock, Trainee Solicitor.