This page is about schools in England. It does not cover Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Benedict’s Law: what is in force?
The allergy safety provisions are law. Section 34 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 inserts sections 100A and 100B into the Children and Families Act 2014. The Act received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026, as recorded on Parliament’s bill stages page. Section 34 came fully into force on 1 September 2026 under regulation 2 of the commencement regulations; regulation-making powers had already commenced at Royal Assent under section 78(1)(a).
Benedict’s Law is the name used for the allergy safety changes, rather than the Act’s formal title. The separate Schools (Allergy Safety) Bill is a bill, not the source of the duties now in force.
The DfE’s Allergy safety in schools, July 2026 edition, was published on 6 July 2026. Schools within its statutory scope must have regard to it: take it into account and carefully consider it, with a clear or justifiable reason for departing from it (Summary, “About this guidance”). Page references are to the printed page numbers in the guidance.
Current legal requirements: the responsible authority must have an allergy safety policy, review it at least once every year, make appropriate changes following review, publish it on the school website and make it generally known within the school and to parents. At least once a year it must bring the policy to the attention of pupils, parents and everyone working at the school, including unpaid workers. It must have particular regard to allergy guidance (new section 100A(1), (4)–(6), inserted by section 34(1)).
Published guidance expectations: all schools should stock spare adrenaline devices; staff should receive allergy awareness training at least annually; a named senior leader should lead allergy safety. The July guidance describes further regulations on these matters as planned. Section 100B provides powers to make regulations on medicines, risk management, training and incident recording and reporting; the power itself does not impose each of those duties on schools (section 34(1); allergy guidance, pages 20, 25 and 38–39).
Planned extension: the Act requires equivalent measures to be imposed through regulatory standards for independent schools and non-maintained special schools (section 34(2)–(3)). The published July guidance says these requirements are not yet statutory for those settings and will be introduced through their standards; it gives no commencement date for that extension (Summary, “Who is this guidance for?” and “Expiry or review date”).
Who is responsible?
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 already requires arrangements to support pupils with medical conditions and regard to statutory guidance. It applies to maintained schools, academy schools, alternative provision academies and pupil referral units in England, with an exception for young children covered by the early years framework (section 100(1)–(5)).
- Maintained schools: the governing body holds the duty.
- Academies: the proprietor holds it.
- Pupil referral units: the management committee holds it.
The July allergy guidance excludes maintained nursery schools and 16–19 academies from its statutory scope. It is also useful to early years settings, further education colleges and other post-16 institutions (Summary, “Who is this guidance for?”).
Delegating work does not transfer legal accountability. The governing body, proprietor or management committee remains responsible. The DfE’s Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions, December 2015 edition, remains the related statutory guidance; GOV.UK last updated its publication page on 16 August 2017 (paragraphs 4–8; allergy guidance, “What legislation is this guidance issued under?”).
The allergy guidance expects a named senior leader to drive the policy and its review. Allergy safety should not be left to the catering manager. In a trust, each academy should have its own allergy safety lead, with oversight clear in the scheme of delegation (page 20).
What the allergy safety policy should cover
Use the DfE’s policy template on the allergy guidance publication page. The policy should explain how the school will:
- train staff in allergy awareness and emergency response;
- support pupils’ wellbeing and address allergy-related bullying;
- identify allergies and reduce exposure to known allergens, including through food provision;
- develop individual healthcare plans and provide access to prescribed medicines;
- obtain, store, check, replace and use spare adrenaline devices;
- include pupils safely in school trips and external visits;
- record serious incidents and near misses, share necessary information and learn from what happened.
These are the guidance’s policy areas, rather than a separate checklist of regulations (pages 23–24 and 41). Review and publication are already legal duties under section 100A, even though pages 20–21 of the July guidance describe further regulations on them as forthcoming.
Individual healthcare plans
An individual healthcare plan (IHP) records the arrangements a particular pupil needs. It is a school support plan, not a clinical assessment. Develop it with the pupil and parents, attach relevant healthcare professionals’ care and action plans, and make those originals accessible to staff who need them. Do not rewrite clinical instructions into a substitute plan (allergy guidance, pages 45–46).
Not every medical condition automatically requires an IHP. The medical conditions guidance says the school, healthcare professional and parent should agree on the evidence when a plan would be inappropriate or disproportionate; the headteacher takes the final view if agreement cannot be reached (further advice following paragraph 13). For allergy, consider the specific support needed and the risk of anaphylaxis using the July guidance’s “Who may need an Individual Healthcare Plan for allergy” (pages 47–48).
The IHP should cover triggers and symptoms, the support and adjustments needed, medicines and their location, consent, staff responsibilities and training, arrangements for trips and emergencies, and relevant clinical plans. Use the DfE’s IHP template (allergy guidance, pages 49–58; medical conditions guidance, paragraphs 12–15). Review at least annually, or earlier when needs change (medical conditions guidance, paragraph 13).
Put support in place while an allergy is being investigated; lack of a diagnosis is not a reason to dismiss the pupil’s needs. Use the best available information with the family and seek relevant clinical advice (allergy guidance, pages 46–47).
Spare adrenaline auto-injectors: who can hold them?
The Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017 came into force on 1 October 2017 (regulation 1). Regulation 8 changes the Human Medicines Regulations to permit school supply and emergency administration of adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs) under the specified exemptions.
Schools can buy spare AAIs from a pharmaceutical supplier without a prescription. This includes primary and secondary independent schools. The school purchase exemption does not extend to standalone early years settings or FE colleges. The supplier needs a request signed by the headteacher or principal, naming the school, quantity and emergency purpose (allergy guidance, page 39; DHSC’s Guidance on the use of adrenaline auto-injectors in schools, September 2017, printed pages 3–5 and 11).
Spare AAIs supplement a pupil’s own prescribed devices. The July guidance expects schools to stock the correct dosage for their pupils, store spares in pairs, keep them readily accessible and unlocked, and provide arrangements to replace used or expired devices. Its purchase permission currently covers AAIs, not spare nasal adrenaline sprays (allergy guidance, pages 38–41).
Consent and the allergy register
The September 2017 DHSC guidance describes a planned-use protocol for pupils known to be at risk: medical authorisation, written parental consent and an accessible allergy register. The register can include known allergens and risk factors, prescribed AAI type and dose, consent for spare AAI use and a photograph with parental consent (printed pages 14–15).
The July 2026 DfE guidance expressly says prior consent is not required to use spare adrenaline in an emergency to save a life. Advance consent is good practice, but treatment must not be delayed while staff check it. It also covers a pupil presenting with anaphylaxis for the first time, without a known allergy (pages 41–42). The older planned-use protocol should therefore not be read as a reason to withhold emergency treatment from someone missing from the register.
Keep the allergy record and IHPs usable by staff who need them, with consent and clinical information recorded. Train staff to find them, while keeping the emergency response free of delays (allergy guidance, pages 25–26, 34–35 and 41–46).
The DHSC guidance recommends at least two named staff volunteers to maintain the kit, with monthly checks that AAIs are present and in date. Record injector batch numbers and expiry dates and arrange replacement before expiry (printed pages 12–13). The July guidance expects the policy to set out storage, expiry checks, replacement and safe disposal (page 41).
Training and emergency readiness
The July guidance expects allergy awareness training at least annually for staff present while pupils are scheduled to be on site. This includes permanent, temporary, supply, peripatetic, agency and catering staff, regular volunteers and staff overseeing breakfast or after-school clubs. It does not intend to include contractors with no pupil-facing role, such as builders (pages 25–26).
Training should cover recognising allergic reactions and anaphylaxis, reducing exposure, the policy and individual plans, locating and using emergency medication, calling emergency services, informing parents and reporting incidents and near misses. First aid training alone is not sufficient (pages 25–26; medical conditions guidance, paragraphs 17–19).
For suspected anaphylaxis, follow the pupil’s clinical action plan and the DfE emergency response instructions. Do not let a pupil having anaphylaxis stand or walk. Bring help and adrenaline to them. Do not send them to an office to collect it. Give adrenaline promptly and call 999 for an ambulance; do not wait for the call before administering it. Give a further dose of adrenaline if there is no improvement after 5 minutes (allergy guidance, pages 17–19 and 41–42). The policy, training and accessible devices should make that response possible across the school and on visits.
Related school responsibilities
Read SEND and inclusion alongside individual support arrangements, and safeguarding for wider responsibilities. For role preparation, see the headteacher, school business manager and first-aider pages.
