Benedict’s Law is live: what school leaders in England need in place now

Benedict’s Law is live: what school leaders in England need in place now

Updated 11 September 2026

The first phase of Benedict’s Law is now in force. From the start of the 2026/27 academic year, maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England must have a dedicated allergy safety policy, publish it, and have regard to the Department for Education’s statutory guidance.

If you oversee health and safety, safeguarding or compliance in a local authority school, academy trust or pupil referral unit, this sits with you. The guidance is already published. Your governing body or proprietor must take it into account when setting allergy safety arrangements. This post sets out what the rules actually require, the gaps that still catch schools out, and a short list you can work through this term.

What the statutory rules require

Benedict’s Law is the name given to the allergy safety reforms introduced after the death of five-year-old Benedict Blythe. He died in December 2021 after an anaphylactic reaction to cow’s milk at his primary school in Lincolnshire.

The legal basis

The legal change sits in section 34 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026. That section amends section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 so that relevant schools must have an allergy safety policy, keep it under review, and have regard to statutory guidance. The Department for Education published that guidance, Allergy safety in schools, on 6 July 2026. Policy and Individual Healthcare Plan templates sit on the same page.

“Have regard to” is not a throwaway phrase. Governors and academy proprietors must take the guidance into account and be able to show they have considered it.

Who is in scope

From 1 September 2026 that duty applies to:

• governing bodies of local-authority-maintained schools, including special schools (but not maintained nursery schools)
• proprietors of academies, including free schools and alternative provision academies (but not 16 to 19 academies)
• management committees of pupil referral units

Independent schools and non-maintained special schools are not in this first wave. Equivalent requirements are expected through their regulatory standards from 2027.

What schools should have in place

The guidance sets a practical national standard. Covered schools should:

• Publish a dedicated allergy safety policy separate from the general medical conditions policy, with a named senior leader and an annual review. A named governor is good practice, not a current legal requirement.
• Train all staff so they can recognise anaphylaxis and treat it. That includes teachers, teaching assistants, lunchtime supervisors, catering staff, site teams, office staff and transport.
• Identify pupils who need an Individual Healthcare Plan and write those plans. Support should start without waiting for a formal clinical diagnosis.
• Keep prescribed adrenaline devices close at hand and hold spare school-owned devices for emergencies. Stock them in pairs. Do not lock them away. No child should be more than five minutes from adrenaline, including at lunch, PE and clubs. Larger sites may need more than one pair.
• Record serious incidents and near misses, then learn from them.

Further regulations can still tighten spare-device and training duties. Treat September 2026 as the start of implementation, not the finish line. You can read the full DfE guidance on GOV.UK.

Practical implications for school leaders

The job is no longer “check we mentioned allergies in the medical policy”. You need a standalone document on the website, a named owner, and evidence that staff can act when a child collapses in the dining hall, on the playground or on a trip.

Allergy safety cannot sit with one first aider or a school nurse. Every adult on site needs to recognise early signs of anaphylaxis and know how to respond.

Common compliance gaps to address

The gap between a policy and a working system is where schools get caught. Common problems include:

• a policy that exists only as a Word file in a shared drive
• training limited to first aiders, when the guidance expects all staff to recognise anaphylaxis
• spare adrenaline stored in a locked office that lunchtime staff cannot reach in five minutes
• Individual Healthcare Plans that have not been updated after a new diagnosis or a change of year group
• kitchen and wraparound teams left out of briefings
• no record of near misses, so the same exposure happens again

Research commissioned by the Benedict Blythe Foundation found that 50% of schools in England had no spare emergency allergy medication, around a third had no allergy policy, and about 70% did not have all the measures now expected. Food is the most common trigger in schools, but insect stings and exercise-induced reactions also occur. Spare devices matter because a first reaction can happen on site.

The Department for Education has also pointed to 500,000 days of learning lost in a single year through allergy-related illness or medical appointments. A working system protects health. It also keeps children in class.

If you manage a multi-academy trust, treat this as a trust-wide control, not a site-by-site hope. Capacity, lunch service and after-school clubs vary by campus. Your five-minute adrenaline rule needs a map, not a slogan.

Action checklist for schools

1. Confirm scope: check whether each setting is a maintained school, academy or pupil referral unit in England.
2. Download the DfE pack: statutory guidance, policy template and Individual Healthcare Plan template.
3. Name a senior lead: a member of the senior leadership team should own the policy. A named governor is useful, but the guidance does not require one.
4. Publish the policy: put a dedicated allergy safety policy on the school website and diary an annual review.
5. Map adrenaline: check prescribed and spare devices. Stock spare devices in pairs. Confirm no pupil is more than five minutes away, including lunch, PE and clubs.
6. Review every Individual Healthcare Plan with parents or carers. Start support without waiting for a formal diagnosis.
7. Train all staff, not only first aiders. Include lunchtime, kitchen, office, site and transport teams.
8. Log incidents and near misses and review them at senior level.
9. Check catering and trips: meal providers, breakfast clubs and visit risk assessments need the same allergen controls.
10. Brief governors or trustees so the board can show it has had regard to the statutory guidance.

How Chris Garland Training can help

Whole-staff training is one of the duties the guidance expects you to evidence. We run two versions of the same Benedict’s Law course so you can match the format to the school day.

The four-hour face-to-face course is delivered on your site or at our Knutsford centre. Theory and practical sit in one visit. Staff practise EpiPen, Jext and EURneffy trainers, plus CPR and AED if the scenario needs it. This works well for an INSET day or a single staff meeting.

The blended course is usually the better fit for a large staff team. People complete a one-hour e-learning module in their own time, then attend a two-hour practical session for the devices, CPR and AED. You get the theory done without pulling everyone out of class for a full morning.

Neither course replaces your duty to publish a policy, hold spare devices or write Individual Healthcare Plans. Both give you a training record you can show governors and inspectors. We also run Paediatric First Aid courses where you need statutory first-aid cover as well as allergy awareness.

A published policy is the legal starting point. Children are safer when every adult on site can spot a reaction and reach adrenaline quickly. To book either course on your campus, or to price a multi-academy trust cohort, request a private course quotation. We plant trees for courses booked.

Related Links

• Department for Education: Allergy safety in schools
• Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026
• Section 100 Children and Families Act 2014
• Benedict Blythe Foundation Safe Schools resources
• Allergy and Anaphylaxis Awareness for Schools course
• Allergy and Anaphylaxis Awareness for Schools (blended)
• Paediatric First Aid courses
• Prepacked for Direct Sale food and Natasha’s Law