Benedict’s Law: UK Government Mandates Life-Saving Allergy Protections in Schools

In a landmark move for child safety, the Department for Education has announced that life-saving adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs) must be stocked by all schools in England for the first time. The new statutory requirements, set to come into force in September 2026, replace previous non-statutory advice.

The plans—widely referred to as "Benedict’s Law"—are a response to tireless campaigning by the families of children who lost their lives to allergic reactions at school, including Helen and Peter Blythe, whose five-year-old son Benedict died in 2021.

The New Guidance

The government's new guidance shifts allergy management from "recommended" to compulsory. Schools must now adhere to three core requirements:

1. Mandatory Spare "Allergy Pens": Schools must stock "spare" adrenaline auto-injectors (such as EpiPens or Jext) for emergency use if a pupil’s own device fails or is unavailable.

2. Compulsory Staff Training: Every member of staff must receive allergy awareness training. This covers symptom recognition, emergency response protocols, and the practical use of adrenaline devices.

3. Individual Healthcare Plans (IHPs): Every school must maintain a comprehensive policy for medical conditions, with specific IHPs for individual pupils to ensure their unique allergy triggers and emergency needs are documented.

The Cost of Inaction: Learning and Lives

Beyond the critical goal of saving lives, the government highlighted the significant educational impact of poorly managed allergies:

• Absences due to allergy-related illnesses or medical appointments; and

• Previous "voluntary" guidance led to a "postcode lottery" of safety, where some pupils were protected by robust policies while others were at risk.

Five Ways Schools Can Prepare for Benedict's Law

1. Publish a Standalone, Whole-School Allergy Policy

Many schools currently lump allergies into a generic "Supporting Pupils with Medical Conditions" policy. Under Benedict’s Law, this is no longer sufficient.

What to do: Draft and publish a dedicated, standalone Whole-School Allergy Policy and display it clearly on your school website.

What it must cover: It needs to explicitly outline how the school reduces daily allergen risks (in the canteen, during food-tech, and on school trips), clear procedures for emergency responses, and a definition of staff responsibilities.

2. Source and Store Spare Adrenaline Auto-Injectors

Up to 30% of severe anaphylactic reactions in schools occur in children with no prior history or diagnosis of an allergy.

What to do: Purchase spare, back-up AAIs (such as EpiPens or Jext devices) to hold on-site. Schools can legally purchase these from pharmacies without a prescription.

The logistics: Establish a robust schedule to regularly check expiry dates, ensure they are stored safely but remain rapidly accessible without being locked away from staff, and map out exactly who is authorized to deploy them in an emergency.

3. Implement Mandated Whole-Staff Training

Allergy awareness is moving away from being a "first-aider only" responsibility. Because anaphylaxis is a time-critical emergency, anyone supervising children must be able to act.

What to do: Roll out allergy and anaphylaxis training for all staff members, such as the Handsam eTraining course - Allergy Awareness and Use of Auto Injectors in Schools. This should be given to all teachers, teaching assistants, lunchtime supervisors, caretakers, and minibus drivers.

What they need to know: Training must ensure staff can confidently recognize the early signs of an allergic reaction versus full anaphylaxis, understand allergen avoidance strategies, and physically administer an AAI correctly.

4. Appoint a Designated Allergy Lead & Named Governor

Tighter governance is a major pillar of the new framework to prevent the "postcode lottery" of varying safety standards.

What to do: Appoint a Senior Leader as the Designated Allergy Lead to oversee daily risk assessments, audit meal workflows, and coordinate emergency drills.

Governance: Appoint a named Governor to maintain oversight, review incident reporting, and ensure the school is meeting its statutory duties.

5. Overhaul Data & Individual Healthcare Plans (IHPs) Relying on informal notes, static spreadsheets, or outdated paper lists for pupil dietary requirements poses a massive compliance risk.

What to do: Auditing existing pupil data is a priority. Reach out to parents and carers now to gather verified clinical data and create robust, updated Individual Healthcare Plans (IHPs) for every pupil with a diagnosed allergy.

Catering integration: Connect this data directly with your kitchen and meal-ordering systems. The trend under the new guidance requires an auditable, parent-verified "single source of truth" where menus automatically filter out dangerous allergens before a child can order.

HOW HANDSAM CAN HELP

We are pleased to inform you that Handsam’s Allergy Awareness eTraining course has been fully updated to ensure compliance with the new School Allergy Act (Benedict’s Law).

As part of these updates, the course has been enhanced and renamed from “Food Allergies in Schools” to “Allergy Awareness and Use of Auto Injectors in Schools”.

The revised training now reflects the latest requirements and best practice guidance and has an extended duration of approximately 30 minutes.

A key benefit of this updated training is that it enables all staff, as well as other adults present in school settings, such as governors, contractors, and volunteers to be appropriately trained. This aligns with statutory expectations and supports a safer environment for children.

As always, Handsam’s unlimited user model ensures your entire school community can access the training without restriction.

For schools and Trusts already subscribed to our eTraining Centre, this updated course has been automatically added to your account and is now available for you to assign to your staff, contractors, governors, volunteers and any other relevant adults.

If you do not currently purchase the Handsam eTraining centre and would like access to this course, or to explore our full catalogue of eTraining courses, please do not hesitate to contact us: info@handsam.co.uk

Broader Medical Support: Epilepsy and Diabetes

The 2026 guidance also expands protections for children with other chronic health conditions, ensuring schools are equipped for modern medical management:

• Epilepsy: IHPs must now specifically detail seizure types and emergency protocols. The guidance has been broadened to include early years settings and colleges; and

• Diabetes: Schools are now required to support pupils using Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) and insulin pumps, including the use of linked mobile phone apps, reflecting the rise in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes among youth

Implementation and Next Steps

The government has launched an open consultation on the new guidance, allowing educators and families to provide feedback before the September 2026 deadline.

To assist with the transition, the government is issuing an "open call" to businesses to help support the costs of adrenaline devices, while organizations like The Allergy Team and The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation stand ready to provide standardised training resources for the 20,000+ educators across the country