From September 2025, every school in England will be legally required to stock emergency adrenaline auto-injectors and ensure staff receive mandatory training on their use. The new safety guidance, announced by the Government, aims to prevent avoidable deaths from severe allergic reactions in schools.
Mandatory Training and Equipment
Teachers and school staff must undergo training to recognise anaphylaxis and correctly administer adrenaline auto-injectors. Schools are also required to have clear allergy policies and individual healthcare plans for pupils with known allergies. The changes follow a sustained campaign by the National Allergy Strategy Group and families affected by allergy-related tragedies.
Benedict's Law: A Legacy of Safety
The legislation is named after Benedict Blythe, a seven-year-old pupil who died in 2021 after consuming cow's milk protein at Barnack Primary School in Peterborough. An inquest revealed that the school failed to follow safety measures, leading to delays in administering emergency medicine. Benedict's parents, Helen and Peter Blythe, have since campaigned for mandatory allergy safety in schools.
Education Minister Olivia Bailey said: "Today is a really important day for the thousands of families across the country who, for too long, have worried about keeping their children safe. Benedict's Law means every single school will now have the training plans and the life-saving equipment in place to protect every child."
Helen Blythe, co-founder of the Benedict Blythe Foundation, said: "This week marks a historic turning point for children with allergies and their families. For too long, whether a child was safe at school depended on where they happened to go. From September, schools across England will have clear national expectations on how they keep children with allergies safe."
Impact on Schools and Families
The guidance is expected to protect around 1.5 million school staff and hundreds of thousands of children with allergies. However, the NAHT school leaders' union has warned that additional funding is needed to implement the requirements. General Secretary Paul Whiteman said: "While guidance for schools is crucial, equally important is access to the right resources, including sufficient staffing capacity... Each of these things requires funding to implement, and schools cannot be expected to fund them from their existing constrained budgets."
Minister for Public Health, Sharon Hodgson, described the law as a "landmark moment" and a testament to the Blythe family's determination. Sarah Knight, chief executive of The Allergy Team, welcomed the guidance, noting that her organisation has already trained thousands of teachers through free webinars and will continue to prepare schools for the new requirements.
The legislation follows a coroner's report that highlighted failures in preserving evidence and delays in treatment after Benedict's death. The new rules aim to standardise allergy safety across all schools, ensuring no child is at risk due to inconsistent practices.
