Schools across England are entering a new era of allergy safety following the introduction of measures widely known as Benedict’s Law.
The changes are designed to make allergy management more consistent in schools and ensure staff are better prepared to prevent, recognize and respond to serious allergic reactions.
One of the most significant changes is the increased emphasis on access to spare adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs), the emergency medicines used to treat anaphylaxis. EpiPen is one of the best-known brands of adrenaline auto-injector.
In the United States, all states allow undesignated epinephrine in schools to use for allergic reactions. Only 25 percent of states mandate that schools have epinephrine available for emergency use, according to a review published by the NIH.
For children living with serious allergies in the UK and throughout the world, faster access to emergency medication and staff who know how to use it could make an important difference.
What is Benedict’s Law?
Benedict’s Law is the name commonly given to new legal protections for children in England with allergies at school.
The campaign was created in memory of Benedict Blythe, who died from anaphylaxis at school in 2021 at the age of five.
Following years of campaigning by Benedict’s family and allergy organizations, allergy safety provisions were included in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026.
The Department for Education subsequently published new statutory guidance, Allergy safety in schools, in July 2026.
The changes aim to move allergy management away from an approach that can vary significantly between individual schools towards clearer and more consistent standards.
What does Benedict’s Law require schools to do?
Under the new allergy safety framework, relevant schools in England are expected to take a whole-school approach to managing allergies.
This includes:
- having and publishing a dedicated allergy safety policy;
- reviewing the policy regularly;
- providing appropriate allergy awareness and emergency response training for staff;
- identifying pupils who require an Individual Healthcare Plan;
- having procedures for recording serious allergic reactions and near misses; and
- making appropriate provision for emergency adrenaline auto-injectors.
This is important because an allergic emergency does not necessarily happen when a pupil is with a teacher or designated first aider.
A reaction could happen in a dining hall, playground, sports field or another part of the school.
Why are spare adrenaline auto-injectors important?
Anaphylaxis is a serious and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.
Adrenaline is the first-line emergency treatment for anaphylaxis, which is why rapid access to an appropriate adrenaline auto-injector is so important.
Children who have been prescribed adrenaline auto-injectors should continue to have access to their own prescribed medication in accordance with their healthcare plan.
Spare devices held by schools provide an additional emergency resource; they should not be viewed as a replacement for a pupil’s own prescribed auto-injectors.
The Department for Education’s new approach means access to spare devices becomes part of a wider allergy safety system rather than being considered in isolation.
How could Benedict’s Law improve access to EpiPens?
One of the practical effects of the changes could be more consistent access to adrenaline auto-injectors across schools in England.
Before the new requirements, schools could already obtain spare adrenaline auto-injectors without a prescription for emergency use where the relevant conditions were met.
The difficulty was that availability could vary from school to school.
A school could have excellent allergy procedures, trained staff and spare devices readily available, while another school might have very different arrangements.
Benedict’s Law is intended to address this inconsistency by making allergy preparedness a clearer whole-school responsibility.
This means schools need to think not simply about whether an adrenaline auto-injector is available, but also about whether it can be accessed quickly when an emergency actually happens.
Having an EpiPen is only useful if it can be reached quickly
Since 2017, Click Pharmacy UK has helped schools improve their allergy preparedness by providing access to adrenaline auto injectors for school.
Mohammed A Rahman, Superintendent Pharmacist at Click Pharmacy, says the new requirements should encourage schools to look beyond simply purchasing emergency medication and consider how it would be accessed in a real emergency.
“Keeping a spare adrenaline auto-injector on site is an important safety measure, but schools also need to think about what happens in the first few minutes of an allergic emergency. Staff should know where the devices are kept, how to access them quickly and what action they need to take.”
Rahman says accessibility should form part of a school’s wider allergy planning rather than being treated solely as a first-aid issue.
“An allergic reaction may happen in a classroom, but it could just as easily happen in the dining hall, playground or during sport. Emergency arrangements need to work wherever the pupil happens to be.”
This means schools may need to consider where spare devices are stored, who can access them, how expiration dates are monitored and whether staff know how to respond when anaphylaxis is suspected.
Benedict’s Law is about more than EpiPens
Although improved access to emergency adrenaline is an important part of the reforms, Benedict’s Law is not simply a requirement for schools to buy EpiPens.
Medication is one part of a broader approach to allergy safety.
Prevention remains extremely important. Schools need systems for identifying pupils with allergies, communicating relevant information, reducing avoidable exposure to allergens and ensuring individual healthcare arrangements are understood.
Staff also need to recognize that allergic reactions can present in different ways and can escalate rapidly.
This is why training sits alongside emergency medication within the new framework.
Why staff training matters
An adrenaline auto-injector cannot improve emergency preparedness if staff do not know when or how it should be used.
The new guidance therefore places significant emphasis on staff allergy awareness and emergency response training.
Training should help staff understand how to recognize an allergic reaction, what signs may indicate anaphylaxis and what steps should be taken during an emergency.
Importantly, allergy awareness should extend beyond teachers and designated first aiders.
Children interact with many different members of staff throughout the school day, including lunchtime supervisors, teaching assistants, administrative staff and sports staff.
A whole-school approach can therefore reduce the risk that knowledge about a child’s allergy is concentrated among only a small number of people.
What should schools consider when stocking spare adrenaline auto-injectors?
Schools reviewing their arrangements should consider the practical management of their emergency medication.
Questions worth asking include:
- Are the school’s spare adrenaline auto-injectors in date?
- Are the appropriate strengths available?
- Where are the devices stored?
- Can staff access them quickly?
- Do relevant staff know where they are?
- Is responsibility assigned for checking expiry dates?
- Are checks documented?
- What arrangements apply during PE, extracurricular activities and school trips?
- Do staff understand that spare devices do not replace a pupil’s own prescribed medication?
Schools should follow the current Department for Education guidance and relevant clinical and medicines guidance when establishing their procedures.
Does Benedict’s Law apply to every school in the UK?
The statutory Department for Education guidance applies to specified schools in England.
It covers governing bodies of local-authority-maintained schools, including special schools subject to stated exclusions, management committees of pupil referral units and proprietors of academies, including free schools and alternative provision academies, again subject to specified exclusions.
Schools and parents elsewhere in the UK should check the requirements and guidance applicable in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland rather than assuming the English rules apply.
The position of some education settings also differs, so schools should check the scope of the statutory guidance rather than relying on general summaries of Benedict’s Law.
What does Benedict’s Law mean for parents of children with allergies?
For parents, the reforms should provide greater consistency in how schools approach allergy safety.
However, the existence of spare school adrenaline auto-injectors does not remove the need for children with diagnosed allergies to have their own prescribed medication and an appropriate healthcare plan where required.
Parents should continue to keep the school informed about their child’s allergies, prescribed medicines and any changes to their treatment.
They may also wish to ask the school about its allergy safety policy, staff training, emergency procedures and arrangements for accessing adrenaline auto-injectors.
This content is provided for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. AFP editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.
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