What is Benedict's Law?

It is crucial for school settings to ensure compliance with the latest legislation and guidance and the start of another year has brought about a few changes. 

What is Benedict's Law?

Benedict's Law was passed under Section 72 of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill to introduce new allergy safety requirements from September 2026 for the new school year. 

The changes have been implemented to improve allergy awareness and safety in school in England to help reduce preventable deaths like that of Benedict Blythe who the law has been named after.

Benedict passed away in 2021 at just five years of age from anaphylaxis after he was mistakenly given cow's milk at school which he was allergic to.

This prompted Benedict's Mum Helen to campaign for greater measures to protect children with allergies and her hard work was rewarded when English Government confirmed that the principles of Benedict’s Law will be implemented in 2026.

In memory of Benedict his family worked passionately to create the Benedict Blythe Foundation which has been created to allow every child to reach their learning potential. 

 

Who does Benedict's Law apply to?

Benedict's Law is applicable to all staff working on site at the same time as children or young people to complete allergy and anaphylaxis training.

This would include: 

• Teachers
• Support staff
• Catering/Kitchen staff
• Administration staff 
• Caretakers/Maintenance staff
• After school club staff
• Cleaning staff

Contractors working on school sites will not be required to complete the training. 

Benedict's Law comes into force from September 2026 for state-funded schools in England, by this date they must show active compliance with the new requirements with full compliance needing to be achieved by December 2026.

For independent and private schools they have until January 2027 for the legislation to become legally enforceable. 

The new legislation will apply to all state-funded primary and secondary schools, academies, free schools, special schools, alternative provision settings and independent (private) schools.

Currently Benedict's Law will only be applicable in England but with campaigns continuing for this to be passed in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

What do I need to do to comply with Benedict's Law?

All staff working with children and young people or on site at the same time as them must complete allergy and anaphylaxis training by December 2026, or by January 2027 for independent schools. 

This training can be completed online.

There are other steps that need to be actioned to show full compliance by the deadline.

• Implement a standalone whole-school allergy policy that explains how allergy safety will be managed and how emergencies will be responded to
• Appoint a member of the senior leadership team to ensure the implementation of the standalone allergy policy, improve incident reporting and communication across the school to keep a track of incidents or 'near misses'
• Children with allergies can suffer from bullying, the legislation also requires schools to explain how they will kept safe and fully included both in school and on school trips or activities
• Make emergency adrenaline auto injectors accessible and in stock where needed within five minutes. The devices will need to be checked regularly and replaced when they expire which is the schools responsibility
• Individual Healthcare Plans (IHPs) in place for children and young people if they are at risk of harm as a result of their allergy