Benedict’s Law: What Schools in England Must Do Before September 2026
Written by Stephanie Austin — Owner & Lead Trainer, Prima Cura Training | Last reviewed: May 2026 | Next review: May 2027
Benedict’s Law: What Schools in England Must Do Before September 2026
I’ve been delivering anaphylaxis training to school staff for years. And in that time, I’ve seen knowledge gaps that genuinely pull me up short.
One I won’t forget: a staff member who had no idea what an adrenaline auto-injector was. Not a bit unsure about dosage or timing. They didn’t know what it was. They thought the insulin pen belonging to a diabetic colleague was the same thing.
This wasn’t carelessness. This was someone doing their job every day in a school that had never given them the information they needed. And in a building full of children with life-threatening allergies, that gap is dangerous.
That’s precisely what Benedict’s Law is designed to change.
Who Benedict Blythe was
Benedict Blythe was five years old when he died from anaphylaxis at school in 2021. He was given milk despite having a known allergy. His mother, Helen Blythe, spent the years that followed pushing for the kind of mandatory protections that might have saved him.
The result is Benedict’s Law, formally the Schools Allergy Safety Bill and an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. It passed in February 2026. From September 2026, schools in England will be legally required to meet a clear set of standards around allergy safety.
What Benedict’s Law requires
The infographic below outlines the five requirements every school in England must meet from September 2026.
Before this legislation, guidance on holding spare adrenaline auto-injectors was non-statutory. Schools could choose whether to follow it. Reports suggested that as many as half of the schools had no spare adrenaline pens at all. The new statutory guidance closes that gap.
The requirements apply to state-funded primary and secondary schools, academies, free schools, special schools, alternative provision settings, and independent schools across England. The Benedict Blythe Foundation continues to campaign for these protections to be extended to Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Why the knowledge gap is bigger than most schools realise
The anecdote I opened with is not a one-off. In my experience delivering anaphylaxis training to school staff, the gaps are significant and consistent. Staff often cannot distinguish a severe allergic reaction from something less urgent. Many have never handled an adrenaline auto-injector, let alone practised using one. Very few have had any formal training on what a school’s actual responsibilities are when a child goes into anaphylactic shock.
The consequences of those gaps can be fatal. Benedict’s death was preventable. The legislation bearing his name exists because voluntary guidance and good intentions were not enough.
What schools need to do before September 2026
The Department for Education consultation closed on 1 May 2026. Final statutory guidance will follow shortly. Schools are not starting from scratch, but those who haven’t begun preparing need to move now.
Start by checking whether your school has a standalone allergy policy. Not a paragraph buried inside a broader medical conditions document. A dedicated policy covering how your school manages allergies and responds to emergencies. If it doesn’t exist, it needs to.
Then look at your AAI stock. Do you hold spare adrenaline auto-injectors that belong to the school, not to individual pupils? If not, that needs to change before September.
Then look at your staff. Who in your building would know what to do if a child collapsed from anaphylaxis during lunch? Who would know where the AAIs are kept, how to use them, and when to call 999? If the answer is “one or two people” or “I’m not sure”, that’s the training gap Benedict’s Law is designed to close.
EURneffy (Neffy): A new option worth knowing about
As schools prepare for Benedict’s Law, there is a new development in how anaphylaxis can be treated that is worth understanding: EURneffy, the UK’s first needle-free adrenaline nasal spray.
EURneffy was approved by the MHRA in July 2025 and became available in the UK from October 2025. It delivers adrenaline through the nasal lining rather than by injection, making it a needle-free alternative to traditional adrenaline auto-injectors such as EpiPen and Jext.
For schools, the arrival of EURneffy raises a practical question: if a pupil or staff member carries one, would your team know what it is and how to use it? This is exactly the kind of knowledge gap that good allergy training addresses.
Real-world data from the United States, where Neffy has been available since 2024, shows that around nine in ten patients experiencing anaphylaxis were successfully treated with a single dose, a rate comparable to traditional AAIs. That’s reassuring. But EURneffy is not a straightforward replacement for everyone.
| Important note on EURneffy suitability The British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (BSACI) advises that EURneffy may not be suitable for those who have previously needed more than one dose of adrenaline to control anaphylaxis, or those who have experienced severe anaphylaxis with significant low blood pressure. For those groups, adrenaline auto-injectors remain the recommended treatment. EURneffy is currently available on private prescription. NHS access is expected as it is introduced across allergy services. A 1mg paediatric dose for children weighing 15 to 30kg is under review and expected in 2026. Individuals and schools should seek guidance from a GP or allergy specialist before making any changes to their emergency medication. |
How Prima Cura can help
We deliver anaphylaxis awareness training for school staff across Greater Manchester and England, covering how to recognise a severe allergic reaction, how to use an adrenaline auto-injector correctly, and what to do while waiting for the emergency services.
Anaphylaxis awareness is included within the following Prima Cura Training courses:
• Emergency First Aid for Schools
• Emergency Paediatric First Aid
• 2-Day Paediatric First Aid (Ofsted Approved)
If your school needs to get staff trained before September 2026, get in touch. We’ll work around your timetable.
| Get in touch with Prima Cura Training Call: 0333 999 8783 Email: info@primacuratraining.co.uk Website: primacuratraining.co.uk |
The information in this blog post is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication, May 2026. Statutory guidance relating to Benedict’s Law is still being finalised by the Department for Education, and details may be updated following the closure of the consultation on 1 May 2026. Schools should refer to the official DfE guidance when published for the definitive compliance requirements. Information on EURneffy (Neffy) is included for general awareness only and does not constitute medical advice. Suitability varies between individuals. Always consult a GP or allergy specialist before making any changes to prescribed emergency medication or allergy action plans. Prima Cura Training is a health, safety, and social care training provider. Nothing in this blog post should be taken as legal or clinical guidance. For legal compliance queries, consult a qualified legal professional. For clinical allergy management, consult an allergy specialist or GP.
