New statutory guidance on allergy safety in schools: what you need to know.

The DfE has published new statutory guidance, Allergy Safety in Schools (July 2026). It's issued under section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014, as amended by section 34 of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026.

This paper marks the first time that allergy safety has been separated from general medical conditions guidance and placed within its own statutory framework.

Who does this apply to?

The duty is mandatory for LA-maintained schools, academies (including free schools) and pupil referral units. Independent schools and non-maintained special schools aren't yet covered, but the Government has confirmed it intends to introduce equivalent requirements through the relevant regulatory standards in due course. 

What must schools do now?

Every school in this scope, in England, must:

• Have a dedicated allergy safety policy, separate from its wider medical conditions policy.
• Publish that policy on the school website.
• Review it at least annually (and after any serious incident or near miss).
• Name a senior leader responsible for allergy safety (explicitly not the catering manager).

More is coming

This guidance is a first step. The DfE has flagged several further duties it intends to introduce through forthcoming regulations, including:

• Mandatory stocking of "spare" adrenaline devices

• Mandatory allergy awareness training for all staff
• Mandatory incident recording.

Schools must be wise to start preparing now rather than waiting for these to become law. 

Notable practical shifts

A few points stand out for schools reviewing their current arrangements:

1. "Nut-free" is out, "allergy aware" is in. The guidance explicitly discourages nut-free policies, warning that they create a false sense of security given how many allergens exist beyond nuts.
2. Individual Health Care Plans (IHPs) are reframed as non-clinical documents. Schools "hold the pen" on the plan itself, while healthcare professionals provide the clinical detail via attached Allergy or Asthma Action Plans. 
3. A "no blame" culture for incidents. The guidance is explicit that staff acting in good faith during an emergency, including mistakes or hesitation, won't be treated as misconduct.
4. A strong inclusion focus. The guidance lists unacceptable practices in detail, including segregating children with allergies at lunch, penalising allergy-related absences, and requiring parents to accompany children on trips. 

Why it matters

We all know why this matters. In practical terms, this guidance has to help schools reduce serious allergy incidents. 

The guidance cites sobering figures: around one in five children have their first allergic reaction while at school, and up to 20% of school anaphylaxis cases occur in children with no prior diagnosis. 

Between April 2019 and March 2023, the National Child Mortality Database recorded 54 child deaths from asthma and 19 from anaphylaxis. The guidance is direct in stating that failure to learn lessons from serious incidents and near misses has contributed directly to child deaths in schools. 

For governing bodies and Trusts, this is a clear signal: allergy safety needs to move from being folded into general medical conditions policy to being a visible, well-governed, regularly reviewed part of school life in its own right.