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What is Benedict's Law?
Editor's Note, July 2026 Update: The Department for Education (DfE) has officially published its final statutory guidance, Allergy Safety in Schools, marking the formal enactment of the core mandates driven by Benedict’s Law. Ahead of the upcoming academic year, maintaining a whole-school allergy policy and ensuring comprehensive staff training is now a legal requirement for schools, academies, and multi-academy trusts (MATs) across England.
The Benedict Blythe Foundation was created following the tragic death of Benedict, who consumed milk, which he was known to be allergic to, at school. Weaknesses within the school's allergy policy are replicated throughout many UK schools, and the foundation has worked relentlessly to improve allergy safety in schools through research, legislative reform, advice and guidance.
The overarching aim of Benedict's Law is to improve safety of school children who have allergies. The percentage of children diagnosed with allergies continues to rise, with approximately 2-5% of UK schoolchildren now believed to have a known food allergy.
The campaign to improve allergy policy within schools preceded Benedict's sad death, but the principles that are being called for remain the same. Campaigners are fighting for:
Petition for Change: The BBF's petition, demanding stronger protections for pupils with allergies, gained over 13,000 signatures in two weeks.
Open Letter to Secretary of State: This was supported by over 40 organisations including medical institutions, charities, unions and industry representatives.
Prime Minister’s Questions: Benedict's story and the call for legislative change was featured in PMQs
Westminster Hall Debate: The campaign was debated in Parliament, with cross-party support,
The School (Allergy Safety) Bill: The formal proposal for legislative change was introduced into Parliament on 9 July 2025
The Schools Allergy Code: Driven by the lack of clear, consistent guidance, the campaign created resources including The Schools Allergy Code.
Amendment to Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill: The introduction of the School (Allergy Safety) Bill was passed on 3rd February 2026.
Following relentless campaigning by the Benedict Blythe Foundation, the government's official Allergy Safety in Schools statutory guidelines are now active. The legislation shifts allergy management from an optional "best practice" recommendation to a mandatory legal compliance framework.
Under the finalised guidelines, school leadership teams have a legal duty to:
In direct response to the newly published DfE training specification, The Safer Food Group has fully launched our updated Level 2 Allergy Awareness for Schools course. This context-specific online course is built specifically for non-catering staff, ensuring that teachers, administrators, and lunchtime supervisors possess the skills and knowledge required to spot early anaphylactic symptoms and confidently deploy adrenaline devices.
To support school business managers and leadership teams facing budget pressures, our fully compliant training is currently available for a limited time at 50% OFF.
👉 Click here to view the course criteria, review the DfE statutory alignments, and secure your half-price training today.
We recognise that dealing with an emergency situation can be nerve-wracking - and preparing thoroughly for emergency scenarios is the best way to calm those nerves. To accompany our training, we have prepared a poster for any setting that details the process for administering an adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) device. Print them off, put them up in frequently visited locations and give your team the opportunity to revisit frequently between training.
Ideally, AAIs should form part of mandatory first aid training. Dummy AAIs can also be obtained direct from manufacturers, to ensure that your team get the opportunity to practice with a genuine, but safe device. To order a trainer pen from Jext, follow this link, or to obtain a dummy EpiPen, email UKenquiry@viatris.com
Allergy UK offer comprehensive advice and guidance for schools, including a model allergy policy that considers the school environment in detail. Follow this link to view the policy: https://www.allergyuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Model-Policy-for-allergy-at-school-v2.1-090124.pdf
Editor's Note, July 2026 Update: The Department for Education (DfE) has officially published its final statutory guidance, Allergy Safety in Schools, marking the formal enactment of the core mandates driven by Benedict’s Law. Ahead of the upcoming academic year, maintaining a whole-school allergy policy and ensuring comprehensive staff training is now a legal requirement for schools, academies, and multi-academy trusts (MATs) across England.
The Benedict Blythe Foundation was created following the tragic death of Benedict, who consumed milk, which he was known to be allergic to, at school. Weaknesses within the school's allergy policy are replicated throughout many UK schools, and the foundation has worked relentlessly to improve allergy safety in schools through research, legislative reform, advice and guidance.
The overarching aim of Benedict's Law is to improve safety of school children who have allergies. The percentage of children diagnosed with allergies continues to rise, with approximately 2-5% of UK schoolchildren now believed to have a known food allergy.
The campaign to improve allergy policy within schools preceded Benedict's sad death, but the principles that are being called for remain the same. Campaigners are fighting for:
Petition for Change: The BBF's petition, demanding stronger protections for pupils with allergies, gained over 13,000 signatures in two weeks.
Open Letter to Secretary of State: This was supported by over 40 organisations including medical institutions, charities, unions and industry representatives.
Prime Minister’s Questions: Benedict's story and the call for legislative change was featured in PMQs
Westminster Hall Debate: The campaign was debated in Parliament, with cross-party support,
The School (Allergy Safety) Bill: The formal proposal for legislative change was introduced into Parliament on 9 July 2025
The Schools Allergy Code: Driven by the lack of clear, consistent guidance, the campaign created resources including The Schools Allergy Code.
Amendment to Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill: The introduction of the School (Allergy Safety) Bill was passed on 3rd February 2026.
Following relentless campaigning by the Benedict Blythe Foundation, the government's official Allergy Safety in Schools statutory guidelines are now active. The legislation shifts allergy management from an optional "best practice" recommendation to a mandatory legal compliance framework.
Under the finalised guidelines, school leadership teams have a legal duty to:
In direct response to the newly published DfE training specification, The Safer Food Group has fully launched our updated Level 2 Allergy Awareness for Schools course. This context-specific online course is built specifically for non-catering staff, ensuring that teachers, administrators, and lunchtime supervisors possess the skills and knowledge required to spot early anaphylactic symptoms and confidently deploy adrenaline devices.
To support school business managers and leadership teams facing budget pressures, our fully compliant training is currently available for a limited time at 50% OFF.
👉 Click here to view the course criteria, review the DfE statutory alignments, and secure your half-price training today.
We recognise that dealing with an emergency situation can be nerve-wracking - and preparing thoroughly for emergency scenarios is the best way to calm those nerves. To accompany our training, we have prepared a poster for any setting that details the process for administering an adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) device. Print them off, put them up in frequently visited locations and give your team the opportunity to revisit frequently between training.
Ideally, AAIs should form part of mandatory first aid training. Dummy AAIs can also be obtained direct from manufacturers, to ensure that your team get the opportunity to practice with a genuine, but safe device. To order a trainer pen from Jext, follow this link, or to obtain a dummy EpiPen, email UKenquiry@viatris.com
Allergy UK offer comprehensive advice and guidance for schools, including a model allergy policy that considers the school environment in detail. Follow this link to view the policy: https://www.allergyuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Model-Policy-for-allergy-at-school-v2.1-090124.pdf
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