A new law is placing more responsibilities on schools to protect children with allergies amidst rising cases in the UK.
In March, the Department of Education announced plans to introduce Benedict’s Law, which will require schools across England to follow mandatory statutory allergy guidelines starting in September.
The new law is a result of a campaign led by the parents of five-year-old Benedict Blythe, who died in 2021 from an allergic reaction at school after staff mistakenly gave him cow’s milk, to which he had a known allergy.
Allergies are especially common amongst children, who spend the majority of their time at school under the care of others, meaning that awareness is increasingly more important.
In the UK around 1 in 13 children, so roughly two children in every classroom, have a food allergy.
It comes as there was a 177% rise in hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of any food related allergy, NHS data shows.
The highest food-related admissions were for ‘other adverse food reactions, not elsewhere classified’ and the second highest rate was for admissions with a primary diagnosis of a severe and life-threatening food reaction (anaphylaxis) which rose by 149%.
The greatest increase in anaphylaxis figures occurred between 2002-3 and 2012-13, with a 101% rise, compared to the following decade, when figures only increased by 7% – most likely due to the pandemic.
However, in only a year between 2022-23 and 2023-24, the count increased by 15%, more than double the rise in the previous decade.
The legislation will require all schools to stock life-saving allergy pens and all school staff to undergo allergy-awareness and emergency response training.
Schools will also be expected to strengthen their mandatory Medical Conditions Policy and introduce a dedicated Allergy Safety Policy; their compliance will be considered by OFsted.
The announcement was welcomed by allergy campaigners and charities such as Natasha’s Foundation.
In 2025 Natasha’s Foundation set up Allergy School a £1 million programme with the mission of bringing high quality free allergy training and resources to schools, nurseries and other educational settings completely free of charge to allow children to feel ’empowered, included and protected at school’.
Programme delivery lead at Allergy School, Phoebe Wight said: “The policy is going to have a huge impact on schools, because it’s brought food allergy to the forefront, which is amazing!”
The Foundation was established by Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse OBEs, the parents of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, a 15-year-old girl who tragically died from a severe allergic reaction to a baguette she bought at an airport in 2016.
Natasha was allergic to sesame seeds, a common allergen, which was baked into the dough and not listed as an ingredient.
As a result of their high-profile campaign, Natasha’s Law was passed in 2021, which changed food regulation to require all pre-packaged food to be clearly labelled showing a full list of ingredients and allergens.
They recently launched Natasha’s Prize, a £10 million investment into global allergy research to create a future without allergy.
Wight added: “The training in schools is paramount because anaphylaxis can occur at any time, unknown.
“It is the responsibility of the school community to be aware of and to know how to respond to severe allergic reactions, particularly in primary schools.
“A younger child isn’t going to carry their own EpiPens. It’s going to go from the classroom teacher to the teaching assistant, the lunchtime supervisor, to the playground supervisor, to the after-school club.”
Benedict’s law will mean each of these members of staff will be trained on how to respond if a life-threatening situation occurs.
Kane, based in North West London, has a six-year-old son with a severe allergy to nuts, dairy, and lentils.
He said: “His nurseries were accommodating and extra careful, they would call if something dropped on his shoe, the school has also been really good.”
Kane expressed his confidence that his son is in safe hands at school, describing that he recently transitioned from packed lunches from home to school dinners.
He was unaware of Benedict’s Law but said it was reassuring and gives him ‘peace of mind’ as a parent to know that all staff will have to be aware of the dangers of allergies.
Not all schools are so accommodating.
Currently, nearly seven in ten schools do not have all the recommended safeguarding in place, such as a policy, medication, and training.
Rebecca from Hertfordshire initially struggled to find a nursery for her son who has mild allergies to dairy, pollen and dust.
She said: “We had some early trouble finding a nursery that could accommodate our needs, as my son has a contact allergy. However, once we found a nursery that was equipped to deal with his type of allergy it’s been smooth.”
Rebecca feels that her son is safe since he’s started primary school as the the school follows an action plan made in collaboration with the parents and a doctor, children with allergies eat on a separate table, and they have a coding system and snacks containing common allergens are not allowed.
She added: “So many schools have really good practices in place, and often it’s because they have a child within the school that does have a confirmed allergy.
“But you could have schools where they don’t have that and don’t have a designated staff member, so they also are now going to have to be trained because anaphylaxis can occur for the first time in school.”
Ahead of the introduction of Benedict’s Law in the upcoming academic year, Allergy School is expanding its reach so that more schools, many of whom struggle with funding, can benefit and become safer with the help of its free resources.
They has launched new training and are providing more free resources specifically designed to help schools become compliant with Benedict’s Law.
Wight explained: “It’s all about awareness, which extends to understanding how an allergic reaction may occur.
“All it takes is a child who has ice cream on their hands to go on the monkey bars on the playground then if the allergy child goes after them, and that’s what can cause anaphylaxis.”
As allergies become more widespread and complex, the introduction of Benedict’s law will mean that more parents and children with allergies will feel protected at school.
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