Most allergy parents have a story to tell about their school. Snacks that were 'may contain' handed out to their child. Non-existent allergy policies. A teacher that needed five explanations, and even wrongly administered medications or auto-adrenaline injectors (AAIs). The burden for children and parents with serious allergies has always been purely on themselves to manage. Benedict’s Law means the next generation has the chance to start from a different place.
Benedict’s Law (The School Allergy Safety Bill) aims to improve allergy safety in schools, following the death of five year old Benedict Blythe from anaphylaxis in 2021. The mission of the Benedict Blythe Foundation is clear from one simple statement - ‘’no more children should die in school from allergy’’. Read more about Benedict's story here.
This mission is echoed by questions being asked by parents for years; why aren’t there standard allergy systems in place at schools to keep children with life threatening conditions safe?
From 1992 to 2012, the number of hospital admissions for anaphylaxis rose by 615% in the UK [1]. It was found 1 in 25 children under 5 years old had an allergy in 2018 [2], and from 2018 to 2023, 19 children died due to anaphylaxis caused by allergies [3]. It’s clear no matter where you look, the evidence was there for decades for allergies to be taken more seriously in schools. These deaths were preventable, and preventable deaths have no acceptable explanation.
On March 9th, 2026, after years of campaigning and advocacy, this mission became one giant step closer to reality. The government announced that Benedict’s Law would be written into the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, requiring all schools in England to have an allergy safety policy. Campaigning is still ongoing for these requirements to expand across the UK to Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The foundation drove crucial research to support this campaign, resulting in the REACT Report, revealing systemic inadequacies in how allergies are managed across English schools. The amount of variation revealed between schools is staggering. Across almost 700,000 children in England with allergies, almost half do not have access to spare AAIs at school, and 1 in 3 are not supported by a school allergy policy.
Benedict’s Law introduces a consistent national framework in schools to solve this. This includes staff training to recognise anaphylaxis symptoms and respond to allergic events, access to emergency AAIs at every school, individual allergy plans for diagnosed children, and improved record keeping for children with allergies. These legal requirements represent a new system that works for every family, rather than the current postcode lottery where many schools may not even have accessible life saving medication onsite. Before now, schools could simply choose whether to be equipped with adrenaline pens or follow training programs with no obligations.
I spoke to my mum to get an idea of what this was like in the early 2000s for two young children with anaphylaxis:
‘’Everything was a battle and people looked at me like I had two heads. There was just no awareness at all in our small town school, no record of any children with an allergy. No policies or guides, never mind EpiPens. The doctor told me to tell school, and from there after I pushed for it, a nurse did come once a year with an educational video and some training on manikins. I had to really convince the school to keep spare EpiPens, the staff were terrified of having to use them’’.
Compared to this, Benedict's Law represents the start of a big shift for children with allergies compared to this. However, implementation is everything. For a parent, it will mean not just hoping a teacher remembers about the specific allergy requirements you’ve carefully communicated, but knowing you’re supported by the law. However, there’s a big gap between policy and culture, where the safest environment for children will be one that is proactive and preventative. Staff must see AAIs as a tool that’s the first step in treating anaphylaxis, and not the foundation of a school’s allergy strategy, so that children never need to use them in the first place. Getting to a culture of genuine understanding will mean talking and listening to parents, and keeping up to date with the latest allergy guidance - not just a 'one and done' approach that covers schools legally.
Thankfully this gap has been addressed in conversations around the new framework, with the Education Secretary being granted power to introduce further allergy safety regulation beyond the law, as needs change. A consultation has been launched on the new guidance, allowing clinicians, schools, teachers, and parents, to provide feedback before being finalised in July 2026.
One of the quiet but important things Benedict’s Law changes is expectations. For years, allergy parents have had to explain why policies mattered at all. Schools that introduced training or spare AAIs often did so because a family pushed for them, not because they were part of a national standard. That responsibility is beginning to shift. The success of this law will not be measured only by whether schools meet the requirements written into legislation, but whether children with allergies grow up knowing safety at school as something ordinary. Cultural change takes longer than policy change, but it usually starts this way. For many families, Benedict’s Law isn’t the end of a campaign. It is the point where things have finally started moving in the right direction. Future children with allergies should no longer have to begin their school lives by negotiating for safety.
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