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July 2026

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January 2015

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Working Together to Improve School Attendance

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Working Together to Improve School Attendance

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July 2026

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September 2012

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August 2024

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May 2026 (effective July 2026)

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Restrictive interventions, including use of reasonable force, in schools

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Restrictive interventions, including use of reasonable force, in schools

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April 2026

NOTE this is guidance, but the reporting duty is MANDATORY

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September 2021

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August 2021

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Admissions priority for children adopted from state care outside of England

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Admissions priority for children adopted from state care outside of England

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July 2021

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February 2025

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September 2025

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Children missing education: statutory guidance for local authorities and schools

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This guidance is statutory for local authorities in England and is intended to help them fulfil their legal duty under section 436A of the Education Act 1996 to make arrangements to identify, as far as it is possible to do so, children missing education (CME). This guidance is also statutory for academy trusts, governing bodies, management committees and proprietors who must have regard to it as part of their efforts to promote the welfare of children.

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September 2025

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July 2026 (effective September 2026)

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The designated teacher for looked-after and previously looked-after children

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The designated teacher for looked-after and previously looked-after children

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February 2018

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Children Act 1989: transition to adulthood for care leavers

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Children Act 1989: transition to adulthood for care leavers

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February 2025

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Children Act 1989: transition to adulthood for care leavers

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Volume 3: statutory guidance for local authorities on helping care leavers aged 16 and 17 prepare for adulthood.

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Regulated Activity with children in England and Wales

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Regulated Activity with children in England and Wales

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April 2026

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Regulated activity with children in England and Wales

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Please note: This is not legal advice. If you need help with making sure you are complying with the law, you should speak to a legal adviser.

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Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026

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Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026

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Regulated Activity (children) - supervision of activity with children which is regulated activity when unsupervised

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Regulated Activity (children) - supervision of activity with children which is regulated activity when unsupervised

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December 2013

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Multi-agency guidelines on FGM for those with statutory duties to safeguard children and vulnerable adults.

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Multi-agency guidelines on FGM for those with statutory duties to safeguard children and vulnerable adults.

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July 2020

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Disqualification under the Childcare Act 2006

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Disqualification under the Childcare Act 2006

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August 2018

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Statutory guidance

Statutory guidance for schools about employing staff who have been disqualified from providing childcare.

This statutory guidance is for:

local authorities

school leaders

school staff

governing bodies

It relates to all schools.

Statutory guidance is issued by law. You must follow it unless there's a good reason not to.

This guidance is for schools and local authorities to understand their responsibilities under the Childcare Act 2006, where staff are providing childcare in schools.

The statutory guidance ' Keeping children safe in education ' is also available.

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Disqualification under the Childcare Act 2006

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Statutory guidance Statutory guidance for schools about employing staff who have been disqualified from providing childcare. This statutory guidance is for: local authorities school leaders school staff governing bodies It relates to all schools. Statutory guidance is issued by law. You must follow it unless there's a good reason not to.

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Promoting the education of looked-after children and previously looked-after children

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Promoting the education of looked-after children and previously looked-after children

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February 2018

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Court orders - useful for understanding private and public law and court orders

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Court orders - useful for understanding private and public law and court orders

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April 2014

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Arranging education for children who cannot attend school because of health needs

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Arranging education for children who cannot attend school because of health needs

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December 2023

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November 2018

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Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions

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Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions

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December 2015

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Supporting pupils with medical conditions: templates

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Supporting pupils with medical conditions: templates

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May 2014

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Supporting pupils with medical conditions: links to other useful resources

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Supporting pupils with medical conditions: links to other useful resources

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August 2017

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Supporting pupils with medical conditions: links to other useful resources

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September 2012

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Travel to school for children of compulsory school age

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Travel to school for children of compulsory school age

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May 2026

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May 2014

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May 2014

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Health and safety: responsibilities and duties for schools

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Health and safety: responsibilities and duties for schools

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April 2022

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1. Responsibilities

Pupils should be safe in school and when undertaking out of school activities. The risk management to keep them safe should be proportionate to the nature of the activities.

Teachers should be able to take pupils on exciting school trips that broaden their horizons. Pupils should be able to play freely in the playground and be able to take part in sports. The Health and Safety Executive ( HSE) has guidance on promoting a balanced approach to children's play and leisure.

The employer or, in the case of independent schools, the proprietor, is accountable for the health and safety of school staff and pupils. The day-to-day running of the school is usually delegated to the headteacher and the school management team. In most cases, they are responsible for ensuring that risks are managed effectively. This includes health and safety matters.

Schools must appoint a competent person to ensure they meet their health and safety duties. A competent person is someone with the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to give sensible guidance about managing the health and safety risks at the school.

This can be someone appointed directly by the school, one or more of its staff, or the employer can arrange support from outside the school. In most schools, the senior leadership team can manage risks. HSE's guidance on sensible health and safety management in schools has more information.

The Association for Physical Education (AfPE) can offer advice on insurance for PE teachers.

As COVID-19 becomes a virus that the country learns to live with, the government is moving away from stringent restrictions on everyone's day-to-day lives towards advising people on how to protect themselves and others, alongside targeted interventions to reduce risk.

Therefore, while the government will continue to manage the risk of serious illness from the spread of the virus, schools should consider COVID-19 as one risk amongst others in relation to health and safety risk assessments and managing risk.

2. Leadership

Commitment from senior management is essential for effective health and safety management. Strong leadership is also vital. HSE provides information on leading health and safety at work.

Schools must have a health and safety policy in place. This should be an integral part of the school's culture, values and performance standards.

The key elements of the policy should:

set out the roles and responsibilities within risk management processes

the mechanisms to control risk

specific control measures that need to be implemented

In most schools, the headteacher is responsible for implementing this. Based on a thorough risk assessment, they should update it to reduce and reflect new risks. The risk assessment must cover the risks to the health and safety of employees and of persons (including pupils) who are not employees of the school.

Review the assessment if:

there is any reason to suspect that it is no longer valid

there has been a significant change in related matters

Schools are obliged to record significant findings of the assessment. They must identify any group of employees identified by it as being especially at risk.

HSE has information on leading sensible health and safety management in schools and how to appoint a competent person.

If senior leaders or teachers feel the process is inappropriate, they should discuss this with their employer. Examples may include processes which are too bureaucratic or which do not mitigate risk sufficiently. All staff can request that procedures be reviewed.

3. Elements of a health and safety policy

Every health and safety policy is separated into 4 elements:

Plan - leaders should set the direction for effective health and safety management

Do - introduce management systems and practices that ensure risks are dealt with sensibly, responsibly and proportionately

Check - monitoring and reporting

Act - a formal management review of health and safety performance

HSE explains the elements in more detail in its guidance on leading health and safety at work and leading sensible health and safety management in schools.

As outlined in the guidance, the policy should include:

a general statement of the policy

who is responsible for what (delegation of tasks)

arrangements for risk assessments and the practical control measures to reduce risk

how the school will establish, monitor and review its measures to meet satisfactory health and safety standards

The policy should be proportionate and relevant to the school. The elected competent person in the school should work with the employer and its health and safety advisers to create the policy.

The following list gives examples that schools could include their health and safety policy. This list is not exhaustive and the content of the policy will be determined by the school. Schools could include:

4. Assessing and managing risks

Risk assessments identify measures to control risks during school activities. Health and safety law requires the school to assess risks and put in place proportionate control measures. The law also requires it to record details of risk assessments, the measures taken to reduce these risks and expected outcomes.

Schools need to record significant findings of the assessment by identifying:

the hazards

how people might be harmed by them

what they have in place to control risk

Records of the assessment should be simple and focused on controls. Outcomes should explain to others what they are required to do and help staff with planning and monitoring.

Risk assessments consider what measures you need to protect the health and safety of all:

Schools will need to think about the risks that may arise in the course of the school day. This could include anything related to the school premises or delivery of its curriculum, whether on or off site.

Factors included in risk assessments will vary between schools, although some will appear in most schools. HSE provides guidance on managing risks and risk assessment at work.

5. Preparation for public health incidents

Schools must comply with health and safety law and put in place proportionate control measures. Schools must regularly review and update their risk assessments, treating them as 'living documents', as the circumstances in your school and the public health advice changes. This includes having active arrangements in place to monitor whether the controls are effective and working as planned.

Schools must therefore make sure that a risk assessment has been undertaken to identify the measures needed to reduce the risks from public health incidents so far as is reasonably practicable. General information on how to make a workplace secure is provided by the Health and Safety Executive's ( HSE) guidance on health and safety at work.

5.1 Approach to risk estimation and management of public health incidents

Some types of control are more effective at reducing infection risks than others. Risk reduction measures should be assessed in order of priority as set out below. Schools should not simply adopt the easiest control measure to implement.

Schools should work through the following steps to address their risks, considering for each risk whether there are measures in each step they can adopt before moving onto the next step.

1. Elimination: stop an activity that is not considered essential if there are risks attached.

2. Substitution: replace the activity with another that reduces the risk. Care is required to avoid introducing new hazards due to the substitution.

3. Engineering controls: design measures that help control or mitigate risk.

4. Administrative controls: identify and implement the procedures to improve safety (for example, markings on the floor, signage).

5. Having gone through this process, personal protective equipment (PPE) should be used in line with UK Health Security Agency guidance.

The UK Health Security Agency guidance on health protection in children and young people settings, including education has information on the management of infectious diseases in schools and other childcare settings.

6. Support for schools

Schools can adopt or modify the guidance below to suit their circumstances:

7. Other areas and activities to consider

The list of guidance below provides sources of further help on health and safety related risks:

8. School security and emergency preparation

All schools should have plans in place to enable them to manage and respond to incidents related to school security. The guidance on school and college security has more information.

Schools should also have procedures for controlling access and barring individuals from school premises. Schools can decide whether to include this within their school security plan or deal with the issue when it arises in another plan or procedure.

The DfE recommends guidance on helping schools with accessing and barring of individuals from premises.

Health and safety emergency procedures schools should consider include:

serious injury to a pupil or member of staff (for example, transport accident)

significant damage to school property (for example, fire)

criminal activity (for example, bomb threat)

severe weather (for example, flooding)

public health incidents (for example, flu pandemic)

the effects of a disaster in the local community

DfE provides emergency planning and response for education, childcare, and children's social care settings.

9. Additional powers of local authorities as employers

Under section 29(5) of the Education Act 2002, local authorities have powers to direct health and safety matters relating to school premises or school activities taking place elsewhere in the following types of school:

community schools

voluntary controlled schools

community special schools

maintained nursery schools

pupil referral units

Local authorities should only use these powers when a school's health and safety arrangements are inadequate.

10. Staff training

Schools must ensure that staff receive information and training about health and safety. This includes:

how to assess risks specific for their job

how to meet their roles and responsibilities identified within the health and safety policy

They can do this in different ways depending on individual or specific need. For example, providing staff with written guidance may be appropriate in some cases, while attending a training course may be more appropriate for others.

Staff whose work involves a greater element of risk will need extra or specific training. The HSE risk management guidance provides information about when staff require specific training in, for example:

using industrial machinery

managing asbestos

having responsibility for the storage and accountability for potentially hazardous materials in their buildings

DfE also provide information about the safe storage and disposal of hazardous materials.

11. Duties on employees

The law requires employees to:

take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by what they do at work

co-operate with their employers on health and safety matters

do their work in accordance with training and instructions

inform the employer of any work situation representing a serious and immediate danger, so that remedial action can be taken

Employees should follow health and safety procedures put in place by their employer.

Teachers and other staff in schools have a common law duty when in charge of pupils to take the same care of them as they would as a parent.

12. Recording and reporting injuries and accidents

Certain work-related injuries to a member of staff or a child must, by law, be recorded and reported.

The employer or proprietor is responsible for this, but staff may be asked to prepare the report. HSE explain when, how, where and when to report incidents in their education information sheet: incident reporting in schools.

13. Review and evaluation

All schools should regularly monitor and review their health and safety policies to ensure they are reducing risks. As part of this monitoring, schools should investigate incidents to ensure that:

they are taking appropriate corrective action

they are sharing learning

necessary improvements are put in place

Generally, schools should regularly (at least annually) consider how they measure their performance. They should set up an effective monitoring system, backed up with sensible performance measures.

However, as the country learns to live with COVID-19, schools must regularly review and update risk assessments - treating them as 'living documents', as the circumstances in your school and the public health advice changes.

Where there is a health and safety incident at the school, the competent person and others with health and safety responsibilities, should assess the effectiveness of the school's procedures and its response. They should make necessary changes to policies and procedures.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 determines British health and safety law. The Health and Safety Executive ( HSE), with local authorities, enforce this Act.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 supports the Act.

Schools should make sure they are familiar with both of these documents.

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Health and safety: responsibilities and duties for schools

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Pupils should be safe in school and when undertaking out of school activities. The risk management to keep them safe should be proportionate to the nature of the activities. Teachers should be able to take pupils on exciting school trips that broaden their horizons.

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First aid in schools, early years and further education

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First aid in schools, early years and further education

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February 2022

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About this guidance

This is non-statutory guidance for employers in early years, schools and colleges. Employers in these settings should have regard to it when carrying out duties relating to first aid issues on their premises and off-site.

This guidance is for:

employers in early years providers, schools and colleges

governing bodies, management committees and trustees of early years providers, schools and colleges

senior management teams in early years providers, schools and colleges

Unless otherwise specified:

references to 'early years provider' mean all early years providers in England including:

maintained schools

non-maintained schools

independent schools (including free schools and academies)

all providers on the early years register

all providers registered with an early years childminder agency (CMA)

references to 'school' mean:

all schools whether maintained, non-maintained or independent schools (including academies, free schools and alternative provision academies)

maintained nursery schools

pupil referral units

references to 'college' mean:

further education colleges and sixth-form colleges as established under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992

institutions designated as being within the further education sector and providers of post-16 education as set out in the Education and Training (Welfare of Children) Act 2021 including 16 to 19 academies, special post-16 institutions and independent training providers

During times of crisis, the Health and Safety Executive ( HSE) may produce additional advice to employers relating to first aid, for example during the COVID-19 pandemic, which should be read in conjunction with this guidance.

This guidance makes reference to first aid in early years settings which includes reception classes and nurseries. Specific advice on paediatric first aid in early years settings can be found in the early years foundation stage statutory framework (EYFS).

Legislation this guidance refers to

The guidance refers to the:

Schools and colleges

Introduction

Under the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981, employers are responsible for providing adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to ensure their employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill at work. HSE has published detailed first aid guidance to help employers comply with the regulations and offers practical advice on what they need to do.

While the regulations do not require employers to provide first aid for anyone other than their own employees, it is strongly recommended that all schools and colleges consider the needs of non-employees such as pupils, students and visitors when making provision for first aid.

In practice, most day-to-day functions in respect of health and safety and first aid are delegated to the headteacher or the principal. Employers should provide any relevant information to help them in drawing up the arrangements for their school or college.

First aid provision must be available while people are on school or college premises. It must also be available when staff, pupils and students are working elsewhere on school or college activities including any off-site activity such as educational visits. The regulations require employers to provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel based on a first aid needs assessment. This does not apply to work placements as work experience students are employed by the placement provider.

The minimum first aid provision for schools and colleges is:

a suitable first aid container stocked in accordance with the findings of the first aid needs assessment and holding at least the minimum requirements suggested by HSE

an appointed person or designated first aider(s) to take charge of first aid arrangements

information for employees detailing the location of equipment, facilities and personnel

Where an employer's assessment of first aid needs identifies that a designated first aider is not required, the minimum requirement is for an employer to appoint a person to take charge of the first aid arrangements, including looking after the equipment and facilities, and calling the emergency services when required. Arrangements should be made for the appointed person to be available to undertake these duties at all times when people are at work. HSE First aid at work guidance is available.

Any member of school or college staff may be asked to undertake first aid tasks, but they cannot be required to do so. Teachers and other staff working with pupils and students are expected to use their best endeavours at all times, particularly in emergencies, to secure the welfare of the pupils and students in education in the same way that parents might be expected to act towards their children. In general, the consequences of taking no action are likely to be more serious than those of trying to assist in an emergency.

All state-funded schools in England have, since September 2020, been required to teach Health Education. The statutory guidance, to which schools must have regard, sets out that this should include basic first aid for primary school children, for example dealing with common injuries. Pupils in secondary schools should be taught further first aid, for example how to administer CPR and the purpose of defibrillators.

First aid needs assessments

In addition to the legal requirement to have a health and safety policy, employers should ensure that schools and colleges have a first aid policy and carry out a first aid needs assessment to help inform that policy.

It is strongly recommended that a record is kept of all incidents dealt with by a first aider or appointed person to help inform the development of the policy and any subsequent first aid needs assessments. Information from health and safety risk assessments can also inform these first aid needs assessments. Identifying the likely causes of accidents or injuries will help headteachers to work out the type, quantity, and location of first aid equipment needed, and the facilities and personnel required. The needs of pupils, students and visitors should be considered alongside the needs of employees when making such assessments and when putting in place appropriate first aid provision.

Provision should be enough to ensure that first aid can be administered without delay should the occasion arise, and be available at all times. This means that arrangements should take account of absences of a first aider or appointed person and reflect alternative work practices. Further details of what factors to consider when making needs assessments and appointing emergency cover for first aiders can be found in HSE's first aid guidance.

Employers should review their first aid needs after any major changes such as changes to staff or premises, to make sure provision remains appropriate.

Headteachers and principals should ensure that staff, pupils, students and parents and carers are aware of their first aid arrangements.

First aiders

To qualify as a first aider an individual should undergo appropriate training delivered by a competent training provider and hold a valid first aid certificate.

We would expect, in the vast majority of cases, that the first aid needs assessment would identify that at least one first aider is required to provide first aid to meet the needs of employees, pupils, students and visitors. There is no rule on the number of first aiders required as this will be identified as part of the first aid needs assessment and will be based on the circumstances of each individual school or college.

In selecting a first aider, the following factors should be considered:

reliability and communication skills

aptitude and ability to absorb new knowledge and learn new skills

ability to cope with stressful and physically demanding emergency procedures

availability to respond to an emergency immediately

First aiders will be expected to:

give immediate help to casualties with common injuries or illnesses and those arising from specific hazards at the school or college or on educational visits

when appropriate, ensure that an ambulance or other professional medical help is called

Appointed persons

Where an employer's assessment of first aid needs identifies that a designated first aider is not required, an employer must appoint a person to take charge of the first aid arrangements. Arrangements should always be made for the appointed person to be available to undertake these duties when people are at work.

Appointed persons do not need to have a first aid qualification although they may benefit from training such as completing at least an emergency first aid at work course. Their role is to:

take charge when someone is injured or becomes ill

look after the first aid equipment

ensure that an ambulance or other professional medical help is summoned when appropriate

First aid training

It is the responsibility of employers to ensure that their first aid staff have received the appropriate first aid training delivered by a competent first aid training provider.

Where first aid provision is intended to cover non-employees, which we strongly recommend, first aiders may need additional training above the minimum requirement, for example additional training in paediatric first aid (standard first aid at work training courses do not include resuscitation procedures for children). The school or college should discuss any specific needs with the training provider in advance as they will often tailor courses specifically to the needs of the school or college.

First aid certificates are usually valid for 3 years. Employers should arrange retraining before certificates expire. Once a certificate expires, the individual would have to undertake another full course to be reinstated as a first aider. It is strongly recommended that first aiders undertake annual refresher training to maintain their basic skills and keep up to date with any changes in procedures.

HSE provides guidance for employers to assist in the selection of a competent first aid training provider, including information on first aid course content. HSE does not recommend training providers. Selection of a provider is the responsibility of the school, college or employer.

Recording and reporting

It is strongly recommended that schools and colleges keep a record of all incidents involving staff, pupils, students and visitors, which require first aid staff to be in attendance. This will help identify trends in accidents and areas for improvement as well as when to review first aid needs assessments.

The record should be readily accessible, and details recorded should include:

date, time and place of incident

name of injured or ill person

details of the injury or illness

details of what first aid was given

what happened immediately after the incident (for example, went home, went back to class, went to hospital)

name and signature of first aider or person dealing with the incident

This record is not the same as the statutory accident book although schools and colleges can choose to combine them. HSE publishes an accident book (BL510) that employers may purchase and use to record all incidents including those required under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 ( RIDDOR). All reportable incidents should be notified by a specified responsible person.

Employers have specific statutory responsibilities in respect of recording and reporting incidents involving their employees under RIDDOR.

HSE should be notified of fatal and major injuries, and dangerous occurrences without delay. See the for more details.

Injuries to anyone who has been involved in an accident at the school or college, or on an activity organised by the school or college, are only reportable under RIDDOR if the accident results in:

the death of the person, and arose out of or in connection with a work activity, or

an injury that arose out of or in connection with a work activity and the person is taken directly from the scene of the accident to hospital for treatment (examinations and diagnostic tests do not constitute treatment)

The responsible person should consider whether the incident was caused by:

a failure in the way a work activity was organised (for example inadequate supervision of a field trip)

the way equipment or substances were used (for example lifts, machinery, experiments)

the condition of the premises (for example poorly maintained or slippery floors)

If there is any doubt as to whether or not to report an incident schools and colleges can consult the HSE general RIDDOR guidance.

Information for staff

Employers should inform employees, pupils, students and others of their first aid arrangements, including the first aid policy and location of:

equipment

facilities

first aiders or appointed person

They should know how to contact a first aider or appointed person urgently should the need arise. They should be made aware of the procedures for monitoring and reviewing the school or college first aid needs. The information should be clear and easy to understand and shared with employees, pupils, students, contractors and visitors to the school or college as appropriate.

A simple method of keeping employees informed is to display first aid notices. At least one notice in a prominent position at each site is recommended by HSE. Schools and colleges could also develop procedures for informing staff in consultation with employees or safety representatives. The inclusion of first aid information during induction training will help make sure new employees are made aware of first aid arrangements.

Further information can be found at the HSE's guidance on regulations.

Insurance

Where first aid provision is intended to cover both employees and non-employees, employers should check they have adequate insurance or that their risk protection arrangement ( RPA) membership as an alternative to commercial insurance covers all the activities of first aiders.

Employers should determine and ensure that the appropriate level of insurance and risk cover is in place.

Material, equipment and facilities

Employers should provide sufficient materials and equipment to meet the needs identified in the first aid needs assessment. These should be made available and be easily accessible. Equipment should be suitably labelled.

First aid containers

The number and contents of first aid containers required will be identified as part of the first aid needs assessment. As a minimum, employers should provide at least one fully stocked first aid container for each site. Additional first aid containers may be needed for large or split-level sites, distant sports fields or playgrounds, any other high-risk areas and any offsite activities. All first aid containers should be marked with a white cross on a green background.

There is no mandatory list of items to be included in a first aid container. The school or college first aid needs assessment will help determine what should be provided.

HSE recommends that where there is no special risk identified, a minimum provision of first aid items could be:

a leaflet giving general advice on first aid - HSE information is available

20 individually wrapped sterile adhesive dressings (assorted sizes)

2 sterile eye pads

2 individually wrapped triangular bandages (preferably sterile)

6 safety pins

6 medium sized individually wrapped sterile unmedicated wound dressings

2 large sterile individually wrapped unmedicated wound dressings

3 pairs of disposable gloves

This is only a guide as each first aid kit will be based on the school or college first aid needs assessment.

Careful consideration should be given to the siting of first aid containers and, where possible, they should be kept near to hand washing facilities.

A school or college's first aid procedures should identify the first aider or appointed person responsible for examining the contents of first aid containers. The first aid kits should be checked frequently and restocked as soon as possible after use. Items should be discarded safely after the expiry date has passed.

Travelling first aid containers

Before undertaking any off-site activities or educational visits, the visit leader should assess what level of first aid provision is needed and identify any additional items that may be necessary for specialised activities. The Outdoor Education Advisers' Panel (OEAP) provides advice on outdoor learning and off-site visits, including the assessment of first aid requirements.

HSE recommends that the minimum travelling first aid kit should be:

a leaflet giving general advice on first aid - HSE information is available

6 individually wrapped sterile adhesive dressings

1 large sterile unmedicated dressing

2 triangular bandages individually wrapped and preferably sterile

2 safety pins

individually wrapped moist cleansing wipes

2 pairs of disposable gloves

The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 (for minibuses) and/or the Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness, Equipment, Use and Certification) Regulations 1981 (for larger vehicles) advise that a suitable, clearly marked first aid box should be readily available and in good condition. Further information, including advice on what the kit should contain, is available.

The following items must be kept in the first aid box:

10 antiseptic wipes, foil packed

1 conforming disposable bandage (not less than 7.5 cm wide)

2 triangular bandages

1 packet of 24 assorted adhesive dressings

3 large sterile unmedicated ambulance dressings (not less than 15.0 cm × 20.0 cm)

2 sterile eye pads, with attachments

12 assorted safety pins

1 pair of rustless blunt-ended scissors

Automated external defibrillators

Schools and colleges are encouraged to purchase an automated external defibrillator ( AED) as part of their first aid equipment. To help them do this, DfE has made arrangements for schools to purchase AEDs at a reduced cost. Further details are provided in the AED guide for schools.

More information on the provision and use of automated external defibrillators ( AED) in the workplace is available at provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) - work equipment and machinery.

Accommodation

Employers should provide a suitable first aid room or rooms in accordance with the findings of their first aid needs assessment. Where possible, the room should be reserved exclusively for the provision of first aid.

School employers are already required under the School Premises (England) Regulations 2012 and the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2014 to have suitable accommodation that can be used for medical examination and treatment of pupils and for the short term care of sick or injured pupils which includes a washbasin and is near to a toilet. It need not be used exclusively for medical purposes (though it must not be used for teaching), but it should be appropriate for that purpose and readily available for use when needed. Schools and colleges may wish to consider using such a room for first aid.

Where a school or college caters for pupils and/or students with complex needs, additional medical accommodation should be provided which caters for those needs.

Further detail on the requirements for a first aid room can be found in the HSE's guidance on regulations.

Medicines administration in schools

First aid at work does not include giving tablets or medicines. The only exception is when aspirin is used as first aid to a casualty with a suspected heart attack for those over 16. Never give aspirin to a child younger than 16, unless it has been prescribed by a doctor.

Medication should not be kept in a first aid container.

Whilst some pupils will have long-term and complex medical conditions or carry their own medication (for example, an inhaler for asthma or adrenaline for intramuscular use in anaphylaxis) the only role for a first aider is generally, limited (where appropriate) to helping pupils who need to take their own medication to do so.

Some pupils may need to have access to life saving prescription drugs in an emergency, the details will be recorded in the pupil's individual healthcare plan and identified staff members will be aware of what to do.

The administration of prescription only medication specified in Schedule 19 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 should only be given by those trained to do so. However, where a first aid needs assessment identifies that Schedule 19 medication may be required to be administered in an emergency, the employer may want to consider providing first aiders with additional training so that they can be aware of the symptoms and condition and administer lifesaving medication in an emergency situation.

Any member of school staff may be asked to provide support to pupils with administering of medicines, but they cannot be required to do so.

Read the statutory guidance on supporting pupils at schools with medical conditions for more information.

Mental health

Schools and colleges are encouraged to identify a senior mental health lead. This role should include having strategic oversight of the whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing. They will support their school or college to make the best use of existing resources and effort to help improve the wellbeing and mental health of pupils, students and staff.

DfE has published guidance to help schools identify whether a child or young person's behaviour may be related to an underlying mental health problem, and how to support them in these circumstances. Further details can be found in the Mental health and behaviour in schools guidance.

Following an employer's first aid needs assessment, a school or college might decide that it will be beneficial to have personnel trained to identify and understand symptoms and be able to support pupils, students and staff who might be experiencing a mental health issue. Education staff are well placed to observe children day-to-day and identify those whose behaviour suggests that they may be experiencing a mental health problem or be at risk of developing one but only appropriately trained professionals should attempt to make a diagnosis of a mental health condition.

Consideration should be given to ways to manage mental ill health in the workplace. This could include providing information or training for managers and employees, employing occupational health professionals, appointing mental health trained first aiders and implementing support programmes.

First aid training courses covering mental health can teach staff how to recognise warning signs of mental ill health and help them to develop the skills and confidence to approach and support someone, while keeping themselves safe.

There is a wide range of training providers offering mental health awareness or first aid training and details of available training that best meets the needs of your organisation can be found by conducting a simple internet search.

HSE also provides further information on mental health conditions, work and the workplace. The Education Support charity provides free 24 hours a day telephone counselling to all serving and retired education staff in need on mental health support.

School and college staff are not mental health professionals. Where pupils and students experience more serious mental health problems, schools and colleges should expect them and their families to be able to access support from sources which include professionals working in specialist Children and Young People's Mental Health Services ( CYPMHS), voluntary organisations and local GP practices.

Early years

Introduction

Early years education providers, including schools, must meet the paediatric first aid requirements set out in the statutory framework for the early years foundation stage ( EYFS). This includes arrangements for off-site activities involving young children such as educational visits.

The requires that at least one person who has a current paediatric first aid ( PFA) certificate should be on the premises and available at all times when children are present and should accompany children on outings. The certificate must be for a full course consistent with the criteria set out in annex A in the EYFS.

All staff who obtained a level 2 or level 3 qualification on or after 30 June 2016 must also have either a full PFA or an emergency PFA certificate within 3 months of starting work in order to be included in the required staff to child ratios at level 2 or level 3 in an early years setting.

Childminders, and any assistant who might be in sole charge of the children for any period, should hold a current paediatric first aid certificate.

Paediatric first aid training must be renewed every 3 years and should be relevant for workers caring for young children and where relevant, babies. Employers should take into account, via their first aid needs assessment, the number of children, staff and layout of premises to ensure that a paediatric first aider is able to respond to emergencies quickly.

Training

Employers are responsible for identifying and selecting a competent training provider to deliver their PFA training.

Training is available from a wide range of providers including:

those who offer regulated qualifications

voluntary aid societies (St John Ambulance, the British Red Cross and St Andrew's First Aid, who together are acknowledged by HSE as one of the standard-setters for currently accepted first aid practice for first aid at work training courses)

those who operate under voluntary accreditation schemes

one that is a member of a trade body with an approval and monitoring scheme

those who operate independently of any such accreditation scheme

The register of regulated qualifications may help providers to identify paediatric first aid providers. It may also be helpful to refer to HSE's guidance about choosing a first aid training provider.

Equipment

Providers should ensure there is always a first aid box accessible with appropriate content for use with children.

Recording and reporting

In addition to any statutory reporting requirements employers should keep a written record of accidents or injuries and first aid treatment. Employers should inform parents or carers of any accident or injury sustained by the child on the same day, or as soon as reasonably practicable, of any first aid treatment given.

Registered providers should notify Ofsted or the childminder agency with which they are registered of any serious accident, illness or injury to, or death of, any child while in their care, and of the action taken. Notification should be made as soon as is reasonably practicable, but in any event within 14 days of the incident occurring. A registered provider, who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with this requirement, commits an offence.

Employers should notify local child protection agencies of any serious accident or injury to, or the death of, any child while in their care, and should act on any advice from those agencies.

Further help
Resources provided by HSE School and college safety advice provided by Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) A teaching guide developed by the British Red Cross St John Ambulance first aid advice including guidance on how to deal with various illnesses such as allergic reactions Resuscitation Council UK information on CPR in schools HSE advice on first aid requirements for swimming pools
Outdoor Education Advisers' Panel ( OEAP) guidance for outdoor learning and off-site visits, including about first aid provision, and medication

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First aid in schools, early years and further education

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This is non-statutory guidance for employers in early years, schools and colleges. Employers in these settings should have regard to it when carrying out duties relating to first aid issues on their premises and off-site.

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November 2018

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School trips and outdoor learning activities

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School trips and outdoor learning activities

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June 2011

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February 2024

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Health and safety checklist for classrooms

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Health and safety checklist for classrooms

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August 2011

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No date provided

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Laptop computer charging trolleys safety alert - HSE

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HSE provides information and guidance on issues relating to health and safety in education and schools.

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Guidance on the use of emergency salbutamol inhalers in schools

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Guidance on the use of emergency salbutamol inhalers in schools

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March 2015

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June 2026

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Introduction

This publication provides non-statutory guidance from the Department for Education ( DfE).

It has been produced to help school leaders and those involved with managing the use of the inclusive mainstream fund ( IMF) in schools and 16 to 19 academies, such as:

academy trust leaders

head teachers

trustees and governors.

It is to help you make the most effective use of the IMF and ensure you adhere to the conditions of grant, including:

investing your IMF allocation in line with the 7 principles of inclusion

publishing an inclusion strategy on your school website by 31 December 2026 - this must include detail of activity invested in to alleviate barriers to learning and participation and budgeted costs (we have provided a template you can use to help you develop your strategy)

If you opt to create a multi-year strategy, you must ensure that this is reviewed annually and note this on the cover page of the document.

This guidance may also be useful for parents and local authorities who want to:

know how schools can invest their IMF allocation alongside their core budget (including their notional special educational needs (SEN) budget) to support inclusive practice

understand the requirement to produce an inclusion strategy

Separate guidance has been published on the:

Purpose

Schools must be places where every child is included and supported to achieve and thrive in their learning, regardless of their needs or background.

The IMF forms part of the government's commitment to support the development of a more inclusive mainstream system. Over £500 million per financial year over the next 3 years will equip schools, colleges and early years settings with upfront funding to help them to become inclusive by design. Inclusive activity should be funded by the school's core funding allocations, including their notional special SEN budget calculated and communicated by their local authority, as well as the IMF.

Our recent consultation SEND reform: putting children and young people first set out our proposals for a reformed special educational needs and disabilities ( SEND) system. We set out a vision for a system in which schools have a strong universal offer and for mainstream funding reforms to support early intervention and more flexible support. Early help and support for children with SEND has too often not been present and our investment through the IMF is a step towards improving outcomes - by ensuring every child and young person receives high quality, adaptive teaching, early help when they need it, and support that is proven to work.

You can use the IMF to strengthen inclusion for all pupils through investment in whole-school approaches and to support the development or delivery of early, evidence-based support for children with SEND. As we move towards a reformed system, we will look to further rebalance funding, directing more into core budgets for schools, so that they are better equipped with consistent funding to support children and young people with SEND.

Under our proposals, this will align with changes to accountability to ensure that this investment leads to improvements. We have proposed placing a legal duty on schools to produce an inclusion strategy, which will be more comprehensive and set out in greater detail how resources are used to benefit children and young people with SEND so parents and local partners can understand how inclusion is being delivered.

As part of this longer-term ambition, through their inspection framework, Ofsted will assess how:

leaders ensure the inclusion strategy is embedded in practice

staff are equipped to deliver it

This guidance sets out how schools should develop an initial inclusion strategy which is a first step towards a reformed system. Schools should plan how they intend to use additional funding provided through their IMF allocation, alongside their core budget allocation (including their notional SEN budget), to start building a more inclusive core offer for all children and young people, including those with SEND.

This should include taking meaningful steps to:

build a strong universal offer that embeds inclusion within the core school offer - in line with the 7 principles of inclusion - and has a positive impact on attainment, progress in learning, wellbeing, belonging and engagement

support the delivery of early, effective, targeted support for those who need it, without the need for formal assessment or diagnosis

In this first year, we recommend that most schools focus their investment on a small number of impactful activities to establish a strong foundation of inclusive practice within their universal offer. Schools with an established inclusive universal offer may wish to allocate investment towards targeted support.

Our proposed reforms also include every school eventually being part of a local group which will pool funding, share resources, and work together to expand help and support available to children and young people. Ahead of these proposed system changes we encourage schools to work collaboratively across any existing clusters and groups to consider how they can best address commonly occurring barriers to learning and participation. Each school must still publish their own inclusion strategy and IMF conditions of grant explain how pooling of funding is permitted, provided suitable financial governance is in place.

The using evidence section contains a range of resources which you can use to inform the selection of inclusive approaches appropriate to your school cohort.

As we move towards a reformed system, DfE will develop new national inclusion standards that set out evidence-informed tools, strategies and approaches that you can draw on to implement whole school approaches for inclusion and develop effective support for children and young people with additional needs.

The standards will be developed by an independent panel of experts and regularly reviewed to ensure they continue to reflect the best available evidence on SEND. These will support you in the development of future iterations of your inclusion strategy and effectively use of your core budget allocations to remove barriers to learning and participation.

Scope of your strategy

The 7 principles of inclusion are:

ambitious leadership and governance that embeds inclusion

evidence-based support prioritising early intervention

high quality adaptive teaching with curriculum designed for all learners

enriching provision beyond the classroom that all children can access

a safe and respectful culture fostering belonging, attendance, and participation in learning

strong partnerships with families and wider services

inclusive environments with continuous improvements to accessibility

When developing your inclusion strategy, you should select approaches that fall under the 7 principles of inclusion.

You should focus on implementing fewer approaches well, to ensure inclusive practice is embedded with impact, consistency and quality in mind. This should include prioritising high quality, adaptive teaching and reflecting on where you can build on existing inclusive practice to strengthen your inclusive offer for all pupils, particularly those with SEND.

As stated in the conditions of grant, any activity that you fund, in part or in full, using your IMF allocation must fall under one of the principles.

The approaches you choose must be evidence-informed and consider the barriers to learning and participation present in your cohort.

Our Inclusive mainstream fund: best practice for schools provides further details on the type of activities that might support each of these principles across both the universal offer and targeted support.

Universal offer

Central to a stronger inclusive mainstream system is a universal offer built on high quality, adaptive teaching and whole-school practices that enable all children, including those who face barriers to learning and participation, to achieve and thrive.

We expect you to use your IMF allocation and core budget allocation (including your notional SEN budget) to help you build a strong universal offer in line with the 7 principles of inclusion.

We encourage you to focus on strengthening your universal offer, building on existing practice, so more needs can be met earlier before the need for targeted support arises.

Targeted support

For children and young people whose needs cannot be met through the universal offer alone, targeted support should be provided to enable them to achieve and thrive.

Where you have a strong universal offer already, you can supplement your approach to inclusion with a more focused selection of targeted interventions.

This may include small group interventions to remove ongoing barriers to learning and participation, such as interventions to develop language skills, or pre-teaching vocabulary to help children access the curriculum, without formal assessment or statutory process.

Targeted support should be selected and implemented carefully, with particular attention paid to how it aligns with the curriculum to avoid a fragmented learning experience.

DfE has published new guidance to support the development and expansion of inclusion bases within mainstream schools, backed by our high needs capital investment. Schools should consider this guidance and how they can utilise both their IMF allocation and core funding to develop high quality inclusion bases that provide targeted support as part of developing an inclusion strategy.

Developing and delivering an effective inclusion strategy

As part of the IMF conditions of grant, you are required to produce an inclusion strategy to explain your plan to use your overall funding allocation to help you build a strong inclusive offer.

This section explains how you can use a 5-step approach, which is an ongoing process, to support you to develop and refine your strategy and is similar to the one you undertake for your pupil premium strategy:

1. Identifying and understanding the commonly occurring barriers to learning and participation pupils face

2. Using evidence to consider inclusive practice

3. Developing an effective strategy

4. Delivering and monitoring your strategy

5. Evaluating and sustaining your strategy

Effective implementation is important for making best use of the IMF and your core budget allocations. You should treat implementation as a process to be executed over a series of stages, not as an event. The Education Endowment Foundation's ( EEF's) guide to implementation supports schools to embed an evidence-informed approach to implementation.

Step 1: Identifying barriers to learning and participation commonly occurring in your cohort

Identification of additional needs and commonly occurring barriers to learning and participation is an important part of the process for building a strong universal offer and considering the targeted support needed to improve inclusion for your cohort, without the need for statutory process.

This step should not solely be led by specific diagnoses or limited by the current identified need profile of children on SEN support or with education, health and care ( EHC) plans, but rather the commonly occurring barriers to learning and participation identified across your cohort.

This will help you move towards an environment where all children can access learning, feel valued and safe, build capability and independence, and succeed.

To identify the commonly occurring barriers to learning and participation facing your cohort, you should draw on a range of sources, including:

classroom observation and engagement with teachers

internal assessments

engagement with families and pupils

discussions with external professionals

data on SEND, including attendance, behaviour, and attainment

evidence on local or national trends in changing need

Step 2: Using evidence

The conditions of grant require schools to spend their IMF funding on activity in line with the 7 principles of inclusion and available evidence.

To support you to make the best use of your available funding, we encourage you to:

High quality teaching is the most important lever for improving outcomes for all pupils in mainstream schools, particularly those with SEND. We encourage you to think about how you can strengthen and sustain these practices at a cohort-level to remove barriers to learning and participation for children with additional needs. The EEF 's guidance on inclusive teaching, intended for publication in the summer of 2026, will provide further details on how schools can ensure strong practice in this area.

Examples of other evidence you should draw on include:

We encourage you to consider a range of external research evidence and use your own judgement and knowledge of your cohort's needs and the barriers to learning and participation your pupils face. The EEF has produced guidance on Using research evidence to help you understand, identify and examine evidence to successfully develop and implement practice.

Step 3: Developing an effective strategy

Develop a strategy for effective use of your inclusive mainstream funding, that:

reflects on existing inclusive practice within your school and how effectively it removes barriers to learning and participation to support all pupils, particularly those with SEND, and where you can go further to deliver a high quality universal offer

identifies the commonly occurring barriers to learning and participation across your cohort

prioritises activities that will have the greatest impact on your cohort considering the evidence that supports these approaches

sets clear, realistic and measurable outcomes for reflecting on the extent to which you have strengthened inclusion

DfE requires that schools publish their strategy on their website. We have provided a template to help you develop your strategy. If you do not choose to use the template, you must still cover the following areas:

the barriers to learning and participation identified across your cohort

activities invested in to alleviate these barriers

intended outcomes

review of the previous academic year

Further information on what should be included in these sections is provided in the Inclusion strategy template.

This approach is similar to the one you are expected to undertake when writing your pupil premium strategy statement. You may find the EEF's guide to the pupil premium, with its tiered approach to strategy planning, a helpful tool in informing the development of your inclusion strategy.

Schools should use their IMF, alongside their core school budget (including the notional SEN budget), to embed inclusion through their universal offer and targeted support.

How you choose to allocate spending across different elements of inclusion principles will depend on the commonly occurring barriers to learning and participation your pupils face and the extent to which inclusive practice, including a high quality universal offer, is already embedded in your school.

We encourage you to use evidence to build on what works for your pupils and use your IMF allocation to strengthen select areas of inclusion from which your pupils would most benefit.

The development of your strategy should be a shared responsibility across your whole leadership team. This could include:

senior leaders such as the head teacher, deputy head teachers, assistant head teachers, school business manager, and special education needs coordinator (SENCO)

governors, trustees, and academy trust leaders (as appropriate to your settings)

middle leaders such as heads of departments and curriculum leads

other school staff involved in pastoral support, curriculum development, and other relevant areas of school practice

You should consult with families, pupils and other stakeholders in your school community to ensure that the strategy reflects your unique local context. This might include:

special or alternative provision (AP) schools you may have links with

local area partners such as health and specialist education professionals

You may also find it helpful to work closely with other schools developing their own inclusion strategies and consider whether peer review and challenge could help to improve your own strategy.

Step 4: Delivering and monitoring your strategy

The EEF's Schools Guide to Implementation has:

information on how to develop and embed evidence-informed approaches

practical advice about how to unite values, understanding and skills around your strategy

To deliver your strategy, you should ensure:

all staff understand inclusion, and display commitment to removing barriers to learning and participation for all children, including those with SEND

the IMF is not considered the only source of funding for approaches you deploy and should be seen as a supplement to equip you to plan, prepare and implement inclusive practice and prepare for reforms

your plan is realistic and you have planned how it will be effectively delivered, including any local partners that will help you deliver the strategy

Once your strategy is in place, you should ensure it is being delivered effectively through:

monitoring pupil outcomes for inclusion by using, sharing and understanding data and insights on progress - this includes creating time and opportunities for staff to reflect on:

data and feedback

how well the strategy is being delivered

further opportunities for strengthening inclusion

supporting staff wellbeing and workload, expectations and understanding of how you plan to embed inclusion through your strategy - this can be done through engagement, collaboration, setting realistic goals and providing extra time and support for staff

reinforcing the strategy through:

ongoing professional development for inclusion and supporting pupils with SEND

communicating and reminding staff that inclusion is everyone's responsibility and how they can support the aims of the strategy

We expect that all pupils will benefit from high quality teaching and whole-school approaches that seek to embed inclusive practice. You should identify and monitor pupils with additional needs to ensure that:

these approaches are having a positive impact on attainment, progress in learning, wellbeing, belonging and engagement

barriers to learning and participation are being alleviated through any targeted interventions for those specific pupils

Step 5: Evaluating and sustaining your strategy

To evaluate the impact of your approaches, you should:

set realistic goals of what you can achieve in this first year and build on this going forward, considering the short, medium and long-term outcomes needed to achieve your strategy objectives

measure success based on outcomes for pupils with SEND such as attendance, attainment, progress in learning, belonging, wellbeing at school, participation, engagement, and behaviour - supported by a robust and transparent evaluation framework

ensure that evaluation is an ongoing process - strategies that have been effective in one year may not continue to be effective the next

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Developing an inclusion strategy using the inclusive mainstream fund

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This publication provides non-statutory guidance from the Department for Education ( DfE). It has been produced to help school leaders and those involved with managing the use of the inclusive mainstream fund ( IMF) in schools and 16 to 19 academies, such as: academy trust leaders head teachers trustees and governors.

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July 2026

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Inclusive mainstream fund for schools: methodology 2026 to 2027

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This document sets out the methodology for the inclusive mainstream fund funding for mainstream state-funded schools in England.

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June 2026

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Experts at Hand - what mainstreams need to know

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Experts at Hand - what mainstreams need to know

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June 2026

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Experts at Hand: what those leading and working in mainstream settings need to know

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We’re re-shaping the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system to help make all mainstream education settings – where most children learn – truly inclusive. We’re investing to train teachers, educators and assistants and bring more experts such as, speech and language therapists into mainstream nurseries, schools and colleges.

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June 2026

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RISE support for inclusive mainstream education

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Regional improvement in standards and excellence (RISE) aims to break the link between young people’s backgrounds and their future success. These programmes and resources can help mainstream schools improve inclusivity and support for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

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June 2026

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Design adaptations to support an inclusive and accessible environment in mainstream education settings.

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Departmental advice to schools - Equality Act 2010

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Departmental advice to schools - Equality Act 2010

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May 2014

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December 2023

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Introduction

The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED, or "the duty"), which applies in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), requires public authorities to have due regard to certain equality considerations when exercising their functions, like making decisions.

This guidance replaces the Government Equalities Office's 2011 guidance:

Equality Act 2010: Public Sector Equality Duty: What Do I Need to Know? A Quick Start Guide for Public Sector Organisations

Equality Act 2010: Specific Duties to Support the Equality Duty: What Do I Need To Know? A Quick Start Guide for Public Sector Organisations

It is intended to help decision-makers, including Government ministers, to comply with the duty. The guidance does not cover those elements of the duty that apply only to Scottish or Welsh public authorities under devolved powers. The guidance is not statutory.

Overview

The duty is a statutory duty on listed public authorities and other bodies carrying out public functions. It ensures that those organisations consider how their functions will affect people with different protected characteristics. These functions include their policies, programmes, and services. The duty supports good decision-making by helping decision-makers understand how their activities affect different people. It also requires public bodies to monitor the actual impact of the things they do. For example, to keep under review how different groups of pupils are performing at school and to identify and take action if some pupils with protected characteristics need more support than others.

The general duty of the duty can be found in sections 149 to 157 of the Equality Act 2010 ('the act') and is supported by specific duties found in regulations.

The general duty requires decision-makers to have due regard to the need to eliminate conduct prohibited by the act, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations in relation to activities such as:

recommending new or revised public policy to a minister

publishing a consultation document

designing and providing a public service

The specific duties help decision-makers to perform the general duty more effectively.

The duty does not dictate a particular outcome. The level of "due regard" considered sufficient in any particular context depends on the facts. The duty should always be applied in a proportionate way depending on the circumstances of the case and the seriousness of the potential equality impacts on those with protected characteristics. Overly bureaucratic and burdensome approaches without reference to the equality aims specified in the legislation should be avoided. Public authorities must not 'gold-plate' their compliance with the duty at the unjustified expense of the taxpayer and of private or voluntary sector contractors. Similarly, regulators should not try to impose the duty on private companies that would never be bound by it.

It is for the decision-maker to decide how much weight should be given to the various factors informing the decision. The duty does not mean that decisions cannot be taken which disadvantage some people (provided this does not constitute unlawful discrimination), but the decision-maker should be aware of the equality impacts of these decisions and consider how they could positively contribute to the advancement of equality and good relations. The decision-maker should consider ways of preventing, or balancing the effects that their decision may have on certain groups. They should decide which mitigations, if any, they might want to put into place in reconsidering the decision. The mitigation should be proportionate to the problem at hand.

The duty requires decision-makers to understand and take account of the consequences of their choices, having due regard to the aim of eliminating conduct prohibited by the act, advancing equality of opportunity and fostering good relations. At the same time, the duty is not a rubber stamp. It is a legal requirement. Making decisions without having due regard to the duty can be unlawful.

Responsibility for complying with the general duty falls on the decision-maker. It is therefore essential that the decision-maker is made aware of any work that others have done to comply with the duty. For example, if you work in a ministerial government department, the decision-maker is often the minister. In these situations, the minister must see the assessments that officials have made to ensure compliance with the general duty.

Background

The act consolidated over 40 years of domestic equality law into a single act. The aim was to simplify, strengthen and harmonise legislation to support progress on equality. For the most part, the act restated existing legal protections from discrimination, harassment, and victimisation in the areas covered by the act. These areas include employment, and the provision of goods, services, and public functions.

However, the act did strengthen the law in some areas, for example by extending the duty across all protected characteristics.

The general duty came into force on 5 April 2011. It replaced the previous, single equality duties for race, disability and sex contained in previous discrimination legislation, with a combined equality duty covering the protected characteristics in the act.

The government brought the specific duties into force on 10 September 2011. The specific duties apply to certain English bodies, and cross-border bodies such as parts of the armed forces.. The specific duties are devolved, and there are Scottish and Welsh equivalents set by the devolved administrations.

Are you bound by the duty?

General duty

As a public authority, you are bound by the general duty if your organisation is listed in schedule 19 of the act. Schedule 19 lists almost 200 public authorities and categories of public authorities in Great Britain, including state schools, police forces, and local councils.

If listed in schedule 19, the general duty applies not only to your organisation's public-facing decisions, like providing services to members of the public. It also applies to all its functions (unless otherwise specified in schedule 19), like human resources.

Even if your organisation is not listed in schedule 19, you are also bound by the general duty in the exercise of any public functions ('a function of a public nature for the purposes of the Human Rights Act 1998'). A number of factors could be relevant in deciding whether something is a public function, including whether the body:

is publicly funded

exercises statutory powers

takes the place of government or a local authority

For example, this could include receiving someone into a privately-run prison or immigration detention facility, and the exercise by a private company of statutory powers under mental health legislation.

Schedule 18 of the act sets out specific exceptions from the duty relating to age, Parliament, judicial functions, immigration functions, and the security services. These mean that some public authorities are excepted from some aspects of the duty when carrying out certain public functions.

For example, the exceptions mean that immigration officers do not have to think about the need to advance equality of opportunity in relation to age, religion or belief, ethnicity, or ethnic or national origin. But given the specific and limited nature of the exceptions, they do need to think about the need to advance equality of opportunity in relation to the colour element of race, as well as the other protected characteristics.

Public authorities should consider the application of any exceptions that are relevant to their functions carefully. Annex C of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) technical guidance on the Public Sector Equality Duty is dedicated to understanding the exceptions in detail.

Specific duties

Unlike the general duty, the specific duties are devolved in Scotland and Wales. This guidance covers the specific duties only for English and cross-border bodies. The EHRC has guidance about the specific duties in Scotland and the specific duties in Wales.

You are bound by the specific duties for English and cross-border bodies if your organisation is listed in schedule 2 of the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017.

The rest of this guidance is for organisations that are bound by the duty.

What is the duty?

General duty

The general duty requires public authorities, in the exercise of their functions, to have due regard to the need to:

eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other unlawful conduct prohibited by the act

advance equality of opportunity between people who share and people who do not share a relevant protected characteristic

foster good relations between people who share and people who do not share a relevant protected characteristic

These are sometimes called the 3 aims of the duty.

The relevant protected characteristics are:

age

disability

gender reassignment

pregnancy and maternity

race

religion or belief

sex

sexual orientation

Someone has the protected characteristic of gender reassignment if they are proposing to undergo, are undergoing or have undergone a process or part of a process to reassign their sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex. Authorities should take care to undertake their assessment by reference to the protected characteristics set out in the act. They should not use concepts such as gender or gender identity, which are not encoded in the act and can be understood in different ways.

Marriage and civil partnership is a protected characteristic but not a 'relevant' one. This means you have to consider it only in relation to the first aim of the duty. Discrimination because of marriage and civil partnership is only prohibited in relation to the work provisions of the act. This is because the parts of the act covering services and public functions, premises and education do not apply to that protected characteristic. See sections 28(1)(a), 32(1)(b), 84(1)(b), and 90 of the act.

"Having due regard" means properly considering the 3 aims identified in the act, and how they relate to the function you are exercising, and then deciding what weight to give them. It is not a duty to achieve a particular outcome. The level of "due regard" considered sufficient in any particular context depends on the facts. A proportionate approach should be taken to the resources spent on duty compliance, depending on the circumstances of the case and the seriousness of the potential equality impacts on those with protected characteristics.

For example, if you were reforming a personal tax or benefit, you would likely have to assess the 3 aims in some depth. But if you were buying office equipment, your assessment may be brief and limited to the affect on disabled people. You may exercise functions that have no equality impact, but it may then be useful to note that you took the duty into account and did not consider it relevant.

When assessing the equality impacts of a decision, organisations should consider the positive and negative impacts, not just the negative. For example, policies designed to support integration and community cohesion may have a positive impact across a population, even if not targeted at any one group in particular.

"Eliminating unlawful conduct prohibited by the act" means eliminating discrimination, harassment, victimisation, failure to make reasonable adjustments and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the act.

"Advancing equality of opportunity" means having due regard, in particular, to the need to:

remove or minimise disadvantages suffered by people due to their relevant protected characteristics

take steps to meet the different needs of people who share a relevant protected characteristic

encourage participation in public life or any other activity by underrepresented groups

take steps to meet the different needs of disabled persons

Considering people's different needs and taking steps to meet those needs can be relevant to avoiding indirect discrimination. There are specific provisions in the act about making reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities. You can read guidance on the duty to make reasonable adjustments for staff (PDF).

It is important to note here that the duty to have due regard to the need to advance equality of opportunity is not a duty to put in place positive action measures. Positive action means measures permitted under the act that aim to alleviate disadvantage or under-representation, or to meet the particular needs of those who share a protected characteristic. It may be appropriate to consider positive action as part of the second aim of the duty, where adverse impacts have been identified. However, the duty is not a positive action programme and the use of positive action is voluntary. Positive action must balance the seriousness of the disadvantage suffered, or the extent to which people with a protected characteristic are under-represented, against the impact that the proposed action may have on other people. Further information on positive action can be found in the Equality Hub's guidance on positive action in the workplace.

"Fostering good relations" means having regard to the need to deal with prejudice and support understanding. For example, some decisions have the power to bring divided groups together and to support their mutual understanding. Other decisions may inadvertently cause people with one protected characteristic to blame people with another for a social problem.

Specific duties

The specific duties are intended to enable more effective performance of the general duty, and to standardise some of the work of general duty holders. The specific duties complement the general duty but do not replace it.

For English public authorities and those with cross-border responsibilities, the specific duties are shown in the table below. An authority's duties depend on how many people it employs.

How to comply with the general duty

When making a decision, try taking it through the following steps.

1. Does the duty apply to this decision?

Read Are you bound by the duty? If you are still not sure, ask for legal advice. Your assessment must be before and at the time a particular decision is being considered, and not after the decision has been made.

1.1 If the duty does not apply

Make a note of the reason that the duty does not apply to your decision (for example, because you are relying on a statutory exception), especially if your decision is a public function.

2. Consider the general duty

You may have to find and use public statistics to understand the impact of your decision on particular groups and consider mitigations against any adverse equality impacts you have identified. Create a record of your thinking. Make time for this in your work plan and make sure the time allocated is prior to the decision maker making the decision. Remember that the general duty is a continuing duty, so build in time for review and dates to reconsider how a decision is working once it is operational. Your organisation may have a template and other materials to support this process.

3. Are you clear about the decision's impacts by reference to the equality aims?

Decision-makers must consider what information they have and what further information may be needed to give proper consideration. The duty asks decision-makers to stop and check the evidence. In equality terms, can you confidently describe the people affected by your decision? Do you know what they think about the subject? Is there data on the demographics of people impacted by your policies or practices? If not, do you know how to get it? Do not forget to assess the equality impact on the people who may have to implement your decision, such as staff or suppliers. Consider all the relevant protected characteristics. It is good practice to make a record that "due regard" was had against the statutory criteria, which will be useful in the event of any legal challenge or regulatory scrutiny.

Example:

In considering reducing Sunday services, a public transport operator identified that there would be an adverse impact on black and Christian people who attend religious services. The company considered what mitigation could be put in place to reduce the impact on people.

3.1. If you are not clear about the decision's impacts

You need to consider what information you have and what further information may be needed to give proper consideration. In deciding whether to gather more information, consider proportion and relevance. It is not sufficient to say "we do not have the evidence", you should identify gaps in the evidence and fill them in a proportionate and balanced manner. You should avoid indiscriminate and resource-intensive approaches to collecting diversity data, especially if the data is unlikely to help in your analysis. If it is self-evident that your decision has no equality impact on a group sharing a particular protected characteristic, then you do not need to elaborate, other than to note this has been considered.

It is good practice to include a question about equality impacts in any public consultations. If you are not already consulting the general public, think about other ways you can speak to people with different protected characteristics. Anecdotal evidence can help to flag gaps in your knowledge. For example, you could run a survey or speak to employees or service users. There may be customer representatives or stakeholder networks waiting to talk to you. Remember to ask them about positive equality impacts as well as negative ones.

Example:

A local council is considering closing a care home. To properly understand consequences like distress, loss of friends, and loss of home for older and disabled residents, the council consults with affected residents, families, staff and the local community to understand the potential impact. They also assess nearby available alternative accommodation to understand if it would meet the needs of residents and gain insight into the potential impact on other older and disabled residents in the area. They are then able to arrive at an assessment and have due regard to the protected characteristics of age and disability when making their decision.

Once you have identified a gap, there are lots of ways to fill it. For example, twice a year, the Office for National Statistics lists hundreds of surveys, registries, and indexes in its Equalities Data Audit. Consider asking your analysts for help navigating the numbers.

However, try not to spend so long searching for evidence that you have no time left to use it. Take a proportionate approach depending on the circumstances of the case. Some information may only become available once the policy is in the implementation phase. You should therefore keep your policy under review and fill any data gaps later.

How much evidence is enough?

A local council is closing libraries. Users challenge this decision on the basis that the council has not appreciated the impact on Asian residents. The council is able to demonstrate that it had assessed responses to a survey of users of the library in question, comparing the reported ethnicity of respondents to those of the wider population of library users in the council area and to the local population more broadly. While the council had found a difference in the percentage of Asian users of the library when compared to users of their library services more widely and the local population, the council had reached the decision that it was the best course of action after considering all factors in the round. A court rejects the complaint as unrealistic because, on the facts of the case, the council had due regard to the impact of the closure on Asian library users. There was no need for the council to investigate further.

4. Are any of the outcomes potentially unlawful?

Would the decision constitute conduct prohibited by the act? This would include discrimination, harassment, victimisation, failure to make reasonable adjustments and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the act. There is more information about the provisions in the Equality Act in the EHRC's statutory codes of practice. If you are unsure, ask for legal advice. Remember that something which is potentially indirectly discriminatory can still be objectively justified (that is, a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim) or otherwise be lawful because of an exception in the act. Failure to comply with the Duty could make it more difficult to justify a potentially discriminatory measure. Ensure that your assessment records any negative impacts and relevant mitigations or justifications.

5. Are any of the impacts unequal?

Would the decision help or hurt people with one protected characteristic more than it would people with another? Consider categorising the equality outcomes as 'positive', 'negative', and 'neutral'. It is also helpful to record the extent of any consequences, for example how substantial an impact and on how many people.

5.1 If any of the impacts are unequal

Try to mitigate them. Consider ways of preventing, or balancing, the effects that your decision may have on certain groups. Decide which of these mitigations, if any, you might want to take into account in reconsidering the decision. Be proportionate to the problem at hand.

6. Make your decision or recommendation

The decision-maker must give real consideration to the duty as part of the decision-making process. It must also be exercised fully, rigorously, and with an open mind. Decision-makers should be aware of the potential impacts of a decision.

It is for the decision-maker to decide how much weight should be given to the various factors informing the decision. The duty does not mean that decisions cannot be taken which disadvantage some people (provided this does not constitute unlawful discrimination), but the decision-maker should be aware of the equality impacts of these decisions and consider mitigating them.

It may be that you are not the final decision-maker. If you are presenting an option or recommendation to someone else, make sure that person sees an accurate summary of the equality information, impacts and potential mitigations, as well as any possibility of committing unlawful acts where relevant, to comply with the general duty. The duty cannot be delegated and it is on the decision-maker personally. For example, if you are presenting a recommendation to the cabinet of a local council, the councillors may not be able to research, consider, and record the equality outcomes in as much detail as you, so it is imperative that you show your work to the cabinet. Think about visualising your data and summarising your findings.

Example

The EHRC publicly criticised a government department for deciding to roll out a manifesto commitment before evaluating the equality impact of the local pilot scheme.

7. Record your work

Keep a record of your assessment, as this provides valuable evidence of what has been done to have due regard to equality, what evidence has been considered, what decisions have been made and why. This can help the decision maker assure themselves that they have carried out their duty properly. It is important for duty holders as it enables them to demonstrate their compliance to regulators, or in the event of a legal challenge. There is more about records in the section How to demonstrate compliance with the general duty.

8. Monitor the actual outcomes

Evaluate the outcomes of your decision and whether your assessment of the equality impact was correct. The duty is a continuing duty and you should take account of new evidence as it arises. If you cannot monitor the consequences yourself, speak to somebody who can, and make sure someone does.

How to demonstrate compliance with the general duty

Compliance with the general duty involves consciously thinking about the equality aims while making decisions. There is no prescribed process for doing or recording this.

In a judicial review challenging non-compliance with the duty, the decision-maker would be expected to demonstrate compliance. The easiest way to demonstrate compliance is using written records from the time of the decision. The records should show that either:

the decision-maker had due regard to the statutory criteria

there was a good reason why the duty, or particular parts of it, did not apply to that decision

The general duty does not come with templates or a style guide, although your organisation may have made one. You do not have to refer to the duty in your records. You do not have to make a new record if you can preserve the same information by, for example, saving an existing email or minute. However, referring to the duty in your records may help you to prove compliance.

You do not normally have to publish records about the general duty, other than to comply with the specific duties. You may have to disclose your records in the context of litigation like a judicial review or in response to a Freedom of Information request. You may choose to publish your records for other reasons (for example, as part of a consultation exercise), but the act of publishing should not influence your decision-making.

How to comply with the specific duties

Unlike the general duty, one team can ensure compliance with the specific duties on behalf of their entire organisation. Depending on the size of the organisation, the team may have to publish:

one or more equality objectives at least every 4 years

gender pay gap data every year

information on the organisation's compliance with the general duty every year

There is more information about these duties in the section What is the duty?

Once you have determined which of the specific duties apply to you, decide which team is responsible for each. Large authorities might choose to have more than one person carrying out the specific duties but to make one person accountable for them.

Publishing one or more equality objectives

If you are required to publish equality objectives, consider the most significant disparities in your field. Try not to rely on basic, internal goals like diversity training instead of ambitious, customer-facing goals like closing the educational disadvantage gap in schools or fixing big imbalances in participation in technical industries. See what objectives similar organisations have published. Equality objectives are required to be specific and measurable. The EHRC's Measurement Framework may help you guide your priorities. Its statutory report, the Equality and Human Rights Monitor, contains specific findings and recommendations for where public authorities should target their equality objectives to deal with the most significant equality issues shown by the evidence. You can set your own deadlines as long as you never go more than 4 years without publishing a new objective. Authorities with wide remits should consider publishing several objectives at a time. They can be published on their own or as part of a strategic or planning document.

Publishing information on general duty compliance

If you have to publish information about your compliance with the general duty, help the public to hold you to account for your decision-making and your equality objectives. You may wish to publish:

survey results

copies of your workplace policies

updates on any positive action programmes

records weighing the equality outcomes of important decisions

statistics on the representation of people with different protected characteristics among your workers and customers

You can set your own deadlines as long as you never go more than 12 months without publishing new information.

Publishing gender pay gap data

You can read guidance for employers on gender pay gap reporting..

What happens if you do not comply with the duty?

Failure to meet your legal duties and best practice under the duty means opportunities to further your equality objectives may be missed. Disadvantaged people may be further disadvantaged, and your organisation may be open to legal action.

The duty is a legal obligation. The EHRC can:

assess your organisation's compliance with the duty

require your organisation to remedy the failure to comply within 28 days

apply for a court order if you still fail to comply

The general duty can also be enforced by judicial review. Cases can be brought by the EHRC or by a person or group dissatisfied with your decision.

If a breach of the duty is established, the court will decide on the appropriate action. It may quash the decision, which means you would have to make the decision again from scratch, taking into account equality considerations. Such an outcome would inevitably have cost implications, could delay the implementation of the policy and may cause reputational damage.

Alternatively, the court may consider it appropriate to make a declaration that the duty has been breached, if a quashing order would serve no useful purpose.

Myth buster

Myth 1: "The general duty does not apply to my routine operational decision."

There are no exceptions in the act for routine decisions. Even if you are applying a tried and tested policy, nobody but you can account for the ways and situations in which you are applying it. Similarly, the owner of the policy is under a continuing duty to monitor its equality impacts and may look to you for advice.

Example:

In an application for accommodation, a homeless man told a local council that he had a mental health condition. The man's GP told the council the same. The council did not ask any further questions about the man's condition, but his condition could have affected the result of his application. The council should have made further enquiries.

Myth 2: "I'm working on a high-level strategy, so I'm above the level of the general duty."

There are no exceptions from the general duty in relation to high-level strategic decisions. However, it may be that it is practically difficult to assess the impact in detail at the strategic phase. If that is the case, you should take a pragmatic approach and acknowledge the known impacts, even if you are unable to provide more detailed consideration. Return to those known impacts when you review your plans and put them in place, and consider appropriate mitigations for any potentially negative impacts at that stage. If you are grouping or planning a number of lower-level decisions, co-ordinate with the other decision-makers to avoid everyone assuming that someone else is considering the equality impacts.

Myth 3: "I'm treating everyone the same, so I've met the general duty."

Like other anti-discrimination laws, the general duty does not require you to treat everyone the same. In fact, sometimes, you should treat protected characteristics differently. For example, some authorities treat disabled users more favourably than non-disabled users, or provide women-only services for victims of sexual or domestic violence.

Myth 4: "I have to weigh the equality outcomes of every option."

It would take forever to assess the outcomes of options you are not considering. Stick to the decision at hand.

Myth 5: "I know that my decision has no equality outcomes but I have to investigate anyway."

If you already understand the consequences of your decision, you do not have to gather any more information. Sometimes it is obvious that a decision has no implications for equality. It is good practice to record this in case your decision is challenged.

Myth 6: "I must publish an equality impact assessment."

Decision-makers' supporting records are sometimes known as equality impact assessments. As with government legal compliance documents in general, there is no requirement to publish these assessments. The anticipation of publication could even have a "chilling effect" on decision-makers' consideration and records. Many documents including equality impact assessments can be requested as part of court proceedings or a Freedom of Information request. But there may be circumstances where you decide that it would be helpful to publish the assessment, like a consultation process.

Myth 7: "The duty requires me to take positive action."

Positive action means measures permitted under the act that aim to either:

alleviate disadvantage or under-representation

meet the particular needs of those who share a protected characteristic

It may be appropriate to consider positive action as part of the second aim of the duty, where adverse impacts have been identified, or to consider whether positive action could help you to achieve your equality objectives under the specific duties. However, the duty is not a positive action programme and the use of positive action is voluntary. Positive action must balance the seriousness of the disadvantage suffered, or the extent to which people with a particular protected characteristic are underrepresented, against the impact that the proposed action may have on other people. Further information on positive action can be found in the government's guidance on positive action in the workplace.

Myth 8: "I must consider other demographics beyond the protected characteristics."

Unless there is a clear correlation with a protected characteristic, considering demographics that are not protected characteristics will not help you to comply with the duty. In fact, it could obscure compliance in your supporting records. Examples of demographics that are not protected characteristics include:

class

gender

gender identity

caring responsibilities

single parenthood

Depending on context, some of them may be linked to race, sex, or gender reassignment.

More resources

The EHRC is the independent equality regulator for Great Britain. There is more information about the duty in their technical guidance and statutory code of practice.

The Judge Over Your Shoulder is a guide to administrative law published by the Government Legal Department. Chapter 4 covers the duty.

In this letter to ministers on PSED assessments, the then Minister for Equalities and Levelling Up Communities advised her colleagues on completing and publishing assessments under the duty.

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Public Sector Equality Duty: guidance for public authorities

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The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED, or "the duty"), which applies in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), requires public authorities to have due regard to certain equality considerations when exercising their functions, like making decisions. This guidance replaces the Government Equalities Office's 2011 guidance: Equality Act 2010: Public Sector Equality Duty: What Do I Need to Know?

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Preventing and tackling the bullying and harassment of school staff

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Preventing and tackling the bullying and harassment of school staff

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July 2026

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Preventing and tackling the bullying and harassment of school staff