Government consults on school medical conditions guidance
2 mins read
Wednesday 11 March 2026
The Department for Education (DfE) is consulting on updated statutory guidance for supporting pupils with medical conditions and allergies in schools.
The draft guidance is for schools and is an update to the 2015 statutory guidance. It affects all children with medical needs, from asthma and epilepsy to diabetes, allergies, and long‑term health conditions.
Why this matters
If your child has a medical condition, this guidance shapes:
- How schools plan to keep your child safe.
- Who is trained to support them.
- How schools manage medication.
- How they handle emergencies.
- How the school communicates and reviews your child’s needs.
- How the school supports your child to fully participate in school life.
School governors, academy proprietors and pupil referral units must “have regard” to statutory guidance when carrying out their statutory duty to arrange to support pupils at school with medical condition, including on school trips.
How does this draft differ from the current guidance?
Changes proposed include:
- A major new section on allergy safety.
- Schools must publish their medical conditions policy – not just have one.
- Clearer process for identifying children with medical conditions.
- Clearer definition of who needs an Individual Health Plan, what it must include, and how often it must be reviewed.
- Stronger focus on inclusion, wellbeing, and a participation in school life.
What the consultation doesn’t include
The consultation excludes guidance on the all-important delegation of clinical and healthcare tasks. These are tasks that a regulated healthcare professional gives to non-healthcare staff in the school caring for children.
There is no publication date for promised DfE and Department of Health and Social Care joint non-statutory guidance.
Amanda Elliot, Contact’s health lead, says guidance on how to care for medically complex children in school was long overdue:
“Parents and schools urgently need clarity on arrangements for safe delivery of more complicated health and clinical care in schools. Medically complex children are missing school as a result. One parent was forced go into school to tend to her child’s tracheostomy in a school broom cupboard, which is completely unacceptable.”
How to have your say
The DfE wants to hear directly from parents, carers, families, and young people. The consultation closes at 11:59pm on 1 May 2026.
You can read the draft guidance and respond to the consultation directly on the DfE website.
Alternatively, you can share views via Contact’s consultation response by email [email protected]