It’s estimated that one to two children in every classroom have a known food allergy and that one in five serious food-allergic reactions happen in schools.
Yet our 2025 School Meals Report, which surveyed over 236,000 parents, highlighted some clear gaps. Notably that only 21.6% of parents report that staff at their child’s school are trained to respond to allergic reactions and one third are unsure how their school handles allergens.
Research confirms this isn’t a problem of parent perception, it’s one of good practice—67% of teachers have had no allergy training and 60% aren’t sure if their school even has an allergy policy.
To keep all pupils with food allergies safe and make it possible for them to participate fully in all aspects of school life, it’s critical to adopt a robust approach to food allergy management.
Read on for best practices based on Government guidance, NHS recommendations, and insight from allergy charities to get you started…
Perfect your policy
Create/update your allergy policy and make sure it’s aligned with the Department for Education guidance (Supporting Pupils at School with Medical Conditions).
You’ll want it to include things like identification and risk assessment, storage and administration of medication, and training and emergency procedures.
Review it annually and following any allergy-related incident.
Prioritise training & awareness
Empower all school staff to feel confident managing food allergies by conducting annual training sessions.
Anaphylaxis UK recommends training covers how to recognise and respond to reactions and anaphylaxis, when and how to use auto-injectors, practical strategies to keep pupils with allergies safe, and key responsibilities under current legislation.
Create individual healthcare plans
Work with parents/carers, healthcare professionals, and relevant school staff to develop thorough IHPs for all pupils with a diagnosed food allergy.
Keep information—including specific allergens and symptoms, emergency action steps, emergency contact details, and medication information (including storage location and expiry dates)—up to date and be sure staff know where they’re kept.
Review IHPs annually or when medical circumstances change.
Get a grip on meal management & catering practices
Make sure ingredient information is accurate and clearly displayed with allergen information in line with all applicable legislation. Train catering staff to prevent cross contamination and clearly display allergen information on all menu items.
Your EdTech can help. Online meal-ordering supports parents and pupils to easily see what’s on the menu and check ingredients before making a choice—with clear and accessible allergen information.
Plus, clever catering systems can act as a safety net by automatically flagging or blocking unsafe meal choices.
Store medication correctly
Adrenaline auto-injectors and other allergy medications must be easily accessible (not locked away) and properly labelled and maintained. Store auto-injectors at room temperature, check expiry dates regularly, and always ensure medication accompanies food-allergic pupils on school trips.
Review the DfE’s guidance on the use of adrenaline auto-injectors in schools for more detailed information on how to store and dispose of auto-injectors.
Don’t compromise inclusion
Best practice allergy management should encourage inclusion: pupils with food allergies must be kept safe and encouraged to participate fully in all aspects of school life.
This can be achieved through nurturing whole-school awareness. The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation’s recently launched Allergy School website has some fantastic free resources to help schools in this respect.
It’s also important to avoid singling out food-allergic pupils or restricting participation unnecessarily.
Maintaining open communication between home and school via effective parent engagement is another way schools can foster improved awareness and inclusion.
For in-depth data and analysis on allergy management in schools, check out our 2025 School Meals Report. Download report.
Download your free copy of the 2025 School Meals Report
What parents really think. Insights from 236,000+ families across the UK—on the subjects that matter most—meal uptake, free school meals, allergens, school meals vs packed lunches, with expert commentary from LACA, The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, and Juniper Ventures.
