Your child has a condition the school keeps treating as your problem to manage. Inhalers locked in an office. A missed insulin dose. A trip your child was quietly left off. You ask for a plan and get a shrug.
What many parents are not told is this.
Schools in England have a legal duty under section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to support pupils with medical conditions, normally through an Individual Healthcare Plan (IHP). This reaches children who have no Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). There is no severity threshold, and no diagnosis is required first.
This is an England-only duty, set by section 100 and fleshed out by statutory guidance. It applies to maintained schools, academies and free schools, alternative provision academies, and pupil referral units. Parents and carers do not have to qualify for anything to use it.
What does the law say about medical needs at school?
The law makes your child’s school, not you, responsible for arranging support for their medical condition. That duty sits in section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014, which says the school “must make arrangements for supporting pupils at the school with medical conditions.” It has been in force since 1 September 2014.
Section 100 is short. The detail lives in the Department for Education (DfE) statutory guidance, Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions. Statutory guidance sets out what schools and local authorities (the council, often shortened to LA) must do to comply with the law, and a school should follow it unless it has a very good reason not to.
That guidance asks every school to have a written medical-conditions policy, proper procedures for managing medicines, enough trained staff, and an Individual Healthcare Plan where one is needed. It is not a wish list. It is the standard your school is measured against.
The reality on the ground is patchier than the law. A 2017 survey by Diabetes UK for the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance found that only a small minority of schools had a policy meeting every requirement. Of 200 schools surveyed, just 23 (11.5%) met all nine statutory requirements, and two thirds could show no policy at all.
That figure is now several years old, so treat it as a sign of how common gaps are rather than a live measure. The point stands: a school telling you it has things in hand is not the same as a plan you can hold it to.
Does my child need an EHCP to get medical support at school?
No. Section 100 support reaches every pupil with a medical condition, with or without an EHCP. The statutory guidance covers physical and mental health conditions, short-term and long-term, and a school must not wait for a formal diagnosis before putting support in place.
This matters because many families are told the wrong thing. A child with epilepsy, type 1 diabetes, a serious allergy, asthma, or a fluctuating condition like Crohn’s disease is owed support under section 100 even if they would never meet the threshold for an EHCP. The two systems answer different questions: an EHCP is about special educational provision, while section 100 is about keeping your child safe and included while their medical needs are met.
If your child does have an EHCP, the two can sit together. Health needs can also appear in Section G (health provision) of an EHCP, and where both exist, the SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years expects the healthcare plan to be linked to or built into the EHCP. You do not have to choose one route. For the wider picture of what a school should be doing day to day, see our guide on special educational needs (SEN) support and what your school should provide.
What is an Individual Healthcare Plan and what should it contain?
An Individual Healthcare Plan is the written plan that sets out exactly how your child’s medical condition is managed during the school day. It names the condition and its triggers, the treatment and medicine needed, who is responsible, what counts as an emergency, and when the plan is reviewed. A vague plan that says “support as needed” is the most common failure, because no one is accountable for anything specific.
Not every child with a medical condition needs an IHP. The statutory guidance points to one where treatment is complex, where staff need training, or where the risk of getting it wrong is high. If your child needs medicine in school, an emergency protocol, or timetable adjustments, that is exactly the situation an IHP is for.
A good plan is specific, named, and dated. Use the checklist below to audit a plan you already have or to spell out what a new one must cover.
That checklist is condensed from the DfE statutory guidance and the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance templates. If your child’s plan is missing any of these, that is a reasonable thing to raise in writing and ask the school to fix at a review meeting.
The timing matters too. Where a child moves school mid-term or a new diagnosis comes in, the statutory guidance says every effort should be made to put arrangements in place within two weeks, not left drifting until the school finds a slot.
How do the Equality Act and section 100 work together?
The Equality Act 2010 runs alongside section 100 and gives you a second, enforceable route. Where a medical condition counts as a disability, the school owes a duty to make reasonable adjustments under section 20 of the Equality Act 2010, and failing to make them is itself discrimination under section 21.
A condition meets the disability test where it has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your child’s normal day-to-day activities, with “long-term” meaning 12 months or more, or likely to recur (section 6 of the Equality Act 2010). Fluctuating conditions like epilepsy or Crohn’s, and progressive ones, can all qualify. The school also cannot discriminate in admissions, in how it provides education, or in exclusions, under section 85.
The two duties answer different questions, which is why it helps to see them side by side.
| Section 100 route | Equality Act route | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Arranges day-to-day medical support | Removes barriers and bans discrimination |
| The tool | An Individual Healthcare Plan | Reasonable adjustments |
| Who must act | The school (governing body or trust) | The school (governing body or trust) |
| If it fails | School complaint, then the council or regulator | A claim to the First-tier Tribunal (SEND) |
| Time limit to challenge | No fixed limit, act promptly | Usually 6 months from the discriminatory act |
In practice you use both at once. You ask for the IHP under section 100, and if the school refuses adjustments your child is owed, that refusal is the basis for a disability discrimination claim. Our guide to disability discrimination at school explains how that claim works and the strict 6-month deadline that comes with it.
How do I ask the school for an Individual Healthcare Plan?
You ask in writing, you attach clinical evidence, and you request a meeting to agree a specific plan. Putting it in writing matters, because oral promises are almost impossible to enforce later. Address it to the headteacher and the staff member responsible for medical needs, and keep a copy of everything.
The steps below follow the route in the statutory guidance. Build in clinical evidence early, because a GP, consultant, or specialist nurse letter linking the condition to the school day is what moves a school from “we will keep an eye on it” to a named, dated plan.
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Notify the school in writingTell the head and the named medical-needs lead about the condition
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Ask for the medical-conditions policyEvery state school must have one; check how it develops plans
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Gather clinical evidenceGP, consultant, or specialist nurse letter on impact and treatment
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Request a written IHP and a meetingAsk it to cover all the quality points above
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Agree training and emergency stepsWho is trained, signed off by a clinician, and what to do in a crisis
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Set a review dateAt least yearly, and immediately after any incident
Be concrete about the condition. For epilepsy, the plan should name the seizure types, triggers, and the exact emergency steps, not a generic “call 999.” Even now, many children with epilepsy go without a plan. The Young Epilepsy Support at School Survey 2023 found that just 56% had an Individual Healthcare Plan, down from 63% in 2019, leaving 44% with nothing in place. Only about a third of the plans that did exist covered how epilepsy affects learning.
For diabetes, the plan should cover insulin, blood glucose monitoring, and access to a continuous glucose monitor or insulin pump, including any phone app the device needs. Diabetes UK has free, condition-specific templates that are worth taking into the meeting. The principle is the same across conditions: name the kit, name the people, name the steps.
Ask the school to confirm in writing that named staff have had condition-specific training signed off by a health professional. A general first-aid certificate is not training to give insulin, use buccal medication for seizures, or use an adrenaline auto-injector (AAI).
What if the school refuses or does not follow the plan?
You escalate, in writing, one clear step at a time. A school cannot refuse a healthcare plan because of cost, staffing, funding, or a view that the condition is not serious enough. If support is missing or the plan is being ignored, start by writing to the headteacher, setting out what was agreed, what is not happening, the impact on your child, and what you want done by when.
If that does not work, use the school’s formal complaints process: the headteacher first, then the governing body or trust board. For a maintained school you can then raise it with the council; for an academy you escalate to the relevant funding agency. Keep a dated log of incidents, missed medicine, and every reply, because that record is your evidence.
If poor support amounts to disability discrimination, you do not have to finish the complaints process first. You can bring a claim to the First-tier Tribunal (SEND), usually within 6 months of the discriminatory act. Each fresh incident starts a new 6-month window.
Where a plan keeps failing, getting therapy and health provision actually delivered is its own battle. If your child’s needs overlap with provision in an EHCP, our guide on getting speech and language therapy delivered covers how to hold the right body to its duty.
What happens to medical support if my child cannot attend school?
If unmet medical needs keep your child out of school, the council has to step in and arrange education. That duty sits in section 19 of the Education Act 1996, which requires the council to arrange suitable education for a child of compulsory school age who cannot attend because of illness.
The DfE guidance, education for children with health needs who cannot attend school, keys this to a 15-school-day threshold. The council should have provision in place once it is clear your child will be absent for more than 15 school days, whether those days are in a row or add up over time.
This sits alongside section 100, not instead of it. Good medical support is meant to keep your child in school; section 19 is the safety net when that breaks down. You usually have to ask for it in writing, with current medical evidence and your child’s attendance record, rather than waiting for the council to act. For how that route works in full, see our guide to education otherwise than at school under section 19 .
What is changing for allergies under Benedict’s Law from September 2026?
Allergy safety is being strengthened, with new duties expected from September 2026. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026. The DfE has since consulted on revised statutory guidance, “Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions and allergies.” Final guidance is expected around July 2026, with the allergy duties known as “Benedict’s Law” coming into force from September 2026.
The expected duties include a published whole-school allergy policy, spare adrenaline auto-injectors held by the school, allergy-awareness training for all staff, and an individual allergy action plan for each pupil with a severe allergy.
Some of this is already possible. Since 1 October 2017, schools have been able to buy spare adrenaline auto-injectors without a prescription for emergency use. Any school-held AAI is a spare, never a replacement for your child’s own device.
The fundamentals in this guide hold whatever the final wording says. A section 100 duty, a specific healthcare plan, named trained staff, and the Equality Act backstop are the durable structure; the allergy guidance simply tightens the detail on top.
Information checked June 2026. The Benedict’s Law allergy duties are forward-looking; we will update this section when the final DfE guidance is published.
Getting help
You do not have to work this out alone. These organisations give free, England-relevant advice and can help you push for a proper plan.
IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice) gives free legal advice on section 100, the Equality Act, and section 19, including help with disability discrimination claims.
Contact runs a helpline for families with disabled children, covering medical conditions at school and your rights more broadly.
Your local SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service) offers free, impartial support and can come to meetings with you. You can find your local service through the Council for Disabled Children.
For condition-specific help: Young Epilepsy publishes IHP guidance for seizure management and learning impact, Diabetes UK has templates covering insulin, monitoring, and technology in school, and Anaphylaxis UK and the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation’s Allergy School support allergy planning ahead of Benedict’s Law.
How the assistant can help
The free assistant at SEND Parents Help covers medical needs at school in detail. You can describe your child’s condition and what the school is or is not doing, and it will help you explain why section 100 applies, draft a request for an Individual Healthcare Plan, and work out your next step if the school refuses. Tell the free assistant what your child needs and it will help you ask for a healthcare plan and hold the school to it.
Your child has a right to be safe at school
A medical condition is not a reason to be left out, sent home, or treated as someone else’s problem. The law is clear: your child’s school must arrange support, usually through a specific, named healthcare plan, and it cannot hide behind cost or staffing to avoid it.
Put your requests in writing, attach the clinical evidence, and ask for a plan you can hold the school to. If support fails, you have real routes: the complaints process, the council, the regulator, and the tribunal. Your child is entitled to be kept safe and included, every school day.
Sources and further reading
Legislation
- Children and Families Act 2014, section 100 (the duty to support pupils with medical conditions)
- Equality Act 2010, section 20 (reasonable adjustments) and section 21 (failure to comply is discrimination)
- Equality Act 2010, section 85 (discrimination by schools) and section 6 (definition of disability)
- Education Act 1996, section 19 (alternative education when a child cannot attend)
- Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (the vehicle for Benedict’s Law)
Official guidance
- Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions (DfE statutory guidance)
- Education for children with health needs who cannot attend school (DfE statutory guidance on section 19)
- Using emergency adrenaline auto-injectors in schools (DfE non-statutory guidance)
- SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years (statutory guidance, including the EHCP overlap)
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