Does Martyn's Law apply to schools and education settings?
Schools, colleges and nurseries get a helpful carve-out under Martyn's Law: once in scope they are standard tier regardless of capacity — they never face the enhanced-tier duties, however large. But two questions decide whether a setting is in scope at all: is it publicly accessible, and are 200 or more people reasonably expected at the same time? A school's controlled school day often isn't publicly accessible; scope usually arises around public events and community use — fetes, performances, lettings, polling days. Higher education (universities) can differ. The law is expected to commence in Spring 2027.
There's good news and a nuance for schools. The good news: education settings get a carve-out — once in scope they're standard tier whatever their size, and never face the heavier enhanced-tier duties. The nuance: that carve-out only matters if the setting is in scope at all, and whether it is comes down to two ordinary tests.
First: is the setting even in scope?
Martyn's Law applies to qualifying premises — places that are publicly accessible and where 200 or more people may reasonably be expected at the same time. Both have to be true, and the first one is where schools differ from a village hall.
A normal school day is usually controlled access, not public access. Pupils and staff are there; visitors come by arrangement, not by wandering in off the street. So a school's ordinary operation often isn't "publicly accessible" in the way the Act means — and many settings won't be in scope on the strength of the school day alone.
Where scope usually arises: events and community use
For most schools, the question isn't the Tuesday timetable — it's the times the doors open to the public in numbers:
- Public events — the summer fete, the Christmas fair, a performance or concert the public buy tickets for, a big sports day with spectators.
- Community use and lettings — hiring the hall or sports facilities out to clubs, groups and parties in the evenings and at weekends.
- Civic use — acting as a polling station, a vaccination site, or similar.
If one of those realistically brings 200 or more people together at once — counting everyone, pupils and staff included where relevant — the premises can be in scope. Count it the same way any venue would: realistic attendance at the busiest moment, not the building's maximum.
If you're in scope: standard tier, and only standard tier
Because of the education carve-out, an in-scope school is in the standard tier however large it is. The duties are the familiar four-plus: notify the SIA when its system opens, have four workable procedures (evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication), make sure the people who run the site know them, and coordinate where the premises are shared. Much of this overlaps with the safeguarding and emergency planning a school already does — lockdown procedures in particular will feel familiar. There are no physical-security requirements and nothing to buy at this tier.
If your school hires out its hall, our guide to hirers and hire agreements covers how the duty works and the short paragraph to add to your hire agreement. Multi-academy trusts looking at this across many sites should see Wellinhand for networks.
What to do this year
- Run the scope checker for each site, thinking about your biggest public events and lettings — not just the school day — and minute the conclusion.
- If a site is in scope, build the four procedures on top of your existing lockdown and emergency plans, and brief the people who run events and lettings.
- Always confirm the detail against the official statutory guidance — and for universities and unusual settings, treat the official guidance as your starting point.
Common questions
Does Martyn's Law apply to schools?
It can, but not automatically. A setting is in scope only if it is publicly accessible and 200 or more people may reasonably be expected at the same time. A school's ordinary, controlled school day is often not publicly accessible in the way the Act means. Scope more commonly arises around events the public attend — fetes, performances, sports days, lettings, or use as a polling station.
Are schools in the enhanced tier if they're big?
No. Education settings are standard tier regardless of capacity — like places of worship, they never escalate to the enhanced tier, however many people gather. A large secondary school in scope still only faces the standard-tier duties. The carve-out is a ceiling, not a floor: it doesn't pull a setting with fewer than 200 reasonably expected into scope.
What about lettings and community use of the school hall?
That's the common route into scope. When you hire your hall out, or open the site to the public for an event drawing 200+ at once, you're the body in control of the premises and the duty sits with you. A short paragraph in your hire agreement pointing hirers to your procedures does most of the work — see our guide to hirers and hire agreements.
Does this cover universities and colleges?
Further education tends to follow the same education treatment. Universities and some other settings can differ — they're larger and more openly accessible, and the analysis is more involved. For higher education specifically, work from the official statutory guidance for your exact case.
Not sure your setting is in scope?
Our free scope checker runs the public-access and 200 tests in three minutes and handles the education carve-out. For one plain-English email a month until commencement, join the countdown list.