What is Martyn’s Law?
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 (“the Act”), also known as Martyn’s Law, aims to improve how organisations such as schools prepare for, and respond to, a terrorist incident. This will help ensure that people in our schools are kept as safe as reasonably possible.
The Home Office has now issued statutory guidance and confirmed that the Security Industry Authority (SIA) will act as the regulator. This provides schools and Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) with the opportunity to begin planning and preparing ahead of the anticipated implementation date in Spring 2027.
How Martyn’s Law applies to Schools
Under the Act, responsibility rests with the organisation that has operational control of the premises for educational purposes, rather than with the owner of the site or any particular individual. In most cases, the “responsible person”, as defined by the Act, will be the governing body or academy trust board responsible for the day-to-day management of the school.
Martyn’s Law will apply to any school or further education college site that is used wholly or mainly for education and can reasonably expect, on occasion, to have 200 or more people on site at the same time, including staff. Schools are always standard tier, meaning the enhanced set of duties set out in Act will not apply . This includes childcare, primary, secondary and further education settings, which will not move into the enhanced tier even where attendance exceeds 800 individuals.
Events held at school premises do not constitute “qualifying events” for the purposes of the Act, and, even where attendance exceeds 800 individuals, the school remains the responsible person. While schools may contract third parties or hirers to undertake certain compliance activities, responsibility for complying with the statutory duties cannot be delegated.
How Martyn’s Law Fits with Existing School Responsibilities
Martyn’s Law does not replace or supersede health and safety, fire safety, safeguarding duties and the Equality Act 2010. Instead, it operates alongside these existing legal and regulatory duties. For further guidance on school security, please see our previous article, Is Your School Site Secure? The article also includes links to the DfE’s existing guidance, checklists and templates for schools on managing security.
In addition, the DfE issued non-statutory guidance for educational settings in April 2025 called ‘Protective security and preparedness for education settings’. This guidance addresses a wide range of security risks and recommends that all educational settings develop proportionate plans to strengthen their protective security and preparedness. These measures are intended to help deter terrorist activity and other security threats. The guidance also provides practical advice on responding to different types of threat, together with support for developing, testing and implementing effective security plans.
It is likely that some security arrangements will already be in place in many schools. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, as amended, already provides that employers must appoint one or more competent persons to oversee workplace health and safety and to support compliance with regulations.
Schools are also already required to have competent persons who consider matters of security, including areas regularly used for off-site education and those related to the educational visits policy. Schools should already have a security policy in place that assesses the likelihood and potential impact of security-related incidents and sets out plans and procedures for managing and responding to identified threats.
What Schools Should Do Now
Schools should put in place appropriate and proportionate public protection procedures designed to reduce the risk of physical harm should a terrorist incident occur on, or in the immediate vicinity of, their premises. These procedures should address four key areas: evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication.
Evacuation procedures should enable the safe and orderly movement of people out of the premises, while invacuation procedures should facilitate the movement of individuals into the premises, or to safer areas within them, where the risk of harm is reduced. Schools should also be aware that evacuation procedures for a terrorist incident may differ from fire evacuation arrangements, as some scenarios may require dispersal rather than movement to a single assembly point.
Lockdown procedures should provide for the securing of buildings and access points, including the locking of doors, to prevent individuals from entering or leaving the site where appropriate.
Schools must also have effective communication arrangements in place to alert staff and pupils to potential dangers during an emergency. This may include public address systems, alarms or other technologies capable of delivering rapid, site-wide notifications, as well as mechanisms for notifying key personnel of incidents. Megaphones and clear verbal instructions may also form part of a school’s emergency response. Any communication arrangements should be accessible and take account of the needs of those with sensory impairments or other additional needs.
Points of note
When developing procedures, schools should take account of the immediate vicinity of their premises, including areas where people may queue or gather for school activities, such as entrances, gates and reception areas.
The Act requires proportionate procedures rather than specific purchases, meaning that new equipment or building works will not generally be mandatory, although minor operational or physical security changes may be appropriate depending on the circumstances.
Multi-Academy Trusts may choose to establish centralised security standards, but these should be tailored to the risks and circumstances of individual sites.
Finally, while there is no requirement for staff to complete a specific counter-terrorism training course and standard tier schools are not legally obliged to produce a formal compliance document, maintaining clear written records of procedures is strongly recommended. Doing so will help ensure staff awareness and may assist in demonstrating compliance during any inspection by the SIA, particularly as the statutory guidance notes that compliance may be difficult to evidence in the absence of documentation.
Notifications (once the SIA portal opens)
The online portal for notifying the Security Industry Authority (SIA) is not yet operational. Once it opens, existing “responsible persons” must notify the SIA of qualifying premises or events within three months of commencement of the Act (the specific date remains unknown at the time of writing). For schools, this will mean the governing body or academy trust board.
When making a notification, “responsible persons” should be prepared to provide key information about the premises and those responsible for its operation, as well as relevant addresses, maximum number of individuals present and explain how this figure has been calculated.
Finally, the submitter must confirm that they understand it is a criminal offence to knowingly or recklessly provide false or misleading information.
Action checklist for schools:
For initial action points, we would advise you:
Confirm scope and responsibility
Schools should first confirm whether their premises fall within the scope of the Act and identify who is the responsible person. This should include documenting how the peak simultaneous occupancy of the site, including staff, has been calculated and confirming that the premises are used wholly or mainly for educational purposes. The responsible person will generally be the body that controls the premises for its principal educational use, such as the governing body or multi-academy trust (MAT). Although tasks may be delegated, legal responsibility under the Act cannot.
Draft relevant procedures
Schools should then develop clear and proportionate procedures for responding to a terrorist incident. As a minimum, these should cover evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication arrangements, and should be tailored to the school’s layout and day-to-day operations. These procedures should be distinct from existing fire evacuation arrangements and designed to support a rapid and effective response.
Cover the immediate vicinity
Consideration should also be given to areas immediately outside the premises, including queues, entrance and exit points, and locations where pupils, staff and visitors may gather. Where appropriate, schools should identify suitable dispersal arrangements to support the safe movement of people away from the site during an incident.
Brief and practice
Staff should be briefed on their roles and responsibilities, supported by clear guidance and quick-reference materials where appropriate. Schools should also undertake proportionate training and exercises to test their procedures and ensure that staff understand how to respond in practice.
Coordinate and contract
Where premises are shared with, or located alongside, other organisations, schools should coordinate their arrangements to ensure a coherent response. Lettings agreements and similar contractual arrangements should be reviewed and updated to require hirers to cooperate with the school’s procedures. However, legal responsibility under the Act cannot be transferred by contract. Such agreements should therefore focus on task allocation, cooperation and oversight. Regardless of any contractual provisions, the school remains legally responsible and should be able to demonstrate appropriate oversight to the SIA.
Prepare to notify
Finally, schools should monitor developments relating to the SIA notification requirements and ensure they are prepared to submit the required information once the notification regime comes into force. Notifications will be made through the SIA’s online portal, which will be available via GOV.UK when the notification duty commences.
Schools exist to support children’s learning, development and wellbeing. In our view, the implementation of Martyn’s Law should be approached as part of a school’s wider safeguarding, security and risk management framework, with procedures integrated into existing practices and embedded in day-to-day operations.
While awareness of, and compliance with, the new requirements will be essential, many educational settings are likely to have a strong foundation on which to build, given their existing safeguarding responsibilities and the security measures already in place to address a range of potential risks.
For further guidance or advice, please contact our School Support Service team on 0345 070 7437 or schoolsupport@wslaw.co.uk.