School and college security
Guidance
Guidance, templates and checklists to help schools and colleges manage their security effectively so they can meet their obligations.
- From:
- Department for Education
- Published
- 5 November 2019
- Last updated
-
123 July20242026 — See all updates
Applies to England
Documents
Self-assessmentPotential emergencysecurity incidentthreats planningand checklistpreventative measures guidance
MS Word DocumentHTML, 70.3 KB
RiskBomb assessmentalert and threat template
MS Word Document, 67.177 KB
Business continuity plan template and checklist
MS Word Document, 89.6 KB
Evacuation template
MS Word Document, 68.6 KB
BombLockdown alert and threat template
MS Word Document, 7774.4 KB
ShelterRisk (invacuation)assessment template
MS Word Document, 70.367.1 KB
LockdownShelter (invacuation) template
MS Word Document, 74.470.3 KB
PostDebrief incidentand supportlessons learned checklist
MS Word Document, 69.368.1 KB
DebriefPost andincident lessonssupport learned checklist
MS Word Document, 68.169.3 KB
TerroristSelf-assessment emergency incident responseplanning templatechecklist
MS Word Document, 62.270.3 KB
Details
This guidance provides practical information on:
- how to manage school and college security
- security policies and plans
- relevant school and college security legislation
The guidance is for:
- headteachers, staff and governors of local-authority-maintained schools (including maintained nursery schools) and colleges
- proprietors of independent schools (including academies, 16 to 19 academies, free schools and alternative provision academies) and non-maintained special schools
- management committees of pupil referral units (PRUs)
- non-school-based early years provision
The templates and checklists can help you manage your policy.
Pupil referral units (PRUs) teach children who aren’t able to attend school and may not otherwise receive suitable education. This could be because they have a short- or long-term illness, have been excluded or are a new starter waiting for a mainstream school place.
Updates to this page
Published 5 November 2019
Last updated 123 July 2024
+ show2026
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Update history
2026-07-03 14:44
Updated guidance on school and college security with additional information on risk assessments, preventative measures and visitors to school premises.
2024-07-12 14:00
Removed a broken link in the ‘School security lockdown’ section of ‘Site security guidance’ and redirected users to a new link providing further resources on protective security.
2023-10-09 16:56
Updated the further guidance section of ‘School and college security’, and added a link to the Youth Endowment Fund toolkit.
Details
This guidance provides practical information on:
- how to manage school and college security
- security policies and plans
- relevant school and college security legislation
The guidance is for:
- headteachers, staff and governors of local-authority-maintained schools (including maintained nursery schools) and colleges
- proprietors of independent schools (including academies, 16 to 19 academies, free schools and alternative provision academies) and non-maintained special schools
- management committees of pupil referral units (PRUs)
- non-school-based early years provision
The templates and checklists can help you manage your policy.
Pupil referral units (PRUs) teach children who aren’t able to attend school and may not otherwise receive suitable education. This could be because they have a short- or long-term illness, have been excluded or are a new starter waiting for a mainstream school place.
Updates to this page
Sign up for emails or print this page
Update history
2026-07-03 14:44
Updated guidance on school and college security with additional information on risk assessments, preventative measures and visitors to school premises.
2024-07-12 14:00
Removed a broken link in the ‘School security lockdown’ section of ‘Site security guidance’ and redirected users to a new link providing further resources on protective security.
2023-10-09 16:56
Updated the further guidance section of ‘School and college security’, and added a link to the Youth Endowment Fund toolkit.