What Does Martyn’s Law Mean For Schools?

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, more commonly known as Martyn’s Law, places a legal requirement on those responsible for certain premises and events to consider how they would respond to a terrorist attack and what steps should be taken to reduce their vulnerability to terrorist attacks. 

The Act became law on 3 April 2025, but it has yet to come into force with the Government stating that there will be at least a 2 year implementation period.  The Act will be enforced by the Security Industry Authority, a Home Office arm’s length body, which will also play a key role in supporting, advising and guiding on how to meet the law’s requirements.  The 2 year implementation period will allow time for the Security Industry Authority to establish its regulatory function, and for those affected to implement the changes required.

The Act distinguishes between venues with a capacity for between 200 and 799 people which will be subject to the Standard Tier requirements, and venues with a capacity for over 800 people which will fall under the Enhanced Tier requirements.  However, the Act recognises that schools already have security and safeguarding measures in place, so they are excluded from being subject to the Enhanced Tier requirements even if they have capacity for over 800 people.  Consequently, only the Standard Tier requirements of the Act will apply to any school with a capacity for over 199 people.

What action will schools need to take?

Although guidance specifically for education settings has yet to be issued , schools in scope of the Act (ie those with over 199 people on their premises) may need to consider the anticipated following actions:

• Appoint a “responsible person” who has control of the premises. Technically this is the governing body of the school, but in practice a designated senior individual will need to be appointed.
• The responsible person must notify the Security Industry Authority of their premises.
• The responsible person must ensure that appropriate public protection measures are in place so far as is reasonably practicable which should be followed in the event of a terrorist attack at the premises or a nearby venue.
• Procedures should be in place for evacuation, invacuation (taking refuge inside your premises), lock down, and communicating with people during such an event. All schools should already have these procedures in place.

How should you calculate the capacity of your school?

If your school has less than 200 students, you should consider the total number of students and staff and the estimated number of visitors on site each day which would include cleaning and catering contractors as well as other visitors. 

If your school is holding a special event such as a music concert where the total number of people on site will exceed 200, then you will need to comply with the Act.

What action should schools be taking now?

1/ Upskill yourself

ProtectUK provides free advice, guidance and training to assist businesses and communities to understand protective security and to improve their response to the risk of terrorism.  The Department for Education has worked in collaboration with the National Counter Terrorism Security Office and other sector partners to produce a range of free resources.  These can be accessed once you’ve set up a free account via https://www.protectuk.police.uk/learning   The following resources are available:

• An ACT (Action Counters Terrorism) for Education online course which covers identifying security vulnerabilities, identifying and responding to suspicious activity, identifying and responding to a suspicious Item, what to do in the event of a bomb threat, and how to respond to a marauding attack (a fast-moving, violent incident where attackers aim to quickly kill or injure as many people as possible in a specific location).
• ACT in a box immersive digital exercises which allows organisations to rehearse and explore their response to fictional terrorist incidents.

2/ Review your procedures

• Identify what additional appropriate public protection measures you may need to implement having reviewed the training resources.
• Ensure that your procedures for evacuation, invacuation, lock down, and communicating with people during such an event are up to date and communicated to all staff including any additional public protection measures you’ve identified.
• Schedule your emergency evacuation, invacuation and lock down drills for the coming academic year.
• Provide feedback to staff and students on how effectively they carried out the drills and what could be improved upon next time.

3/ Communicate responsibilities

• Ensure your responsible body is aware of the implications of Maryn’s Law for your school.
• Consider who should be appointed as the responsible person.
• Ensure the responsible person is aware of further guidance when it is issued by the Security Industry Authority.

More Reading

https://www.protectuk.police.uk/advice-and-guidance/risk/managing-risk-and-business-continuity

https://www.protectuk.police.uk/group/84

https://www.protectuk.police.uk