EpiPens in school: guidance and risk assessments

Find advice on keeping spare EpiPens on site and administering them to certain pupils in an emergency. Plus, find examples of consent forms and risk assessments.

Last reviewed on 17 October 2022
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 34038
Contents
  1. You can buy EpiPens for use in an emergency
  2. Buying, storing, maintaining and disposing of EpiPens
  3. Taking EpiPens on school trips
  4. Develop a protocol for spare EpiPens
  5. Example consent forms 
  6. Example risk assessments 

You can buy EpiPens for use in an emergency

All schools in England are allowed to buy EpiPens and other adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs) without a prescription and keep these for emergency use.

This is optional. Schools don’t have to keep spare EpiPens if they don’t want to.

Below, we cover the main points from the Department of Health and Social Care’s guidance on keeping EpiPens in schools.

They can be used for pupils:

  • Who are known to be at risk of anaphylaxis
  • Where medical authorisation and written parental consent has been provided
  • Whose own device is not available or not working

Any spare EpiPens held by a school should be in addition to those already held by a pupil. They are not a replacement for a pupil’s own device.

This is covered on pages 2 to 3 of the guidance linked above.

Buying, storing, maintaining and disposing of EpiPens

You must

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