Working Collaboratively Opportunity – Supporting School Access to Adrenaline Auto-Injectors (AAIs)

Keeping children and young people with allergies safe while in school is a key priority for the Government. Section 34 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2026/21/section/34/enacted) places new allergy safety duties on schools.

We have published new statutory guidance on Allergy safety in schools (www.gov.uk/government/publications/allergy-safety-in-schools). Currently under the Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017, schools in England are permitted to purchase “spare” adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs) without a prescription for emergency use in cases of anaphylaxis.

The Government intends to require all schools to stock “spare” AAIs. Further education (FE) colleges and other post‑16 institutions are not included in this exemption.

Any extension would require regulatory change, which has not yet been implemented. Suppliers should therefore continue to operate in line with the current legal framework.

This early engagement supports the Department for Education’s (DfE) preparatory work ahead of new statutory guidance, with the aim of ensuring schools can access “spare” adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs) quickly, reliably and affordably to support pupil safety. The Department is therefore initiating early market engagement with organisations that supply AAIs, including manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and other authorised suppliers, to better understand the current market landscape and the options available to support schools in accessing “spare” AAIs.

This engagement will inform consideration of a potential working sponsorship approach, through which the provider market may develop voluntary commercial offers directly to schools in return for a rights package. The intention is to support improved affordability, simplify access, and enhance reliability of supply, while maintaining schools’ independence in purchasing decisions.

To inform this approach, the Department is seeking insight into existing routes to market through which schools purchase AAIs, as well as the practical and operational considerations faced by suppliers, delivery models, and any relevant regulatory factors. This includes understanding potential risks or constraints associated with scaling supply at a national level.

The Department intends to hold a market engagement webinar via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday 11 August at 11:30 – 12:00 to provide further context on this initiative. Following this webinar, the Department intends to hold 1-to-1 discussions with interested organisations, to support a more detailed exploration of market capability and gather more detailed insight.

Please note that this notice is for early market engagement and exploratory purposes and is not a call for competition. The Department reserves the right not to enter any formal processes or agreements. Accordingly, the Department will not be liable for any cost, expenditure, work, or effort incurred by a provider in acting based on this notice.