SECURITY
Preparing for new Government lockdown rules – what schools can do with a year to go
gain access. Mark areas red, amber or green according to their level of vulnerability.
• Draft a clear and concise lockdown plan: Consider time, control and simplicity, including designated roles, communication protocols and predetermined safe zones. Your procedure should be simple enough to follow under stress and flexible enough to work during different parts of the school day.
having seen enquiries from the UK education sector roughly triple in the final quarter of 2025, and with prevention and lockdown procedures making their way to board level discussions at trusts and academies.
Four steps to get prepared W
ith the UK education sector facing new expectations regarding lockdown procedures, Alex Jay, CEO of Little Green Button, says that with just over a year to plan and prepare accordingly, the time to act is now.
Having long existed as more of a theoretical necessity than an operational priority, lockdown planning is now moving into legal territory; and not only for high-risk or high-profile venues. The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 – better known as Martyn’s Law – officially passed in April last year, extending formal responsibility for counter-terrorism preparedness to a wide range of public spaces – including early years, schools and further education settings.
Why do we need this legislation? The UK’s 2023 counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, describes the threat landscape as “enduring and evolving”, with risks that are increasingly domestic, less predictable and harder to detect. Meanwhile, recent incidents have underlined that no single type of location can be ruled out, and that harm can be felt not only by direct targets but by neighbouring premises caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. At Little Green Button, we’ve also felt a shift,
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www.education-today.co.uk February 2026
While the Government has committed to an implementation period of at least 24 months before the Act comes fully into force in April 2027, that window is not a pause button. Rather, it’s a deliberate breathing space to understand new obligations, and plan and prepare accordingly. There are several steps that can be taken now: • Start with a full site vulnerability and space assessment: Identify the specific risks your school could face - from intruders and aggressive individuals to incidents in the surrounding area - and how these risks change at different points in the day. NASUWT recommends a traffic-light system - using a plan of the site, walking the perimeter and internal spaces with a critical eye, considering the weakest points and how an attacker might
• Use technology to implement a lockdown- alert system: This should be separate from fire alarms so that it clearly distinguishes a lockdown from other types of emergency and avoids confusion between evacuation and shelter-in-place. Ideally, it should be able to notify staff immediately without causing panic and be triggered from different areas of the school.
• Practice regularly: Drills should be held at least once a year, and after any significant change to your policy or procedures. Equally, all new staff should be trained in your lockdown procedures as part of their induction process.
For now, lockdown procedures are non- statutory, and statistically speaking the likelihood of incidents of this nature remains low. However, a thorough lockdown strategy is strongly recommended under existing guidance, and for good reason; if something does happen, the consequences can be extreme.
Ofsted has also already started to align with these principles in its inspection framework. So, all of this advice will demonstrate that your school takes its duty of care seriously - not to mention helping to ensure you’re prepared for any incident that may come up, however unlikely it may seem.
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