Supporting pupils with medical needs
Use this 30-minute course to help all staff understand their responsibilities in supporting pupils with medical needs. This includes how to effectively use individual healthcare plans (IHPs) and provide social and emotional support to pupils.
Who it's for
This training is primarily aimed at classroom staff and regular support staff, for example, lunchtime supervisors. It should not be used as training for medical emergencies.
5 March 2026
The DfE is consulting on changes to statutory guidance about supporting pupils with medical conditions and allergies. The proposed changes aim to strengthen support for pupils and would come into force in September 2026.
This course reflects the current statutory guidance. We’ll review it once the DfE publishes the updated guidance and email you to let you know when it’s ready to assign.
This course covers:
- What is meant by the term ‘medical need’
- How to support pupils with medical needs in school
- What IHPs are and how to use them
- How to support pupils’ social and emotional needs
- How to support pupils’ friends, siblings and classmates
This course is designed for all school staff to give them an awareness of how to support pupils with a range of medical needs in your school. This should not be used instead of specific training for particular medical procedures (e.g. administering an adrenaline auto-injector, e.g. an EpiPen).
Alongside this training, we recommend you provide all staff with the appropriate links to your policy on supporting pupils with medical conditions and administering medications. If you have any additional policies relating to medical needs (e.g. an allergy policy), we recommend sharing those as well.
More resources on supporting pupils with medical conditions for your school.
Guidance and templates to help you meet your statutory requirements
Supporting pupils with medical conditions policy: model, guidance and examples
Adapt our model policy for supporting pupils with medical conditions, or use our checklist and examples from schools, to make sure your current policy is meeting requirements. Find guidance on how to support pupils with complex medical needs.
Individual healthcare plans: guidance and templates
Learn when and how to create an individual healthcare plan to support pupils with medical conditions. See a template plan from the DfE, and example plans for pupils with epilepsy, diabetes and allergies.
Taking medical information on trips
Taking pupils with medical conditions on trips requires a little extra preparation. Learn what medical information you should take with you and how to store it safely
Pupil allergy policy: model and examples
Allergy is one of the most common chronic conditions in children. Download and adapt our model policy to help make your school 'allergy aware' and see examples from other schools.