Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Awareness for Schools and Early Years (Benedict’s Law)

A child with a food allergy depends on every adult around them: the cook who checks a label, the practitioner who watches at snack time, the teacher planning a party. This course covers the law, the plans and the kitchen controls, and exactly what to do if a child has a reaction.

Who this course is for

• Cooks and kitchen staff in nurseries, schools and holiday clubs
• Nursery practitioners, childminders and early years staff
• Teachers, teaching assistants and lunchtime supervisors
• Managers who write allergy policies and plans
• Anyone who prepares, serves or supervises food for children

What you’ll learn

• Food allergy, intolerance and coeliac disease in children, and the 14 allergens
• The law on allergen information, Natasha’s Law, the EYFS duties and the 2026 schools guidance
• Allergy action plans, healthcare plans, records, medicines and spare adrenaline
• Preventing cross-contact from buying and storing food to preparing and serving it
• Mealtimes, packed lunches, celebrations, craft, cooking activities and trips
• Recognising a reaction, including in babies, and the anaphylaxis steps in the right order

How it works

Six lessons, each split into short topics with a “Remember” box at the end. Every lesson finishes with its own assessment of 10 questions drawn at random from its question bank, so no two attempts are the same. The course ends with a final exam of 20 questions drawn from a bank of more than 40 covering everything. The pass mark is 80% and you get three attempts at each assessment. Finish the course and your certificate, with your name and a reference anyone can check, is issued to My Account → Certificates.

12 months’ access · any device · certificate the moment you pass

Worth being clear about: this is knowledge training. It is not a regulated qualification and it is not first aid training; it supports, but does not replace, a child’s allergy action plan, your setting’s policies and paediatric first aid training.

Course content

• Before you startLesson
• Food allergy, intolerance and coeliac disease in childrenLesson
• What a food allergy isTopic
• The 14 allergens and other common triggersTopic
• Food intoleranceTopic
• Coeliac diseaseTopic
• Cows’ milk allergy in babies and young childrenTopic
• Weaning and first foods in your settingTopic
• 🎮 Practice: Allergy, intolerance or coeliac?Topic
• Lesson Assessment: Food allergy, intolerance and coeliac disease in childrenQuiz
• The law and why accurate allergen information mattersLesson
• Why accurate allergen information mattersTopic
• Food law: prepacked, PPDS and non-prepacked foodTopic
• Natasha’s Law (PPDS) in schools and nurseriesTopic
• School food standards and school cateringTopic
• EYFS allergy dutiesTopic
• Schools: Allergy safety in schools (2026), or Benedict’s LawTopic
• 🎮 Practice: Mild or emergency?Topic
• Lesson Assessment: The law and why accurate allergen information mattersQuiz
• Plans, records and medicinesLesson
• Getting allergy information before a child startsTopic
• Individual healthcare plans and allergy action plansTopic
• Keeping records and sharing information safelyTopic
• Prescribed adrenaline and other medicinesTopic
• Spare adrenaline auto-injectors in schoolsTopic
• Asthma and other allergic conditionsTopic
• 🎮 Practice: Which plan is it?Topic
• Lesson Assessment: Plans, records and medicinesQuiz
• Preventing cross-contact in the kitchen: from purchase to serviceLesson
• How allergens spread: sources and vehiclesTopic
• Buying and receiving foodTopic
• Storing food safelyTopic
• Preparing and cookingTopic
• Serving and what to do if something goes wrongTopic
• Finding accurate allergen informationTopic
• 🎮 Practice: From delivery to dinner plateTopic
• Lesson Assessment: Preventing cross-contact in the kitchen: from purchase to serviceQuiz
• Mealtimes, classrooms, celebrations and tripsLesson
• Mealtimes and shared tablesTopic
• Packed lunches and food from homeTopic
• Celebrations, parties and rewardsTopic
• Play dough, craft, messy play and scienceTopic
• Cooking activities and tripsTopic
• Communicating allergen information to children, parents and colleaguesTopic
• 🎮 Practice: Craft table checkTopic
• Lesson Assessment: Mealtimes, classrooms, celebrations and tripsQuiz
• Recognising and responding to reactionsLesson
• Signs of an allergic reactionTopic
• Reactions in babies and young children who cannot tell youTopic
• Anaphylaxis: what to do, step by stepTopic
• After a reaction: hospital, parents and recordsTopic
• Intolerance and coeliac disease: responding and reportingTopic
• Inclusion, wellbeing and bullyingTopic
• 🎮 Practice: Anaphylaxis, step by stepTopic
• Lesson Assessment: Recognising and responding to reactionsQuiz
• Course summaryLesson
• Final examQuiz