Fire safety in schools: A guide to regulations

Robust fire safety in schools is crucial. Not only does it protect pupils while they’re on educational premises, but it also minimises the level of damage caused, which can lead to months or even years of repair work – disrupting schooling. 

Furthermore, it’s a legal duty. From appointing a responsible person to following regulations, assessing hazards to understanding fire extinguisher requirements for schools, every step must be taken to protect students, staff, and property from the risk of fire. So, as academic settings prepare through the summer holidays for the new term in September, here we outline the steps to take to ensure fire safety in educational premises is fully compliant. 

What are the regulations for fire safety in schools?

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRFSO) fire legislation helps simplify what’s required of schools to be compliant. As with any other workplace, the RRFSO covers general fire safety in schools – preventative procedures to follow to protect users of the building in case of fire – which we will cover in more detail. 

Which educational premises should follow regulations?

According to the government’s guide to fire safety in educational premises, regulations are intended for premises where the main use of the building or part of it is used for academic purposes. This includes schools, colleges, universities, Sunday schools, academies, crèches, adult education centres, after-school clubs, outdoor education centres, and music schools. 

Who is responsible for fire safety in schools?

The RRFSO requires a ‘responsible person’ to oversee and be accountable for all measures of fire safety for schools. While in most workplaces the responsible person is the employer or anyone with control of the premises, in a school these duties may fall to the headteacher, governor, vice-chancellor, occupiers and owners of premises where the main use of the building (or part of the building) is for educational purposes only. The responsible person must review the school fire risk assessment and ensure the necessary precautions are taken to protect the safety of ‘relevant persons’ (i.e. all who use the school).

How to assess fire safety for schools

It’s the role of the responsible person to carry out a fire risk assessment or assign a competent person to carry out the task. A huge part of the assessment is identifying fire hazards and the people potentially at risk – for fire safety in schools, this might be students working in unsupervised areas, or visitors unfamiliar with the premises. 

The RRFSO also requires the responsible person to appoint one or more (depending on the size of the premises) ‘competent persons’ to assist in undertaking preventative and protective measures. Chiefly, the fire risk assessment should identify fire risks and those who are vulnerable – such as disabled people, those who are known to have special needs and children – before setting out measures to reduce the likelihood or impact of each risk.

Installing measures to improve fire safety in schools

Once the presence of risk has been concluded (and removed as far as possible), steps must be taken to reduce any remaining risk and fire precautions to be put in place ‘where necessary’ and to an extent that’s reasonable and practicable. General measures to ensure fire safety in schools include:

• Early warning systems. Smoke detectors and fire alarms can alert school building users to danger immediately for them to evacuate the premises swiftly.  
• A managed evacuation plan. Legally required in schools, it’s the role of the responsible person to ensure fire escape routes are clear, doors open easily, and emergency lighting operates when needed. This plan should be communicated to everyone on the educational premises.
• Fire safety equipment and signs. Signage and fire safety equipment should be present throughout the fire escape route, including fire extinguishers in case small fires need to be tackled.

The UK government’s fire safety guidelines for schools recommend that fire drills be performed at least once a year and preferably once per term, at varying times of day. Fire assembly points and fire safety signage should be kept up to date, with any changes to fire escape routes clearly communicated to all. Finally, fire doors should be operational at all times and never propped open.

In England, according to Home Office data, there were more than 400 fires in educational premises in the year ending March 2024, an increase from the previous year. While the majority of these fires were accidental, 80 of these fires were deliberately started, so it’s also helpful if those responsible for fire safety in schools mitigate the risks of intentional blazes happening with an arson prevention plan.

What are the fire extinguisher requirements for schools? 

During the fire risk assessment, the responsible person will identify the risks of fire, which will dictate the types of fire extinguishers that are installed, and where. A typical fire extinguisher for schools is a water fire extinguisher. These tackle Class A fires involving wood, paper, and solid material fires, which may be present in classrooms, common rooms, and halls. CO2 fire extinguishers are the perfect choice for IT server rooms or classrooms where electrical equipment is present, while wet chemical units installed in school kitchens can extinguish Class F fire risks (cooking oils and fats). 

Finally, our new CommanderEDGE LFX fire extinguisher range is specifically designed to tackle the unique fire risks of lithium-ion batteries, which are increasingly present in laptops, tablets, and other rechargeable handheld devices in classrooms.

Staff should be aware of the nearest fire extinguisher’s location and be trained on how to use it. It’s also imperative that fire extinguishers are located in places where they can be easily accessed when needed in an emergency, but not where they may be vulnerable to misuse or vandalism. To comply with British Standards, and to avoid this potential mistreatment in schools, fire extinguishers must be adequately protected using cabinets, stands, covers and other storage options.

Maintaining fire safety in schools

Fire risk assessments should be reviewed and updated regularly, particularly if there’s a significant change in the building that might affect fire safety in schools. For example, there may be changes made to the building, classrooms may be switched around, or working practices might alter. Once further fire precautions are implemented following a fire risk assessment review, these should be installed by a competent person. 

It’s the role of the responsible person to keep any fire safety equipment, devices and facilities on school premises in effective working order and ensure they’re maintained correctly. They must be confident that equipment, such as fire extinguishers, will be fit for purpose in the event of a fire – and the only way is through regular inspections, annual servicing, and maintenance carried out by a trained technician.

Fire safety for schools undergoing construction

Over the summer holidays, schools may experience construction work as they are built or extended to improve their offering or capacity or to ensure safety and operation. New educational building work must comply with the building regulations enforced by local building-control bodies. These regulations and design requirements are outlined in Building Bulletin 100: design for fire safety in schools. Among other things, it discusses building regulations, stipulating that it’s vital to ensure:

• Satisfactory provision of means of giving an alarm of fire, and a satisfactory standard means of escape for persons in the event of fire in a building.
• Fire spread over the internal linings of buildings is inhibited.
• Buildings are stable in the event of fire, ensuring there is a sufficient degree of fire separation within buildings and between adjoining buildings
• Automatic fire suppression is provided where necessary, and to inhibit the unseen spread of fire and smoke in concealed spaces in buildings.
• External walls and roofs have adequate resistance to the spread of fire over the external envelope, and the spread of fire from one building to another is restricted.
• Satisfactory access for fire appliances to buildings and the provision of facilities in buildings to assist fire-fighters in the saving of life of people in and around buildings.

The future of fire safety for schools

When a fire breaks out in a school, it can have a devastating impact not only on the staff, students and parents, but the whole community. Whether accidental or due to vandalism, the cost of school fires – in emotional, educational, and monetary terms – can be catastrophic. To ensure thorough fire safety in schools, those responsible should be confident every effort has been made and every precautionary method taken to preserve people and property, now and in the future. 

For more comprehensive guides, expert advice and detailed information on sector-specific fire safety – including fire safety for schools – visit Fire Safety News. For regular updates regarding fire safety, sign up for our newsletter and receive industry-leading resources.