Our education providers recognise that they have a responsibility to ensure that pupils with medical conditions are supported, can continue to enjoy learning, develop friendships and play. Through working in collaboration with parents they can ensure that, as much as possible, a medical condition does not impede the quality of learning and access to schooling for the child.

Schools should have an “Administration of Medicine Policy” or “Supporting Pupils with Medical Needs Policy” which includes a consent form to be used to manage and record the administration of prescribed medication.

Many schools act on their own discretion as to whether they administer non-prescription medicines, and this can be written into your policy and consent form. For example, if the pupil has an ongoing medical condition and requires Calpol for 7 days they will administer this, but they would not give a 1-off dose to a child with a slight temperature recovering from a cold.

Our guidance for Administering Medication in Schools includes templates for polices and further advice and support for Prescribing over-the-counter medicines in nurseries and schools is available from the British Medical Association (BMA).