Does Martyn's Law Apply to Schools, Churches and Village Halls?

Most of the coverage of Martyn's Law has been about arenas and festivals. The Act reaches much further than that. Schools, colleges, nurseries, churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, village halls and community centres are all named uses in Schedule 1 of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, and the threshold is 200 people reasonably expected at the same time, which an ordinary primary school passes at nine o'clock every morning.

The standard tier, however large

The Act treats places of worship, childcare and primary, secondary and further education premises differently from everything else: they are standard-tier premises regardless of the number of people, so a 1,500-pupil secondary school or a cathedral has the same duties as a 250-seat parish church. Those duties are to notify the Security Industry Authority that you are the responsible person, and to have public protection procedures, so far as is reasonably practicable, for evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication. There is no document to send to the SIA, no equipment to buy and no training course the Act names, though staff with a role must know it. Universities are not in the exemption and can be enhanced tier at 800 or more. Martyn's Law explained for venues covers both tiers in full.

Schools and colleges

Most schools already have a lockdown procedure, often written after the Department for Education's non-statutory guidance on emergency planning, and a fire evacuation they drill each term. Martyn's Law asks for the set to be complete (invacuation and communication as well) and for the people with a role to know it, which in a school means every member of staff, supply teachers included, and in a college means a changing cast of visiting lecturers and contractors. The responsible person is usually the proprietor or governing body, with the headteacher or business manager doing the work. Open days, productions and sports fixtures are the moments the numbers peak, so plan for those rather than for a normal Tuesday.

Places of worship

Here the challenge is volunteers. A church may have no paid staff at all, and the people who will open the doors on the day of a carol service were not there at the last meeting. The procedures need to be simple, written where people can find them, and walked through with each new sidesperson, steward or welcomer. The Home Office FAQs note that events at premises already in scope, such as a concert in a church, fall under the premises' own duties rather than becoming separate qualifying events.

Village halls and community centres

Halls are a Schedule 1 use, and the test is the largest realistic gathering. A hall that holds a 250-person wedding is in the standard tier even if the Tuesday coffee morning is twelve people. The responsible person is whoever controls the hall for that use, usually the management committee, and the procedures need to reach the hirers as well as the committee.

What to do now

Three things before spring 2027, when the notification portal is expected to open. Work out your number for the busiest day and write down how. Walk the building with the four procedures in mind and record, room by room, which way out, where to shelter, what locks and who holds the key. Then find a way to show it to everyone who might be on the door, including the people who join next year. A Martyn's Law readiness tour is built for exactly this: the building in 360 with every exit, shelter and lockable room marked and each procedure shown as a route, so a new teacher or a new volunteer can walk it on a phone in ten minutes, and the governing body or the PCC has a dated record of what was in place. Evacuation, invacuation and lockdown on your floor plan is the practical guide to the four procedures.

General information, not legal advice. The Act and the Home Office guidance on ProtectUK are the documents to quote.

Questions people ask

Our church seats 300 but only 60 come on a Sunday. Are we in scope?

The test is the number reasonably expected to be present at the same time, not the seating capacity. If the largest realistic gathering, a carol service, a wedding or a funeral, is 200 or more, you are in the standard tier. Work it out from real attendance and write down how you did it.

We are a school with 1,200 pupils. Enhanced tier?

No. Primary, secondary and further education premises, childcare and places of worship stay in the standard tier whatever their capacity. Universities can be enhanced tier at 800 or more.

Does a village hall hired out for events count?

Halls are a Schedule 1 use. If 200 or more people are reasonably expected at one time, for example at a large wedding or a show, the premises are in the standard tier and the responsible person is whoever controls the hall.