How often should schools hold fire drills?

At least termly, at varied times — including lunch, wet play and when supply staff are in — with evacuation times and issues recorded. Nurseries drill more frequently so new children experience the routine.

Are sprinklers required in schools?

BB100 embeds a strong expectation of sprinklers in new school buildings through its risk assessment approach, but there is no retrofit mandate for existing schools. The fire risk assessment addresses existing stock on its merits.

Who does the fire risk assessment for an academy trust?

The trust, as responsible person, commissions competent assessments across its estate — typically a programmed rolling cycle with a common methodology, so findings and actions are comparable trust-wide.

Do after-school clubs and lettings need their own assessment?

Not a separate statutory assessment, but the school's assessment must cover the extended use, and hirers need the fire procedures for the spaces they use. High-risk lettings (catering, performances) may justify specific review.

Fire Risk Assessment for Schools & Nurseries | BB100, Drills & Safeguarding

Who holds the duty in education.

Setting	Responsible person
Community school	The local authority (as employer), with the school leadership exercising day-to-day control
Academy / MAT school	The academy trust — with duties cascading to each school's leadership; the trust board carries Article 32(8) exposure
Independent school	The proprietor / governing company
Private nursery	The operating business (employer), interfacing with EYFS welfare requirements enforced by Ofsted

In multi-academy trusts the practical failure mode is diffusion: every head assumes the trust holds it, the trust assumes each head does. The assessment should name the duty-holder and the delegation chain explicitly — a responsible person point that Section 156's recording duties now expose at audit.

The education-specific risk picture.

Evacuating the young and the less able

Nursery and reception children cannot self-evacuate in any meaningful sense: ratios, cot evacuation equipment, high-dependency SEND provision and refuge arrangements are assessed against the real register, with PEEPs for pupils and staff who need them. Drill records are read critically — a school that drills only in dry September daylight has not tested its winter wet-play reality.

Arson: the dominant cause

Deliberate ignition remains the leading cause of school fires, concentrated evenings, weekends and holidays. Assessors examine boundary security, bin and materials storage clear of elevations, detection coverage out of hours, and monitoring/response arrangements — the empty-building scenario, not just the school day.

High-hazard rooms

Science prep rooms (flammables storage to DfE/CLEAPSS practice), DT workshops (dust, hot work), kitchens, boiler houses, and the accumulating fire load of corridors used as display and storage space — a housekeeping finding in almost every school assessment.

The BB100 benchmark

Building Bulletin 100 sets the DfE's fire safety design framework for schools, including its strong expectation of sprinklers in new school buildings within its risk-based approach. For existing estates it functions as the design reference the assessment benchmarks compartmentation and escape provision against, alongside the government guide for educational premises.

Lettings and extended use

Evening lettings, holiday clubs and community use change occupancy, supervision and alarm response after the caretaker leaves. The assessment must cover the building as actually used — sports-hall hirers need induction on exits and assembly, and the letting agreement should say whose procedures apply.

Key fact: Weekly alarm call-point tests, termly drills recorded with timings, and a live action plan are the trio education auditors look for first. A school that can produce those three documents on request is usually a school whose wider fire safety management holds up.

Fire risk assessment for schools and nurseries.