Schools can already keep spare pens. Now the regulator is asking about sprays
What happened
On Monday 19 October 2026, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) opened a public consultation. It is asking whether schools across the UK should be allowed to buy and keep spare adrenaline nasal sprays. At the moment, schools in the UK can keep spare adrenaline auto-injectors. These are the pen-style devices many people know by brand names. They are held as a backup, in case a child has a severe allergic reaction and their own device is missing, broken or out of date. Adrenaline nasal sprays are newer. The medicine is sprayed up the nose instead of being injected into the thigh. The MHRA wants to know whether schools should be allowed to hold these as well, either alongside the pens or instead of them. The consultation runs for eight weeks. It opened on 19 October 2026 and closes on 14 December 2026. It covers the whole of the UK, and the MHRA is running it jointly with the Department of Health in Northern Ireland. The proposals would not force any school to buy a particular product or brand. Schools would choose. The rules about who can be given adrenaline would not change either. It could only be given to a child the school already knows is at risk of anaphylaxis, and only by staff who have been properly trained. Children would still be expected to carry their own prescribed adrenaline. School stock is a backup, not a replacement. The consultation also asks a quieter second question. Should the law use broader wording, so that new self-administered adrenaline products can be added in future without changing the law every single time?
Why this matters
Food allergy is common in children. The MHRA says about 8% of children and young people in the UK have one. In an average class, that is roughly two or three pupils. Around 20% of serious allergic reactions to food happen in a school setting. That is not really a surprise. Children eat at school, share snacks at school, and spend most of their waking hours there during term time. Anaphylaxis is the most serious kind of allergic reaction. It can affect breathing and blood pressure, and it can come on very fast. Adrenaline is the first treatment, and giving it quickly matters a great deal. For some children, and some adults, a needle is a real barrier. A frightened child in the middle of a reaction may struggle. A member of staff who has only ever practised on a trainer device may hesitate for a few seconds. A spray does not remove every difficulty, but it does remove the needle. The timing matters too. Allergy safety in English schools has just changed. New requirements came in during September 2026, as the first phase of what is known as Benedict's Law. The charity Anaphylaxis UK says the law is named after Benedict Blythe, a five-year-old boy who died after an allergic reaction at his school in December 2021. So schools are already looking again at how they handle allergies. This consultation arrives while that work is fresh.
What the evidence actually says
It is worth being clear about what this announcement is, and what it is not. It is a consultation. It is not a decision, and it is not a new rule. Nothing changes in your child's school today because of it. The MHRA is asking a regulatory question: should the legal exemption that lets schools hold spare adrenaline be widened to cover nasal sprays? The agency is not claiming that sprays work better than pens. Julian Beach, the MHRA's Executive Director for Operations, chose his words carefully. He said adrenaline nasal sprays "would provide an additional treatment option for children at risk of anaphylaxis". The word worth noticing there is "additional". Allergy charities have broadly welcomed the question. Amena Warner, Head of Clinical Services at Allergy UK, pointed to "anything which can help alleviate worry and treat an allergic reaction promptly". She said a needle-free device would be easy to use and could give schools more choice in managing allergy emergencies. School leaders are supportive, but they want the detail nailed down. Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of the school leaders' union NAHT, said: "It's important that any proposals are safe, practical and properly supported." He stressed the need for clear guidance and training for staff. Professor Adam Fox OBE, who chairs the National Allergy Strategy Group, flagged the risk that matters most in a real emergency. He said new options must avoid "confusion or unintended consequences", and welcomed public input on the consultation. That is a fair point, and it is one of the main reasons consultations exist. If a school holds two different kinds of device, staff need to know without hesitating which one to reach for. Getting that wrong wastes seconds that matter. Asking the question now, before the rules change, is the responsible order to do things in.
Qurexa perspective
Most of what keeps a child with a severe allergy safe at school is unglamorous. Someone has to notice the expiry date. Someone has to reorder. Someone has to make sure the replacement actually arrives before the old one runs out. That is the part we see every day in prescription delivery and medication support. Adrenaline devices expire, usually after a year or two. A device that has passed its date, or that has been left somewhere very hot, is not the backup anyone believes it is. Whatever this consultation decides, the basics stay the same. Know what your child has been prescribed. Know when it runs out. Order the replacement before you need it, rather than in the week it expires. If having repeat prescriptions delivered would make that easier than collecting them, that is something we can help with. If your current arrangement already works well, there is no reason to change it.
Practical advice
If your child has been prescribed adrenaline: - Check the expiry date today. Put it in your phone calendar, with a reminder a month before. - Make sure your child carries two devices, if that is what has been prescribed for them. - Check the school has an up-to-date copy of your child's allergy action plan. - Ask the school who is trained, where the spare stock is kept, and what kind it is. - Order your repeat prescription in good time. Do not leave it to the last week. If you want to respond to the consultation: - It is open to anyone. Parents, carers, school staff and healthcare professionals can all take part. - It closes on 14 December 2026. - You can find it on GOV.UK, under the MHRA's consultations. If you lead or work in a school: - This is the moment to raise practical worries about training, storage and labelling. - The NAHT and the allergy charities are responding. Individual schools can respond too. And if someone is having a severe allergic reaction, do not stop to work out which device is best. Use the adrenaline you have, follow the instructions on it, and call 999.
What to know
The MHRA has opened an eight-week, UK-wide consultation on letting schools keep spare adrenaline nasal sprays, either as well as or instead of adrenaline auto-injectors. It opened on 19 October 2026 and closes on 14 December 2026. Nothing has changed yet. Schools can already hold spare auto-injectors, and children should still carry their own prescribed adrenaline. About 8% of UK children and young people have a food allergy, and around a fifth of serious food-allergy reactions happen at school. Allergy charities and school leaders have welcomed the consultation, while asking for clear training and guidance so that staff are not left guessing in an emergency. Sources: GOV.UK (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency), "MHRA consults on proposals to allow schools to keep spare adrenaline nasal sprays on site", 19 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-consults-on-proposals-to-allow-schools-to-keep-spare-adrenaline-nasal-sprays-on-site; Anaphylaxis UK, "Benedict's Law: New Allergy Requirements 2026 for Schools", accessed 19 October 2026, https://anaphylaxis.org.uk/education/benedicts-law/; Anaphylaxis UK, "MHRA issues clarification on use of spare pens in schools", accessed 19 October 2026, https://anaphylaxis.org.uk/spare-pens-in-schools/. This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional. If you think someone is having a severe allergic reaction, use their adrenaline straight away and call 999.
Related articles
44% of over-75s are active, against 64% of 55 to 74s: the government replies
On 22 October 2026 the government published its formal reply to a report by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee. The committee's report is ca…
£9.4 million to move mental health workers into children's social care teams
On 23 October 2026 the government announced a new mental health pilot for children and young people who are supported by children's social care. The pilot is c…
One tablet a day: the UK has licensed a new psoriasis treatment
On 23 October 2026 the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) licensed a new medicine for plaque psoriasis. The medicine is called icotroki…