Independent Assessment

The Annual School Security Audit

An independent, fixed-fee review of your entire security position. A full site visit, a Martyn's Law tier review, and a board-ready report on where you stand against every obligation. £495 plus VAT, credited against any works. No obligation to buy anything.

Book Your Audit → How It Works

Genuinely IndependentVendor-neutral findings, yours to take to any installer including your current one

One Fixed Fee£495 plus VAT per site, agreed up front, credited in full if you proceed with works

Board-Ready ReportWritten evidence you can hand straight to governors, the trust board or your insurer

Why We Charge For This

A free audit is worth what you pay for it

Most security companies will happily assess your site for nothing. Every business manager knows what that really is: a sales visit wearing a clipboard. You spend an afternoon showing someone around, and the report that lands is a quote.

So we do the opposite. We charge a fixed fee, and in return we owe you an honest answer rather than a pitch. A paid assessor can tell you your existing system is fine, that your current provider is doing a good job, or that the cheapest fix is one we do not sell. A free one cannot afford to.

The fee is not the cost of the work. It is the thing that makes the work trustworthy.

No hidden agendaThe deliverable is a report, not a proposal. What you do next is entirely your decision.

We can say "you are fine"A paid assessment is free to conclude that you need nothing, which a sales survey never will.

Independent of your providerA second opinion on the systems you already have, with no pressure to change supplier.

Refunded if you proceedCommission works with us within 90 days and the fee comes off in full. You risk nothing.

What The Audit Covers

One visit. Your whole security position, examined.

Not a glance at your cameras. A structured assessment of every discipline, every obligation, and every system already on site, whoever installed it. Findings are scored against the Fyrfly Preparedness Model, so you can see where you are strong, where you are thin and what to fix first.

Every Security Discipline

Assessed to standard

CCTV, access control, intruder alarms, fire detection, monitoring and networks, each reviewed against the relevant British Standards and against how your site actually operates.

Coverage gaps, blind spots and ageing equipment identified
Integration and single points of failure flagged
Condition and expected remaining life of existing kit

Martyn's Law Review

Tier and obligations

We determine your tier under the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 and map your procedural obligations against what your building can actually deliver today.

Standard or Enhanced tier confirmed for the site
Lockdown, invacuation and evacuation capability tested against procedure
Lettings, events and out-of-hours use accounted for

Compliance Gap Analysis

DfE, KCSiE, UK GDPR

Your position checked against DfE protective security guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education, and your UK GDPR duties for CCTV and access data.

DPIA, retention and subject access readiness reviewed
Signage, lawful basis and policy alignment checked
Safeguarding coverage assessed against KCSiE expectations

Board-Ready Report

Yours to keep

A written report you can put in front of governors, the trust board or your insurer, with prioritised, vendor-neutral recommendations and an indicative order of cost.

Plain findings, ranked by risk and urgency
Recommendations written to standard, not to a product
A dated record that your security has been independently reviewed

The Process

From booking to a report you can act on

Six steps, one fixed fee, and no obligation waiting at the end of it.

Book the audit

Confirm the date and site by email. The fee is agreed up front at £495 plus VAT per site, with nothing further to pay whatever we find. At that price a business manager or bursar can usually approve it without going to governors.

One email to start

On-site visit

A DBS Enhanced assessor attends the site and works through it in person. We inspect the systems already installed regardless of who supplied them, because an honest audit has to start with what is actually there.

Roughly half a day on site

Assessment across every discipline

CCTV, access control, intruder alarms, fire, monitoring and networks are each measured against the relevant British Standards, against DfE guidance and KCSiE, and against your UK GDPR obligations.

Assessed to standard

Martyn's Law tier review

We confirm your tier under the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 and check your public protection procedures against what your building can genuinely execute, including during lettings and events.

Tier confirmed and evidenced

Board-ready gap report

You receive a written report setting out findings, prioritised gaps and vendor-neutral recommendations, in a form you can take straight to governors, the trust board or your insurer.

Delivered within one week

Yours to act on, with anyone

The report is yours to keep and to take to any installer, including your current provider. If you choose to commission works with Fyrfly within 90 days, the full fee is credited against that work.

No obligation, ever

Our Independence Promise

We install security systems. Here is how we keep this honest.

We are not going to pretend we have no commercial interest. We do. So rather than hide it, we have designed the audit so our interest cannot bend the findings.

Recommendations are written to standard, not to a product

The report tells you what you need in plain terms, for example a Grade 3 intruder system or 31-day encrypted retention, never a specific Fyrfly line item. It reads the same whoever you hand it to.

The report is yours, and portable

You can take it to your existing provider, put it out to tender, or file it and do nothing. There is no lock-in, no follow-up sales sequence, and no obligation to speak to us again.

We are happy to tell you to keep what you have

If your systems are sound and your provider is doing a good job, that is what the report will say. A conclusion of "no action needed" is a perfectly acceptable outcome and one a free survey can never give you.

The credit is a discount, not a hook

If you do choose to use us, the fee comes off the works. If you do not, you have still had a complete, independent assessment for a fixed, modest price. Either way you are ahead.

Pricing

One fee. Everything included.

Annual Security Audit

£495 plus VAT, per site

A fixed fee, agreed before we start. Nothing further to pay, whatever the audit finds.

On-site visit by a DBS Enhanced assessor
Assessment across all six security disciplines
Full Martyn's Law tier review
DfE, KCSiE and UK GDPR gap analysis
Review of existing systems and policies
Board-ready written report, yours to keep

Book Your Audit → Credited in full against any works commissioned within 90 days.

Priced to be approved, not escalated

At £495 plus VAT the audit is deliberately set below the single-quote and delegated-authority thresholds at most schools and trusts. In practice, that means a business manager or bursar can authorise it directly, without preparing a paper for governors or waiting for the next board meeting.

It reflects roughly a day of expert time, on site and in the report. Modest enough to sign off this week, serious enough to be worth having.

Taking over an inherited system? If you want us to maintain a system someone else installed, start with our Security Estate Audit instead. It goes down to device level, recovers credentials and builds an asset register, and its fee is credited against your first year of maintenance. Our guide to inherited systems explains the options.

Auditing a multi-academy trust? The audit is priced per site, and we build phased programmes that give a trust a consistent, comparable picture across the whole estate. Trust-wide pricing is available on request.

Two Different Things

This is not the free survey with a price on it

We still offer a free site survey for anyone planning works. The audit is a different product, for a different purpose.

Free Site Survey

Annual Security Audit

Purpose

Scope works so we can quote

Tell you independently where you stand

Deliverable

A proposal and price for a system

A board-ready report with no obligation

Existing and incumbent systems

Noted where relevant to the quote

Formally reviewed and assessed

Martyn's Law

Flagged

Full tier determination and evidence

Best for

Schools ready to invest in works

Schools that want an honest, portable second opinion first

Who It Is For

Built for people who need an answer they can trust

Schools with an existing provider

You are not looking to switch supplier. You just want an independent view of whether your current systems and your provider are actually keeping your site safe and your systems working.

Multi-academy trusts

You need a single, consistent standard applied across every site, so the board can see the whole estate on the same terms and prioritise spending where it matters most. How we work with trusts.

The Responsible Person

Martyn's Law duties sit with whoever controls the premises, usually the organisation, and someone will have to answer for them. A dated, independent assessment on file is a practical record that your security has been reviewed and acted on.

Bursars and business managers

You are asked to justify security spending to governors. An independent report gives you a defensible basis for the budget, or the reassurance that no spend is needed at all.

Governors seeking assurance

You want confidence that security has been checked by someone independent, not just a reassurance from the supplier who installed it. The report gives the governing body that.

Insurers and renewals

Many school insurers ask about monitored systems and documented security. An independent audit gives you the evidence to answer those questions cleanly at renewal.

Why It Matters

A practical way to evidence that your security has been independently reviewed

When Martyn's Law commences, regulators, insurers and boards will reasonably ask what steps were taken, and when. A dated, independent assessment, with findings you have acted on, is a clear record that you looked properly and responded. It does not certify compliance or give legal protection, and it is not legal advice. It is simply far better evidence than good intentions. For £495, that record sits in your file the day the report lands.

Common Questions

Straight answers before you book

Is this just a way to sell us equipment?

No, and the fee is the reason it is not. A free survey is oriented towards a quote. A paid audit is oriented towards an honest answer. Recommendations are written vendor-neutral and to standard, the report is yours to take to any installer including your current provider, and there is no obligation to buy anything from us.

We already have a security provider. Can you still audit us?

Yes, and that is one of the most common reasons schools book it. The audit is an independent second opinion on the systems you already have and on your provider's Martyn's Law readiness. You are not asked to change supplier. You simply get an independent view of where you stand, which the provider who installed the systems cannot give you.

What does the £495 fee cover?

A fixed fee of £495 plus VAT, per site, covers an on-site visit by a DBS Enhanced assessor, a full assessment across all six security disciplines, a Martyn's Law tier review, a DfE, KCSiE and UK GDPR gap analysis, a review of your existing systems and policies, and a board-ready written report. There is nothing further to pay whatever we find.

Is the fee credited if we go ahead with works?

Yes. If you commission works with Fyrfly within 90 days of the audit, the full £495 is credited against that work. The audit itself remains independent, and its recommendations are yours to take to any installer whether or not you use us.

How is this different from your free site survey?

The free survey is a scoping visit that leads to a proposal for works. The paid audit is an independent, documented assessment with no obligation attached, a formal review of existing and incumbent systems, a full Martyn's Law tiering, and a written report designed to be handed to governors and insurers. Different purpose, different deliverable.

Can a bursar approve this without going to governors?

In most cases yes. At £495 plus VAT the audit sits below the single-quote and delegated-authority thresholds at most schools and trusts, so it can usually be approved by a business manager or bursar without a full governor or board decision. If your thresholds differ, we can provide whatever documentation your finance process needs.

Do you audit multi-academy trusts across several sites?

Yes. The audit is priced per site, and we design phased programmes for trusts that want a consistent, comparable assessment across their estate, usually starting with the highest-risk sites. Trust-wide pricing for multiple sites is available on request.