The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 creates statutory security obligations for thousands of UK schools and public venues. Its requirements are expected to commence from 2027, with the final date to be confirmed. Here is what you need to know and what you need to do.
Martyn's Law is the common name for the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025. It is named after Martyn Hett, who was among the 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena attack in May 2017. Martyn's mother, Figen Murray, campaigned for over six years to make the law a reality.
The Act creates statutory obligations for venues and events above a certain capacity to notify the Security Industry Authority and have public protection procedures in place, with public protection measures added for the largest venues. It places these obligations on the responsible person for the premises, who holds accountability for compliance.
Before the Act, guidance on protective security for public venues was advisory, not mandatory. Martyn's Law changes that. Once its requirements commence, expected from 2027, non-compliance can result in compliance notices, financial penalties, and in the event of an incident, significantly increased exposure for the responsible person.
Schools are among the most likely venues to fall within Martyn's Law scope. Almost every secondary school in England will be in scope once staff and pupils are counted together, and so will many primaries. Whatever its size, a school sits in the Standard Tier: education settings are never in the Enhanced Tier.
Councils, NHS trusts, civic halls, libraries, leisure centres and managed public spaces are very often in scope. Premises where 200 or more people, including staff, may reasonably be expected are within scope, and qualifying events such as Christmas markets and civic gatherings are too where 800 or more may be present.
Your obligations depend on which tier your venue falls into. Capacity is measured as the maximum number of persons who could reasonably be present at any one time — not just your usual attendance.
If you are uncertain whether your organisation is in scope, our free assessment tool will tell you in under five minutes.
For a more detailed checklist including plain-English tests you can apply today, read our article on the 12-point readiness checklist.
Our Martyn's Law Readiness Assessment determines your tier, identifies your compliance gaps, and generates a downloadable report you can take to your governors. No registration.
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Read the Checklist →We built our free assessment tool, our article library, and our compliance documentation process around Martyn's Law from the outset. It is not a product we adapted from commercial security — it is the reason we built the business the way we did.
Every installation we carry out produces a site-specific Martyn's Law compliance document. Every maintenance contract includes an annual compliance review. Every free site survey assesses your Martyn's Law position as its primary output.
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Procurement, installation and documentation all take time. Schools and public venues that start their compliance programme now have the best chance of being ready when the requirements commence, expected from 2027, without a rushed or inadequate response.