Martyn's Law is Here: Is Your School Ready to Respond in Seconds, Not Minutes?

Published by Soltech IT

When an emergency occurs in a school, every second counts.

Whether it's a security threat, medical emergency, severe weather incident or a lockdown situation, the difference between a well-managed incident and a chaotic response often comes down to one thing: communication.

With the introduction of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, commonly known as Martyn's Law, and the release of the statutory guidance in April 2026, schools and Multi-Academy Trusts now have greater responsibilities than ever before to ensure they can respond rapidly and effectively during critical incidents.

What is Martyn's Law?

Martyn's Law has been introduced to improve public safety by ensuring organisations are properly prepared to respond to terrorist attacks and other major emergencies.

For education settings, this means having robust procedures for:

• Evacuation
• Invacuation
• Lockdown
• Emergency communication

However, the legislation goes much further than simply having written policies.

The statutory guidance makes it clear that procedures must be capable of being implemented rapidly and effectively—not simply stored away in a policy folder.

Having a Policy Isn't Enough

Most schools already have emergency procedures.

The real question is:

Can your staff activate those procedures immediately under pressure?

Imagine a real emergency...

• Staff are spread across multiple buildings.
• Phones are ringing continuously.
• Emails aren't being read.
• Staff are unsure who is making decisions.
• Critical information is being passed verbally.

This is exactly where traditional communication methods begin to fail.

What Does the Guidance Actually Expect?

The statutory guidance asks schools to consider important questions including:

• Can staff be alerted instantly?
• Can communication reach multiple buildings or campuses?
• Can messages be targeted to specific staff?
• Can you demonstrate that messages were received?
• Can communications be logged for audit purposes?

These are no longer theoretical questions—they form part of demonstrating that your emergency procedures are effective.

How Soltech IT and Cosafe Help Schools Meet These Requirements

At Soltech IT, we're pleased to offer Cosafe, one of the UK's leading emergency communication and incident management platforms.

Rather than relying on emails, phone trees or messaging groups, Cosafe provides schools with a dedicated emergency response platform designed specifically for critical incidents.

Key features include:

Instant One-Tap Emergency Alerts

Staff can trigger a lockdown, evacuation, invacuation or other emergency with a single tap.

Alerts are delivered immediately across mobile devices, desktops and tablets.

Guided Incident Response

Cosafe doesn't simply send notifications.

It walks staff through live checklists, ensuring that key actions aren't forgotten during stressful situations.

Emergency procedures become actionable rather than just documented.

Secure Staff Communication

During an incident, staff can receive:

• Live updates
• Emergency instructions
• Role-specific guidance
• Situation reports

Messages are targeted to the right people, reducing confusion and ensuring a coordinated response.

Your Digital Emergency Grab Bag

The Home Office guidance recommends maintaining an emergency "grab bag" containing vital information.

Cosafe takes this one step further by securely storing:

• Site plans
• Emergency contacts
• Staff lists
• Critical documents
• Action plans

All instantly accessible from authorised devices wherever they're needed.

Perfect for Multi-Academy Trusts

Managing emergencies across multiple schools can be challenging.

Cosafe allows MAT leaders to:

• Coordinate responses across all schools
• Deliver consistent communications
• Share procedures trust-wide
• Monitor incidents in real time
• Support leadership teams wherever they are

This provides a consistent approach to emergency management across every site.

More Than Just Lockdown Alerts

Although many schools first consider Cosafe for lockdown procedures, it is designed to manage a wide range of incidents including:

• Medical emergencies
• Fire evacuations
• Severe weather
• Missing pupils
• Site security incidents
• IT outages
• Lone worker protection
• Major incidents affecting multiple sites

Its flexibility means it can support everyday operational incidents as well as the most serious emergencies.

Why Schools Are Choosing Cosafe Through Soltech IT

As an IT partner specialising in education, Soltech IT understands the unique operational and safeguarding challenges schools face.

We don't simply supply software.

We help schools:

• Review existing emergency procedures
• Understand Martyn's Law expectations
• Deploy and configure Cosafe
• Train staff
• Ensure ongoing support

The result is a practical, easy-to-use system that gives leadership teams confidence when every second matters.

Is Your School Ready?

Ask yourself:

• Could every member of staff be alerted within seconds?
• Would everyone know exactly what action to take?
• Could you coordinate across multiple buildings?
• Would your communications stand up to scrutiny after an incident?

If you're unsure of any of these answers, now is the right time to review your emergency response arrangements.

Book a Free Demonstration

If you'd like to see how Cosafe can help your school or Multi-Academy Trust strengthen emergency preparedness and support compliance with Martyn's Law, we'd be delighted to help.

Contact Soltech IT today to arrange a free demonstration and discover how Cosafe can transform your school's emergency response.

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