School Fire Risk Assessment — A Headteacher's Checklist
Schools combine high occupancy, young occupants, ageing buildings and complex risk. A school FRA is one of the more demanding assessment types. Here is what your headteacher should be asking.
The regulatory landscape
Schools sit at the intersection of multiple regulatory regimes:
- Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 — Responsible Person duties
- DfE Building Bulletin 100 — Fire safety design for schools
- Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 — for independent schools
- Approved Document B — building regulations fire safety
The Responsible Person in a school is typically the head teacher, head of estates or trust CEO depending on governance.
What makes school FRAs different
Schools differ from most commercial premises:
- High peak occupancy (often 1,000+ in secondary)
- Mobility differences (mainstream and SEN provision)
- Distributed locations across an estate
- Multiple buildings of different ages and constructions
- Significant external use (lettings, after-school clubs)
- Specialist risk areas (DT workshops, science labs, kitchens)
What a good school FRA covers
A competent school FRA addresses, at minimum:
- Means of escape from every part of the building
- Travel distances and alternative routes
- Capacity calculations under BS 9999
- Phased or progressive horizontal evacuation strategy (large/SEN schools)
- Fire detection and alarm coverage (typically L1 or L2)
- Emergency lighting on every escape route
- Fire doors at every classroom and protected zone
- Compartmentation between teaching blocks
- Specialist risks (DT, science prep, kitchen)
- Sleeping accommodation (boarding) — distinct risk regime
- External use risks (lettings to community)
- PEEPs for staff and students who need them
The PEEP question
Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) are individualised for any person who cannot evacuate unaided. In schools, this includes:
- Wheelchair users
- Pupils with profound mobility impairments
- Some hearing- and vision-impaired pupils
- Some pupils with autism spectrum needs requiring structured routines
A school FRA without a PEEP register for known affected pupils is incomplete.
The lettings risk
Many schools let buildings to community groups, after-school clubs and weekend users. The FRA must consider:
- Whether the letting user is aware of fire safety procedures
- Whether the alarm and emergency lighting will work as expected during the letting
- Who is the Responsible Person for the duration of the letting (often unclear)
- What instruction is provided to the lettee
This is one of the most common school FRA gaps.
Documentation a Fire Authority will ask for
- Current FRA
- Action plan with closure evidence
- Weekly alarm test logbook
- 6-monthly alarm service certificates
- Emergency lighting monthly + annual records
- Drill records (typically termly)
- Evacuation timing records
- PEEP register
- Lettings risk assessments
Headteacher's quick checklist
Five questions to ask your provider:
- Was the assessor NFRAR-registered at appropriate tier?
- Does the FRA include PEEPs for known affected pupils?
- Are lettings explicitly addressed?
- Is the action plan prioritised with realistic dates?
- Is there an annual review built into the contract?
MetroFire delivers school fire risk assessments, alarm servicing and PPM contracts across London and the South East. Book.
