Health & safety audits
School health & safety audits — independent audits for schools and trusts
An independent school health and safety audit: a full walk-through of your site benchmarked against statutory duties, DfE guidance and HSE expectations — with a prioritised, plain-English action plan you can actually work through.
What a school health and safety audit is
A school health and safety audit is a structured, independent examination of how safety is managed in practice — not just whether documents exist. We look at the arrangements, the evidence behind them and what is actually happening on site.
Schools, academies and multi-academy trusts use an independent compliance audit for different reasons: a baseline after a change of leadership or estate, assurance for governors and trustees, preparation for inspection, or a second view on arrangements an internal team already manages.
What an audit covers
- Statutory H&S management arrangements
- Premises, buildings and grounds
- Fire safety and evacuation
- Asbestos, legionella and water safety
- Contractor management
- Curriculum and higher-risk activities
- Educational visits
- First aid and incident arrangements
- Training and competence
What you receive
- Prioritised RAG-rated findings
- Photographic evidence where useful
- Plain-English written report
- Clear action plan with owners and timescales
- Included Follow-up Assurance Review to check progress against agreed actions and provide additional assurance following the audit
- Governor and trustee assurance summary
Whole-school or themed audits
Choose a full whole-school audit for a comprehensive baseline, or a themed compliance audit focused on a single area — fire, contractors, educational visits, allergy management, training compliance or first aid arrangements.
How scope and cost are agreed
Audit scope is proportionate to your premises, activities, age groups and risk profile, so there is no single fixed price. Tell us about your school and we confirm a sensible scope and prepare a written quotation before any work is booked. Requesting a quote places you under no obligation.
Every audit includes a post-audit findings discussion and a Follow-up Assurance Review — a remote review 8–12 weeks later to check progress against the action plan.
Common questions about school health and safety audits
Is a health and safety audit a legal requirement? There is no single regulation requiring an audit by that name. The employer must have suitable arrangements for managing health and safety and must monitor them; an independent audit is a recognised way of testing whether those arrangements work.
How long does an audit take? Typically one on-site day for a single-site school, with pre-audit preparation and post-audit reporting either side. Larger or multi-site settings need more time, which we confirm in the quotation.
Will it disrupt the school day? No. Audits are carried out alongside normal school activity, with sampling rather than wholesale inspection of every record.
What happens afterwards? You receive RAG-rated findings, a prioritised action plan with owners and timescales, and a governor assurance summary, followed by the Follow-up Assurance Review.
Request a Whole-School Health & Safety Audit Quote
An independent audit of your health and safety management arrangements, with RAG-rated findings, a practical action plan and a Follow-up Assurance Review. Tell us about your school and we will confirm the scope and prepare a written quotation — no obligation.