The short version
There is no legal maximum temperature for schools — or any workplace — in England.[1] A school is not breaking a temperature law by staying open, or by being hot.
But "no maximum" is not "no duty." Schools do have a legal duty to assess the risk that heat poses and to put sensible controls in place, and the Government's own guidance recommends specific steps in hot weather. The gap parents keep running into is the gap between a recommendation (which a school can decline) and a duty (which it cannot).
This page sets out what the law appears to require, what the guidance recommends, and where to turn. It is general information about the law in England — not advice about your child's individual situation.
Why there is no maximum temperature
The temperature of a workplace is governed by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. The supporting Approved Code of Practice gives a minimum — normally at least 16°C, or 13°C where the work is physically demanding — but sets no maximum.[1]
The School Premises (England) Regulations 2012, which set the statutory standards for school buildings, do not specify any temperature for teaching spaces at all.[6] Thermal comfort is left to the general workplace duty above — not a fixed number in school-premises law.
Two benchmarks are sometimes quoted, but neither is law:
- The National Education Union recommends a 26°C indoor trigger for action.[4]
- The Climate Change Committee has recommended learning environments stay within 16–25°C.[4]
The duty schools do have
Heat is treated as a workplace hazard. Under health-and-safety law, a school (as the employer — the governing body, academy trust or local authority) must assess the risk that heat poses, indoors and outdoors, and put controls in place. The duty is to take "all reasonable steps" — and the HSE is clear that cost is not, on its own, a lawful excuse for failing to act.[1][4]
So the enforceable question is not "is it too hot?" but "has the school assessed the risk and acted reasonably on it?"
What the official guidance recommends in a heatwave
The Department for Education's guidance (drawing on Department of Health and Social Care advice) recommends that in very hot weather:[2]
- Children should not take part in vigorous physical activity on very hot days; "sedentary activities are more appropriate."
- Schools relax uniform, move lessons to cooler rooms, ventilate, keep children in shade, and provide and encourage water.
- Mechanical fans may be used below 35°C; above that they "may not prevent heat-related illness and could worsen dehydration."
- Schools follow the actions set for the current UKHSA heat-health alert level.
Crucially, this is guidance, not law. The DfE does not normally advise schools to close in hot weather, and it does not ban outdoor activity outright — the recommendation is against vigorous activity, with discretion left to the school.[2]
The current alert
On 22 June 2026, the UK Health Security Agency issued a red heat-health alert for six regions of England, covering 24–25 June 2026 — only the second red alert since the system began (the first was July 2022).[3] A red alert signals "a risk to life for even the healthy population."[3] In the DfE's framework, red means schools should review their actions to manage heat for all pupils and staff.[2]
"Can I keep my child home? Will I get fined?"
This is the question parents ask most in a heatwave, and the honest answer is that it depends on how the absence is recorded — which sits in attendance law, not heat law. In broad terms, the routes that appear to apply are:
- Illness. If a child is genuinely unwell — heat exhaustion is an illness — absence is normally recorded as authorised, and schools do not usually require medical evidence for short illness absences.
- A head teacher's discretion to authorise leave in exceptional circumstances.
- For disabled and SEND pupils, schools have duties under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments, which can extend to how heat is managed.
We are deliberately not telling you that any one of these will apply to your child, or that your school is in the wrong — that depends on facts we cannot see, and getting attendance law wrong has real consequences. For your specific situation, the people to speak to are the school itself (in writing) and a specialist adviser: IPSEA and SENDIASS give free, expert advice on SEND, attendance and the law, and can tell you where you actually stand.
Where parents can turn
- Ask the school, in writing, what its hot-weather risk assessment says and what it has changed for the alert period — particularly for PE and outdoor activity.
- If you have a child with SEND or a medical condition, ask specifically how the assessment accounts for their needs.
- If the school will not engage, its complaints procedure (governing body, then academy trust or local authority) is the formal route.
- For advice on your rights and the law: IPSEA (ipsea.org.uk) and your local SENDIASS service — both free and independent.
The accountability angle
The pattern here is one SEND parents will recognise. The system issues a recommendation ("review your actions"), leaves compliance to the discretion of each school, and sets no enforceable ceiling — and then the parent carries the consequence. A parent whose child is unwell after a hot sports day cannot point to a regulation that banned the activity; they can point only to guidance that recommended alternatives and a duty to assess the risk. That is why the NEU is now publicly calling for a statutory maximum working temperature — its general secretary has said plainly, "We need a legal maximum working temperature in the UK."[5] It is not the law yet.
That gap — between the duty owed and the outcome a child experiences — is the thing worth watching.
If your school has taken a general public position on hot-weather activity that we should know about, email hello@notourjurisdiction.co.uk. Do not send names, documents, a child's medical details or anything that identifies a family. See our privacy notice.
Material legal claims on this page link to the public sources listed below. This guide is general information about the law in England, not advice about any individual case, and never refers to any real family.