Recognising the UK school that has made outstanding efforts to increase security through a combination of increased awareness in staff and pupils and the procurement and installation of additional security measures.

2026 Winner: Compass School, Southampton

Over the last 12 months, Compass School in Southampton has continued to strengthen its site security and safeguarding systems to ensure a safe environment for its pupils, many of whom require additional support due to social, emotional and mental health needs. A significant physical security upgrade was implemented, with a comprehensive access control system fitted on multiple internal doors, an extensive CCTV network installed to monitor key areas of the school, and high-security doors added to deter unauthorised entry and manage movement around the campus. The system also includes an intruder alarm linked to emergency response services, enhancing protection after school hours — particularly important given the school’s duty of care.

In addition to physical measures, Compass School updated its formal safeguarding framework in 2025, revising its Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy to clarify responsibilities and strengthen systems for responding to concerns, aligned with Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) statutory guidance. The policy places emphasis on robust procedures, trained safeguarding leads and a whole-school approach to safety. Alongside this, the school’s online safety education has been enhanced to address modern digital risks, with structured teaching and digital monitoring to protect pupils from online harms.

Commended
Tylers Green Middle School, Buckinghamshire

Over the past year, Tylers Green Middle School has implemented significant physical security enhancements to improve safety for pupils, staff and visitors. As part of this, the school partnered with Amthal Group Companies to install a specialist gate automation and access control system covering the school’s entry points. This project was designed to provide robust, automated access control that ensures only authorised personnel can enter the site while maintaining smooth operation for daily routines. The installation was tailored to the school’s needs through careful risk assessment and scheduling to minimise disruption to teaching and learning, and it included remote monitoring, real-time access logs and emergency response support as part of its design. Staff reported that the new system provided “an additional strong layer of security” to the school environment, balancing protection with accessibility for pupils and authorised adult visitors. This upgrade builds on ongoing efforts to safeguard the school community and demonstrates a proactive approach to physical security alongside the school’s existing safeguarding policies and practices.

St John's CofE Primary School

Over the past 12 months, St John’s Primary School in Croydon has taken clear, published steps to strengthen the security and safety of its school environment. In 2025 the school completed a perimeter fencing and gate upgrade, creating a safer, more controlled site with improved visibility, access control and practical supporting pathways, completed in collaboration with specialist installers to align with safeguarding priorities and minimise disruption to school life. The following school year (2025–26) saw the rollout of an updated Online Safety Policy, enhancing the school’s digital protection framework by embedding e-safety into its curriculum and safeguarding approach in line with statutory guidance. These developments demonstrate a proactive, holistic approach to pupil security — covering both physical site safety and protection in online environments. Additionally, the school’s published PE and Sports Premium reporting for the current academic year shows a renewed emphasis on using funding to enhance children’s participation in sport and the quality of physical education offered, underlining a commitment to pupils’ wellbeing, physical development and active engagement. Taken together, these published activities provide recent evidence of how St John’s continues to prioritise a safe, supportive and activity-rich learning environment for its community

Lord Williams's School, Oxfordshire 

In the last 12 months, Lord Williams’s School in Thame has made significant, published improvements to its physical security infrastructure to enhance safety and safeguarding across its two-site campus. In early 2026 the school commenced a major Department for Education-funded fencing and security project designed to strengthen site perimeter protection and access control at both the Upper and Lower School. This upgrade includes the installation of secure welded mesh perimeter fencing up to two metres high, defined entry/exit points, enhanced supervision zones, CCTV coverage and access control mechanisms — measures intended to prevent unauthorised entry, improve student supervision and support day-to-day safeguarding practices across the school. Work was planned to minimise disruption to teaching and school operations. Complementing the perimeter project, the school also implemented a new gate system at its Sycamore Drive entrance, restricting access to authorised students and staff and directing visitors to use the main reception, further tightening control over who enters the site. These efforts demonstrate a proactive and strategic approach to site security, prioritising the wellbeing of pupils and staff by modernising physical infrastructure and access procedures — an important development in the school’s safeguarding provision over the past year.

St Albans School, Hertfordshire

Over the past 12 months, St Albans School in Hertfordshire has undertaken a significant security infrastructure upgrade to strengthen the safety and safeguarding of its historic campus. In 2025 the school partnered with specialist security firm Amthal to deliver a scalable programme of works that modernised the school’s physical security while protecting the architectural character of its buildings. This project included the installation of perimeter security systems and CCTV monitoring across campus, as well as an access control system at key internal entry points. The Avigilon CCTV and Paxton access control systems form an integrated solution designed to manage authorised access, improve supervision of site activity and offer a robust deterrent against unauthorised entry. These enhancements were carefully planned around the school’s daily routines and academic timetable to minimise disruption, reflecting a pragmatic approach to safeguarding in an operational educational setting. With a student population of over 860, the security investment supports a safe learning environment and underscores the school’s commitment to pupil welfare and campus protection. Under the leadership of Headmaster Dr Andrew Turner, the programme demonstrates how historic educational institutions can modernise their security infrastructure without compromising heritage value or daily school life.

2025 Winner:  Royal High School, Edinburgh

The Royal High School in Edinburgh prioritises the safety and security of its students and staff through a comprehensive set of measures. All visitors are issued identification badges. S1 pupils are restricted from leaving the school campus during the school day to enhance their safety.  Installing vape alarms in the toilets has allowed pupils to reclaim a space that was becoming intimidating for its younger pupils, and allowed staff to concentrate on other areas.

Commended

Rougemont School, Gwent, Wales

Rougemont school’s governing body, headteacher and management team worked closely to design and implement a security solution that not only meets the requirements of Martyn’s Law, but also reflects the school’s commitment to providing a safe and secure environment for the full spectrum of the community. Security upgrades involved the installation of remote controlled motorised gates, a state-of-the-art CCTV system, advanced AI-powered monitoring tools and additional access control measures.

St Joseph’s RC High School, Greater Manchester

Part of the shocking increase in the amount of schoolchildren addicted to vaping saw several students needing hospital treatment after using contaminated vapes at St Joseph's. This led the school to install vape sensors in its toilet cubicles. Able to detect vaping, cannabis and traditional smoking, the sensors enable the school to monitor and act in real-time, identifying problem locations, reducing classroom disruption and aiming to improve students' health.

2024 Winner: The Holt School

Based in Berkshire, The Holt School has 13 separate buildings across its 63,000 m2 site with four vehicle entrances and one pedestrian-only gate, making it a complex site to keep secure. New CCTV and access control now supports key areas of the school including reception and the operations office, so that in the event of an incident, eyes can be on it very quickly.

Commended

Hill House School, Doncaster
St. Benedict’s Catholic Primary School, Kent
Breakspear School, London

2023 Winner: Christ’s Hospital School, West Sussex

The complex security needs of Christ’s Hospital School in Horsham, one of the UK’s oldest boarding schools, have been addressed with a sophisticated upgrade to improve access control for its 1,350 staff and students. The historic building now has read in/read out access on all doors - over 280 readers and supporting access control units were installed in six weeks. There are now plans extend the system to secure the internal doors on the higher floors of the boarding houses.

Commended
Wade Deacon Trust, Cheshire
North East Lincolnshire Council
St Edwards CofE Academy, Essex

2022 Winner
Audenshaw School, Manchester

Commended
Lipson Co-operative Academy, Devon
John Willmott School, West Midlands

2021 Winner
Leighton Park School, Berkshire

Established in 1890 and set in 60 acres of beautiful parkland, within walking distance of Reading town centre, Leighton Park School offers a vibrant learning community. The school has approximately 500 students between the ages of 11 and 18, the majority of which are boarders. With flexibility in the length of the school day the school requires stringent perimeter security all year round. Access control used at the door to the school theatre was designed primarily to give disabled individuals easy access. This door is controlled by a long-range reader which picks up the presence of the disabled individual (via a token) and opens the door automatically. The school also required barriers to be installed at the front entrance, giving controlled access permission to regular visitors as well as monitoring the flow of traffic in and out of the school grounds.

Commended
Castleton Primary School, Greater Manchester
Glebefields Primary School, West Midlands

2020 Winner
Southfields Academy, London

Southfields, part of a multi-academy trust, teaches some 1300 pupils in London and has fostered a culture of mutual respect among pupils. Since last year, four teachers across different parts of the school have been wearing body cameras. When the camera is switched on to film an incident, the default option means that the footage is encrypted and it cannot be edited prior to being uploaded to a secure Cloud account. Their presence has helped to de-escalate confrontations now that pupils realise their actions are going to be captured on film if they don’t stop the inappropriate behaviour. Since their introduction, the cameras have already had an impact in helping staff defuse confrontations with unruly pupils and can assist gathering evidence for the police if needed.

Commended

Campion School, Hornchurch
Swanshurst School, Birmingham

2019 Winner
Hope View Independent School

Hope View School is an Independent Special School for pupils with complex needs is situated in a challenging area; just off a major transport route and along the same road as the train station. To keep the pupils safe from unauthorised visitors, the school installed a Securi-Mesh® anti-climb system that uses panels of climb resistant mesh designed with small apertures and welds at each intersection which prevents foot and finger holds. This new run of fencing is in addition to the existing standard steel palisade fencing around the train station.

Commended

Selsted Church of England Primary School, South East Kent
In recent years, Selsted has undergone development to improve and modernise facilities. In 2017 the school purchased 0.65 acres of land adjacent to the playground to develop an additional outdoor learning area. To secure the perimeter, EuroGuard® Regular mesh panels provide a pleasant and welcoming aesthetic that blends in with the surrounding natural environment and does not detract from the school’s traditional Victorian architecture. The fencing also offers good visibility, allowing the school to quickly assess any hazards from beyond the fence line.

Moorland School, Lancashire
Set in extensive grounds in the picturesque Ribble Valley, Moorland School ensures seamless education from 2 to 16 years. The challenge of allowing access throughout the school whilst maintaining security was becoming increasingly difficult on a day to day basis due to the large number of keys that were necessary. Over 60 doors are now being managed by a new Progeny access control system, which combines key fobs, cards and ID badges. Intelligent programming has been built in, such as door locking at certain times of the day.

Lampton School, Hounslow
Lampton, a private school in Hounslow, London, is an 11-18 comprehensive with about 1530 students on roll. That number of pupils moving in and out of the grounds, as well as staff and visitors, creates a high level of foot traffic that needs monitoring for safety and control. The installation of Automated Doors and a new Access Control System in the Sports Hall, plus the installation of new automated gates, has helped maintain an accepable level of security for a high number of pupils, teachers and visitors.

2018 Winner
Barnston Primary, Wirral

Because of a declining budget, Barnston began leasing car parking spaces to parents in order to raise money for improved security, which includes a high definition CCTV system, a sophisticated key fob system at the front entrance of the school and a lock down system which alerts staff and children of an intruder, distinctive from the fire alarm procedure system. This includes a signal call out for the head teacher and a separate one for the deputy.

Commended

The Academy, Selsey, West Sussex
East Wickham Primary Academy, Kent
Beaufort Co-operative Academy, Gloucestershire
Winterslow C of E Primary School, Salisbury

2017 Winner
Wolverhampton City Council Education eServices Team

Break-ins at over 60 schools in Wolverhampton have plummeted following the use of DNA forensic marking kits to protect valuable ICT equipment from theft. The crime reduction scheme was launched last year by West Midlands Police and Wolverhampton City Council eServices Team following a spate of burglaries at schools. All technology such as laptops and iPads in 61 local schools is now marked.

Commended

St Joseph’s School, Camden
George Spencer Academy
Haggerston School, London
Ark Academy, Wembley

2016 Winner
Sir Thomas Abney Primary School, London

Sir Thomas Abney Primary School has always prided itself on the safety of its 430 students and staff. To maintain this, the school has installed the latest wireless-based ‘ring of steel’ comprising two new systems: a wireless electronic locking system that requires a keycard ID pass which automatically synchronises with the locks to allow or restrict access; and a touch-screen interface with the ability to pre-register guests and significantly increase the accuracy of knowing who is on site at any given time. The latter integrates with the existing security infrastructure onto a central platform, making it more accurate in accounting for everyone on- site in an emergency. The work was carried out by Delta Security, which extended its 18-year partnership with the school.

Commended

Monkton Combe School, Bath
Yatton Junior School, North Somerset

2015 Winner
Beddington Park Primary School, Surrey

Beddington Park Primary has a commitment to safeguarding and security. Staff access the school site via electronic entry fobs in order to keep the school safe from unsolicited visitors and ensure children cannot exit the site without the use of a fob and therefore staff supervision. Access to the school for visitors is via electronic gates with integrated intercom and camera. Staff are required to attend Child Protection training bi-annually, and safety and security is also comprehensively covered in the school’s staff induction training. The school also participates in the School Safe Alert scheme.

Commended

Pendle Primary Academy, Lancashire
Hemel Hempstead School, Hertfordshire