Martyn's Law, the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, requires premises where 200 or more people may be present at the same time to have procedures in place to protect people from a terrorist attack. That covers most UK schools and colleges. Education settings sit in the Standard Tier regardless of size, even above 800 people. The Act received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025, and the duties are expected to apply from spring 2027. Read the government guidance on the Act.

For maintained schools, it's the local authority or governing body. For academies, it's the Academy Trust board of trustees. Legal liability cannot be delegated, though day-to-day tasks can be managed by site staff.

Three things: documented, proportionate procedures for evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communicating with people on site; staff who know those procedures and have practised them; and notification to the Security Industry Authority (SIA) by your Responsible Person.

You don't need to buy any particular product. Where a platform helps is in making those procedures quick to run, drill and evidence. The Martyn's Law checklist breaks the requirements down step by step. Download the checklist.

Most standalone alert systems are used a few times a year: a drill each term and, hopefully, never for real. Vivi works every school day. It's the campus operating system for schools, so the same platform teachers use for wireless screen sharing and Stream to Students also runs your digital signage and announcements. Your investment earns its place every school day, not just three.

And if the worst does happen, the alert comes through a tool staff already know: on every classroom display and corridor screen, and full-screen with acknowledgement on staff devices through Vivi Device Alerts.

Vivi runs on the screens and devices already in your school and adds a visual alert and staff-device layer alongside your existing systems. It doesn't replace your fire alarm, PA or CCTV. Alerts can also be triggered from other platforms, including visitor management systems via an API integration.

Staff who already use Vivi in lessons are using the same platform an alert comes through, so there is no separate system to learn. Drills run through the live system, and each one produces a record of who received and acknowledged the alert, so you can see where follow-up training is needed.

Vivi is one annual subscription that includes hardware, software, support, warranty and updates, covering crisis response, digital signage, announcements and wireless screen sharing. Because it can replace several separate tools, many schools fund it from budgets they already spend on those.

You can also try the 14-day Vivi Device Alerts trial in your own school before you decide.