By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 13th January 2025. If your child was injured under school care, you may be wondering if you can sue the school and claim compensation.
In this guide, we look at what duty of care a school owes and the eligibility criteria for when a compensation claim can be made on behalf of a child injured at school.
We also discuss what actions to take when a child is injured at school, including what types of evidence you should collect to support your case.
Furthermore, we browse different types of potential scenarios that could warrant a claim against the school, including how poor maintenance and poor conditions of a playground could potentially lead to an injury. We also look at how you could potentially make a claim if your child was injured at school by another child.
As you reach the end of this guide, we explain how long you have to potentially begin a claim, how compensation could be calculated if your potential claim is successful, and how No Win No Fee agreements work.
Contact us today if your child was injured at school. Our advisors can tell you whether you’re eligible for compensation, and if so, can connect you with a specialist No Win No Fee solicitor. Our contact methods are free to use and are live 24/7:
- Call 0800 073 8804
- Fill out our claim online form.
- Message in our live support chat box on the screen.
Select A Section
- My Child Was Injured While Under School Care – Can I Make A Claim?
- What To Do If A Child Is Injured While Under School Care?
- My Child Was Injured By Another Pupil Under School Care
- My Child Was Injured At School Due To Poor Maintenance, Who Is Liable?
- My Child Had An Allergic Reaction At The School, Could I Claim Compensation?
- My Child Had A Fall Accident Under School Care Are They Eligible For Compensation?
- Can You Claim If Your Child Is Injured In A Playground Under School Care?
- Could I Claim If My Child Was Injured On A School Trip?
- My Child Got Injured At School – How Long Do I Have To Claim?
- How Compensation Is Calculated If Your Child Is Injured At School
- No Win No Fee Claims When Your Child Is Injured Under School Care
- Contact A Personal Injury Solicitor Today
- Useful Links
My Child Was Injured While Under School Care – Can I Make A Claim?
You may have grounds to claim compensation on behalf of your child if they are injured because a school breached the duty of care they were owed. The Occupier’s Liability Act 1957 states that those in control of public space must take necessary steps to ensure the reasonable safety of members of the public who are visiting that space. This duty of care also extends to schools and nurseries.
Schools can maintain their duty of care by performing regular risk assessments and any required maintenance checks and repairs, such as for playground equipment.
To be able to make a personal injury claim on behalf of your child, the following criteria will need to be met:
- The school must have owed your child a duty of care.
- This duty must have been breached.
- Due to this breach, your child suffered an injury.
For more advice on what to do if a child is injured at school in the UK and whether you can claim, contact our advisors for free today.
What To Do If A Child Is Injured While Under School Care?
If you’re looking for advice if your child is injured when under school care, here are some simple steps that could be of use:
- Seek the appropriate medical treatment: Of course, the most important thing to do if your child is injured or made ill is take them to the doctor or a hospital’s Accident and Emergency (A&E) department, as appropriate. Not only will your child receive the medical treatment that they need, as a result of their injuries, you will also receive a medical report written by the doctor. This will explain the nature of the injuries, how long the injuries are likely to affect your child and what medical treatment your child will need as a result. The report could be used as medical evidence to support your child’s claim, and determine the value of the claim.
- If it is possible, take photographs of the hazard that caused your child’s injuries. This will provide evidence of their injuries.
- If it is possible, take photographs of your child’s injuries, to provide visual evidence.
- Talk to anyone who witnessed your child’s accidents. This could be a member of staff at the school.
- Report the accident to the school and ensure it is recorded accurately in the school’s accident log book. This should include the date and time of the accident.
- Keep the receipts of any purchases you have to make because of your child’s injuries. You may be able to claim these back as special damages, and they could also provide evidence of your claim.
- If there is any CCTV footage of the accident available, request a copy.
My Child Was Injured By Another Pupil Under School Care
Was your child injured at school by another child, in the UK? If yes then your child could be entitled to claim compensation if your child was intentionally injured by another child at school, UK law states that the age of criminal culpability is 10 so if the child who attacked your child was over the age of 10, you may wish to prosecute them and claim criminal compensation. Could you sue a school for injury in the UK, if another child was at fault? This all depends on the circumstances and what level of supervision was expected.
If you are unsure as to whether the injury your child has sustained while under the care of school is eligible for compensation call Legal Expert and take advantage of our free consultation to have the case assess.
My Child Was Injured At School Due To Poor Maintenance, Who Is Liable?
If you’re wondering advice if your child is injured when under school care, this could be due to an incident resulting from poor maintenance.
The Occupiers Act of 1957 instructs that businesses and organisations alike, must properly maintain their premises so that they do not cause a health or safety hazard that could injure anyone on their premises. If the child was injured because the school did not maintain the building and grounds to proper standards, you could potentially be able to make a school accident compensation claim on behalf of your child depending on the circumstances.
Examples of ways that a child could be injured at a school due to poor maintenance could include: poorly maintained walkways causing slip, trip or fall accidents, poorly maintained school playgrounds causing slip, trip or fall accidents, ceiling tiles coming loose and hitting children, or children being hit by faulty gym equipment.
If your child has been injured or made ill at school, because the school is in a state of repair or due to poor maintenance, call us today to see if your child is entitled to claim.
My Child Had An Allergic Reaction At The School, Could I Claim Compensation?
Another reason you may be seeking advice if your child is injured when under school care is as a result of an allergic reaction incident.
Some allergic reactions, such as food allergies may have serious effects on a child. In extreme school accident cases, a child could potentially die by consuming or being exposed to a substance that they are allergic to. If the school knowingly exposed your child to a substance that they are allergic to, for example, the cafeteria staff served food to your child that contained nuts, when they had already been informed that your child suffered from a nut allergy, and your child suffered an allergic reaction as a result, then you could be entitled to claim compensation on your child’s behalf. Other allergies include animal hair, medication, and art materials.
Call Legal Expert today, to see if you could make a personal injury claim for an allergic reaction, on behalf of your child. In the meantime, please read on for more advice if your child is injured when under school care.
My Child Had A Fall Accident Under School Care Are They Eligible For Compensation?
Did you know that each year, around 40,000 children sustain injuries leading to hospital visits? According to ROSPA, the reasons for these include:
- Poor supervision
- Misused play equipment
- Hazardous clothing
- Dangerous weather conditions
What’s more, the most accidents occurred on the following play equipment:
- Swings
- Climbing frames
- Slides
- Roundabouts
Inside the school building, spillages on the floor that have not been properly mopped up, broken flooring or poor maintenance on a staircase could all cause a child to fall. If your child has been seriously injured because of a slip or fall accident at school, call Legal Expert to see if you could claim compensation on their behalf.
Can You Claim If Your Child Is Injured In A Playground Under School Care?
Another reason you may be seeking advice if your child is injured when under school care is as a result of a playground injury.
Of course, getting a scraped knee or a bruise on the playground is a normal part of growing up. However, if a child has been seriously injured in a school playground (for example, an injury that causes them to miss three days off school, or has a significant effect on them), then a
child injured on the school playground could receive compensation if the reason for their accident was negligence on the part of the school.
Here are some examples of reasons a child may be injured at school;
- Children falling on a playground that has not been de-iced or gritted during bad weather.
- Children being injured by poorly maintained play equipment.
- Children being injured due to lack of adult supervision.
Could I Claim If My Child Was Injured On A School Trip?
You may be looking for advice if your child is injured when under school care wile on a school trip.
If you send your child on a school trip, for the day or where they spend a few nights away from home, you trust the school to take adequate care of them. If your child was injured in an accident that was not their fault while on a school trip identifying liability could be difficult.
Just because your child is injured when under school care does not mean that the school is automatically at fault if they are injured on a school trip. For example, if the school coach is involved in an accident and your child is injured, due to negligence on the part of another driver, then the claim would be against the other driver, not your child’s school.
My Child Got Injured At School – How Long Do I Have To Claim?
If you are eligible to make a personal injury claim on behalf of your child, you may be wondering, ‘My child got injured at school. How long do I have to make a claim?’
Generally, the time limit to start a personal injury claim is 3 years from the date of the accident, as stated in the Limitation Act 1980.
However, for those under the age of 18, the time limit is paused until their 18th birthday. From this date, they will have 3 years to make a claim. Prior to this date, you could have the court appoint you as a litigation friend to be able to make a claim on your child’s behalf.
Other exceptions apply to this 3-year time limit. If you would like to find out more about these or learn what to do if your child is injured at school, please get in touch with one of the advisors from our team.
How Compensation Is Calculated If Your Child Is Injured At School
Following an accident, you may be wondering, “If my child got injured at school, how is compensation calculated?”
There are two kinds of compensation you can pursue if your child is injured at school, and each is calculated in a different way. The first head is general damages. This head of claim covers your child’s injuries and the way that these injuries will affect their life in the future. Often, when personal injury solicitors and other legal professionals value this head of claim, they will use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help. This document lists different injuries and provides guideline compensation brackets for each. You can find some examples taken from the JCG in the table below. Please note that the first entry in the table is an estimated figure that is not based on the JCG.
| Type Of Injury | Severity | Compensation Amounts |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Serious Injuries With Special Damages | Serious | Up to £500,000+ |
| Head/Brain Injury | Moderately Severe (b) | £267,340 to £344,150 |
| Facial Disfigurement | Very Severe Scarring (a) | £36,340 to £118,790 |
| Less Severe Scarring (b) | £21,920 to £59,090 | |
| Knee Injury | Severe (a) (i) | £85,100 to £117,410 |
| Moderate (b) (i) | £18,110 to £31,960 | |
| Hand Injuries | Severe Fractures to Fingers (f) | Up to £44,840 |
| Achilles Tendon Injury | Serious (b) | £30,500 to £36,720 |
| Moderate (c) | £15,370 to £25,710 |
The second head of compensation you could pursue is special damages. These account for the financial losses you experience as a result of your child’s injuries. For example, special damages could potentially cover the cost of:
- A home tutor.
- Counselling.
- Home adjustments.
- Prescriptions.
To learn more about claiming compensation for financial losses or what to do if a child is injured at school in the UK, contact our team of experienced advisors today.
No Win No Fee Claims When Your Child Is Injured Under School Care
After our advisors have assessed your eligibility to claim compensation after your child was injured under school care, they could connect you with one of our dedicated personal injury solicitors.
The type of contract our solicitors can offer eligible claimants is called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). When claiming under a CFA, you will enjoy some very desirable benefits including:
- No upfront fees for the solicitor to start work on the claim.
- No fees for this work during the actual claims process.
- And if the claim fails, you will not pay any fees towards your solicitor’s services.
Should you win the claim, a personal injury compensation award will be paid out. A percentage of this compensation will make up the solicitor’s success fee. Since this percentage is capped by The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013, you will keep the majority of any compensation you receive.
Contact A Personal Injury Solicitor Today
Legal Expert is an established personal injury law firm that could deal with a case involving an injured child sensitively and professionally. Our solicitors will always push to win the maximum amount of compensation that your child could be entitled to receive, to ensure that they don’t get short-changed. In fact, our solicitors have up to 30 years of experience, so we’re more than prepared to handle your claim.
If your child was injured on a school playground or injured while under school care in an accident that was not their fault causing avoidable injuries, call us today for your free consultation and if you are entitled to claim on behalf of your child we will provide you with the right personal injury solicitor for the job. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.
- Call 0800 073 8804.
- Fill out our claim online form.
- Message in our live support chat box on the screen.
Useful Links
How Can I Make A Claim For A Child Car Accident?
Read our guide to learn what steps to take.
How Much Can I Claim If My Child Has An Accident At School?
Find out how much your child could be entitled to if your child has been injured at school in this guide.
How Much Compensation Can I Claim For A Nursery Or School Accident?
How much compensated could be awarded? Discover in this guide.
Thanks for reading our guide, where we’ve provided advice if your child is injured when under school care.
