Checker

Is your venue in scope of Martyn’s Law, and which tier?

Answer four questions and get your likely position under the Act, including the fixed-tier rules for places of worship and education that most checkers miss. It takes about a minute.

Logic verified against s.2 and s.3 of the Act and the statutory guidance, 2 September 2026 · Reviewed fortnightly

Question 1

What are you checking?

A venue or premises (a building or part of one, a group of buildings, or a building and land such as a garden or grounds) A one-off or recurring event (on land, or at premises that are not already enhanced duty premises)

Question 2

Which of the Act’s specified uses fits the premises best?

The premises must be wholly or mainly used for one or more of these Schedule 1 uses. Pick the principal use.

Shop, food and drink, entertainment or leisure, sports ground, library, museum or gallery, hall, visitor attraction, hotel, healthcare, bus or railway station, aerodrome, or a public authority building Place of worship (communal worship or other communal religious practice as the principal use) Childcare, primary or secondary school, or further education college Higher education (university premises) None of these fits

Question 3

How many people is it reasonable to expect on the premises at the same time, from time to time, in connection with a Schedule 1 use?

Expected actual attendance at your busiest realistic times, not the fire capacity, counting any Schedule 1 use of the premises, not just the main one. Count staff and other people working there. People in beer gardens, grounds and other land that is part of the premises count too.

Fewer than 200 200 to 799 800 or more

Question 4

Do any of these exclusions apply?

Yes: it is a Parliament, devolved legislature or devolved government building, an open-air park, garden or recreation ground where entry is not checked by payment, tickets or membership, or transport premises already covered by aviation, rail or port security law No, none of those

Likely position

What this is and is not. This checker applies the tests in sections 2 and 3 of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 and the statutory guidance. It gives an indication, not a determination: scope depends on your actual attendance evidence and circumstances, and this is not legal advice. Whatever your result, the reasoning belongs in a written Scope and Tier Assessment, because the guidance expects your attendance assessment to be evidenced and able to satisfy the SIA if asked.

How the test actually works

Under section 2 of the Act, premises qualify when four things are true: they consist of a building, or a building and other land; they are wholly or mainly used for one or more of the uses in Schedule 1; it is reasonable to expect that from time to time 200 or more individuals may be present at the same time in connection with one or more of the Schedule 1 uses, not necessarily the main one; and they are not excluded under Part 1 of Schedule 2. A building includes part of a building and a group of buildings. From 200 to 799 expected people the premises are standard tier; from 800 they are enhanced tier.

Two rules change that picture, and they are the ones most online checkers miss. First, places of worship, childcare, and primary, secondary and further education premises are always standard tier, whatever their numbers: an 800-seat place of worship stays standard. Higher education premises get no such rule and can be enhanced. Second, the attendance test is expectation, not capacity: the Home Office’s supplementary guidance sets out example assessment methods, of which a fire-safety occupancy figure is one, but evidenced actual attendance can justify a lower figure, and the statutory guidance requires staff to be included in the count.

Events qualify separately under section 3: 800 or more people expected at some point, checked entry, at premises not already enhanced duty premises, with events at worship and most education premises excluded. A qualifying event brings its own SIA notification on 14-day clocks and its own compliance document.

Whatever your tier, the practical question is the same: which documents must exist, and which go to the regulator. The complete documents checklist answers that tier by tier, and the venue guide covers the duties in full.