Wiltshire College carries out safety drill at Salisbury site

The drill, which began at the Salisbury campus at 3.30pm on Thursday, January 22, focused on the Run, Hide, Tell procedure to ensure a calm and appropriate response.

All staff and students were informed of the exercise in advance, and Wiltshire Police and other emergency services were kept fully informed.

Run, Hide, Tell is a nationally recognised safety protocol developed by the National Counter Terrorism Security Office to help people respond effectively during a terrorist attack.

The guidance is also supported by the Department for Education, which advises colleges to embed the approach within their incident response planning.

The advice is based on lessons learned from real-life incidents and promotes three clear principles: run to a place of safety, if possible; hide if escape is not feasible, and call 999 when it is safe to do so.

Jo Taylor, director of estates at Wiltshire College & University Centre, said: “The safety of students and staff is our highest priority whenever they are on site at our four campuses.

“Today’s exercise is about making sure everyone understands what to do in this kind of situation and feels prepared.

“While we have detailed procedures in place, it is important to test them in a controlled environment so that we can learn lessons and refine them as necessary.”

A similar exercise was previously carried out at Wiltshire College's Chippenham campus during the summer holidays.

The college will continue to review and practise its safety procedures across campuses over the next year, with drills planned to minimise disruption and distress.

As well as supporting campus safety, these exercises help develop transferable skills such as situational awareness, calm decision-making and knowing how to respond responsibly.