Teachers and support staff are often called upon to manage asthma at school but may have little knowledge and understanding of the condition. The aim of this study was to determine whether a short seminar would improve knowledge in non-health professionals. Seventy school staff attended one of five 2 h seminars presented by an asthma educator. Participants completed the Newcastle Asthma Knowledge Questionnaire (AKQ) before, and 2 months after, the seminar. The mean initial score (maximum possible 31) was 16.4 (range 4-26), increasing to 23 (range 13-29, P = 0.0001). There was a large increase in knowledge about symptoms, pathophysiology, preventive medications and side effects of medications. Initially almost all of the participants had deficiencies in knowledge about reliever medications and the management of exercise-induced asthma. After the seminar, knowledge in these areas was still poor, with only one-third of the participants answering them correctly. The results have been used to modify the content of the 2 h seminar with increased emphasis on those areas in which deficiencies in knowledge were demonstrated. No data are available yet as to whether this improved knowledge has improved management.