Objective   To examine the status of doctors and clinics allocation in public primary and secondary schools across the mainland of China for providing a reference to the formulation of school health strategies.

  Methods  With Epidemiological Dynamic Data Collection Platform (EDDC) of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, we conducted a general survey on school doctors and clinics allocation among primary and secondary schools across 30 provincial-level administrative divisions in the mainland of China from October 2019 to February 2020.

  Results  Among the 193 492 public primary and secondary schools surveyed, 33 407 (17.27%) had school doctors and there were 44 881 school doctors providing healthcare services to 155 143 857 students in 2019, with a student-school doctor ratio of 3457 : 1. Of the 66 682 surveyed schools with the total student number of 600 and above, only 1 296 (1.94%) met the national standard (≤ 600 : 1) for the student-school doctor ratio. School clinics were set up in 15.41% (n = 29 809) of all schools surveyed. There were statistical disparities in allocations of part/full time school doctors and school clinics, student-school doctor ratio, proportions of the school doctors taking professional training programs/refresher courses among the schools in different regions and the schools of various types (primary/secondary/vacation school and boarding/non-boarding) (all P < 0.01).

  Conclusion  There were significant deficits in allocations of school doctors and clinics among primary and secondary schools across China and region- and school type-specific measures should be taken to improve the situation.