If you're in a maintained school, go to this article to find out what you need to publish online.
Download our checklist
This checklist summarises the information that academies, including free schools, are usually required to publish on their websites.
Check your funding agreement to understand exactly what you're required to publish online.
It's based on the DfE guidance on what academies and further education colleges must or should publish online and further legislation listed in the sources in the checklist above.
You should provide a paper copy of the information found on your website if a parent or carer requests it.
Check your website requirements here
You can also download these requirements in our checklist above.
Be clear on:
- What you need to publish
- Which schools it applies to
- Where each requirement comes from
School contact details
Trust information
Additional school information
Equality information
Policies
Special educational needs (SEN) information report
Curriculum
Admissions
Pupil premium strategy statement
PE and sport premium (primary-aged pupils only)
Careers programme information (years 7 to 13 only)
Key Stage (KS) 2 performance data
KS4 performance data
KS5 performance data (16 to 18)
Governance and financial information
Guidance for nurseries
The DfE doesn't produce a list of the information that nurseries should publish online. Instead, academies that include nursery provision should publish the information listed in the checklist above for the nursery years where this is relevant.
Also, check whether your local authority (LA) sets its own requirements for what should be published on a nursery's website.
Publishing data for small cohorts and special schools
Consider whether publishing data for small groups might compromise your ability to protect pupil identities online.
This is because when publishing performance data for small groups, such as exam results or swimming competency information, individual pupils can become identifiable.
If you decide not to publish certain data, you can include a note on your website explaining why you've chosen to do this.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) told us this.
You shouldn't publish performance data for groups smaller than about 10 pupils
This is a general rule. To help you decide, you can check whether the DfE has published or suppressed your performance data.
Don't worry about this in relation to an Ofsted inspection, because the DfE will have your data so inspectors can request it.
Our associate education expert, Gulshan Kayembe, told us this.
Publishing performance data in special academies
You should publish your performance data related to exam results 'where appropriate'.
It's up to you to decide whether it's appropriate to publish this information for your setting and for the size of the cohort.
This is outlined in paragraph 2.65 of the single funding agreement for special academies (check your own in case it differs).
Linking to your multi-academy trust's website
If you're in a multi-academy trust (MAT), in most cases there are no rules on whether the information should be published on your individual school's website or your trust's website (we've highlighted the exceptions above and in our checklist).
As long as you make the information readily accessible, it's up to you to decide how to do this.
It's good practice for you to link to information on your MAT's website, particularly when policies and information are held centrally and may be applicable to all academies within the MAT.
You should publish information where it's most likely to be accessed by interested parties, such as parents.
For example, each school website could host school-specific documents such as spending reports and information about the local governing body.
This was explained to us by Brendan Hollyer, another of our associate experts.
UK GDPR and equality requirements for your website
You must notify users that your website uses cookies
Cookies allow a website to store information on the user’s preferences or past actions. Speak to your IT department or website designer to find out if your website uses cookies.
If your website uses cookies you must:
- Tell users that the cookies are there
- Explain what the cookies are doing
- Obtain users' consent to store a cookie on their device
Consent must be actively and clearly given.
This is outlined in further detail on the ICO's website.
You must make your website accessible
You're required under the Equality Act 2010 to make your website accessible. This is explained on pages 148, 149 and 160 of the Code of Practice for services and public functions.
If you collect personal data, you must publish your privacy information
If you collect personal data through your website (e.g. email addresses for your newsletter) you'll have to provide the privacy information at the point the individual enters this information.
See our model privacy notices for help with this.
You may need a copyright licence
You may require a copyright licence if your school website uses material that was not created by pupils or staff.
Use Copyright and Schools to find out whether you need a licence.
Ofsted expectations
Although Ofsted doesn't stipulate what you should publish on your website, inspectors will review your school or trust's publicly available information, such as the website.
This is outlined in paragraph 106 of the School Inspection Handbook.
Linking to Parent View is recommended at the point of an inspection
You should encourage parents to complete the Ofsted Parent View by placing a link to it on your website (see paragraphs 115 to 119 of the School Inspection Handbook for more information).
Get updated about changes to your policy requirements
Use our Policy Expert feature to stay up to date with any changes to the list of policies your school must have.
It also gives you a single view of:
- When the guidance was last updated
- Which policies you need on your website
- How often the policy needs reviewing
- Who to send it to for approval