School website requirements 2026/27The free guide to keeping your school website Always Ready
Everything maintained schools, academies, free schools and trusts must publish online, set out in one 61 page guide. Every requirement names its source, so you can check us, and it is built around our Always Ready approach: calm, steady care all year rather than a scramble before an inspection.
- All 26 areas of the school website compliance checklist, with must or should for your type of school
- What has changed for 2026/27, including the new allergy safety policy duty
- Practical tips from thousands of school website compliance audits
Free download · 61 pages
Join more than 12,000 school staff who have downloaded previous editions.
Only 6.5% of the school websites we audited were fully compliant
Most schools are close. Very few get everything. The risk sits in the detail, and in information quietly drifting out of date. That is why we talk about being Always Ready: a little care all year, so you are ready, not warned.
Source: The State of School Website Compliance 2025, Schudio.
Ready when Ofsted called
Devonshire Road Primary School in Bolton has been with Schudio since 2021. Two members of staff look after the website through the week, keeping it current for parents, carers and children. When Ofsted rang to plan the inspection, inspectors had already been through it.
“I cannot stress the importance of the ‘Always Ready’ culture that Schudio have for their clients and their websites… it really does help and makes content management so much easier when you aren’t overhauling your website in preparation for an inspection.”
“…Ofsted had scoured our website in the days prior to our inspection, and even referenced the trips we were going on during our planning phone call!”
“…by having 2 sets of eyes on this regularly throughout each week, we are able to maintain up-to-date, current information (particularly safeguarding) which reduces any headaches when you get the call.”
What schools must publish on their website
Schools in England are required by law to publish specific information online. For maintained schools, the duties come mainly from the School Information (England) Regulations 2008. For academies and free schools, they come from the funding agreement, backed up by the Academy Trust Handbook. The DfE guidance brings these statutory requirements together in two lists: what maintained schools must or should publish online, and what academies, free schools and colleges should publish online.
Both of the DfE’s lists were last updated on 24 October 2024. They are not the whole picture, though. Statutory guidance such as Keeping Children Safe in Education, the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Academy Trust Handbook add school website requirements of their own, which is why a school website compliance checklist built only from the two DfE pages misses things.
Maintained schools
Community, foundation, voluntary aided and voluntary controlled schools. Most items are a must, set by regulations, and maintained schools carry the longest list.
Academies and free schools
Many items are a should rather than a must. Check your funding agreement, because it can turn a should into a must, and Ofsted inspectors still expect to see them.
Multi academy trusts
Trust level duties sit on the trust website, not the school site. See our multi academy trust website guidance for how we handle them.
What has changed for 2026/27
The two DfE lists have not changed since 24 October 2024, and we will always tell you plainly when they do. The changes for this academic year come from new law and the Academy Trust Handbook.
Allergy safety policy
Since 1 September 2026, schools must have an allergy safety policy and publish it on the school website. The duty is in section 100A of the Children and Families Act 2014, inserted by the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 and commenced by SI 2026/933. What the allergy duty means.
School uniform
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 limits compulsory branded uniform items from 1 September 2026, so check your uniform page still matches your policy.
Trust funds statement
Multi academy trusts must publish a summary of how funds are distributed across their schools by 31 January each year, first due by 31 January 2027 (Academy Trust Handbook 2026, paragraph 5.32).
The school website compliance checklist: all 26 areas
Here is every area of our school website compliance checklist, with its status for maintained schools, academies and trusts. The guide goes further, breaking each area into the individual items schools must publish or should publish, with the exact source for each one.
- 01Must
Admission arrangements
Your admission arrangements, or where parents can find them, including oversubscription criteria and appeal timetables.
- 02Trusts
Annual reports and accounts
Audited accounts and the annual report, for academy trusts and colleges.
- 03Must / should
Behaviour policy
A must for maintained schools and a should for academies, including how you prevent bullying.
- 04Must / should
Careers programme information
For pupils in years 7 to 13, a summary of your careers programme and who to contact about it.
- 05Must / should
Charging and remissions
When you charge for activities, and when charges are reduced or waived.
- 06Must
Complaints policy
Your complaints procedure, so parents know exactly how to raise a concern.
- 07Must / should
Contact details
Address, phone, who handles enquiries, and your SENCO for mainstream schools.
- 08Must
Curriculum
Content by subject and year, phonics and reading at key stage 1, key stage 4 options and your RSE policy.
- 09Should
Ethos and values
A clear statement of your school’s ethos and values.
- 10Trusts
Executive pay
The number of staff paid over £100,000, in £10,000 bands.
- 11Must
Financial information
For maintained schools, staff paid over £100,000 and a link to your financial benchmarking page.
- 12Must
Governance information
Who your governors are, how the board and committees work, attendance records and business interests.
- 13Must / should
Ofsted report
Your latest Ofsted report, or a link to it.
- 14250+ staff
Pay gap reporting
Gender pay gap figures if you employ 250 or more people.
- 15Must
PE and sport premium
What you received, how you spent it, the impact, and year 6 swimming attainment.
- 16Must
Public sector equality duty
Equality information and equality objectives, reviewed at least every four years.
- 17Must
Pupil premium
Your pupil premium strategy statement, on the DfE template.
- 18Should
Remote education
The remote education you would provide if pupils cannot attend school.
- 19Should
School opening hours
The total time your school is open in a typical week.
- 20Should
School uniform
Your uniform policy, within the new legal limit on branded items.
- 21Must
SEN and disability information
Your SEN information report, updated every year, and how you support disabled pupils.
- 22Must / should
Test, exam and assessment results
Your latest results and a link to your school’s performance tables page.
- 23Must
Safeguarding
Your child protection policy, which Keeping Children Safe in Education expects to be public.
- 24Trusts
Trust requirements
Academy Trust Handbook duties for the trust website, including the new funds statement.
- 25New
Allergy safety policy
Required by law since 1 September 2026. Publish your policy on the school website.
- 26Must
Accessibility statement
A website accessibility statement. Schools are partially exempt, and the guide explains how.
Want every item, not just the headings?
The full guide takes these 26 areas down to 475 individual statutory requirements, each with its source, plus our tips on getting the trickier ones right and staying Always Ready.
What you get in the free 61 page guide
The latest school website requirements
Updated 27 October 2026, with the sources checked every week.
What has changed for 2026/27
The allergy duty, the uniform limit and the new trust statement, explained plainly.
Top tips for school website compliance
What we see go wrong, including the accessibility exemption almost everyone misreads.
A compliance checklist for all 26 areas
Must or should, for maintained schools, academies, colleges and trusts.
Item by item, with sources
Governance information, SEND, pupil premium and results, set out line by line.
Trust level duties
Everything from the Academy Trust Handbook that belongs on the trust website.
What Ofsted look at on a school website
Ofsted inspectors look at your school website before an inspection, and it is often the first impression they get. Inspectors use it to check your statutory information is in place, and parents use it to judge how well the school is run. Missing or out of date information does more than cost a compliance point. It suggests the detail may be slipping elsewhere too.
An Ofsted ready website is simply one that is Always Ready. Take one area a month and the checklist stays current all year. If you would rather have a second pair of eyes, our school website audits check every area for you.
Always Ready: how to keep your school website compliant all year
Always Ready is the approach we take with every school, because school website compliance is not a job you finish. Policies expire, governors change and results come in, so maintaining your website matters as much as building it. These four habits keep primary school and secondary school websites ready, whenever someone looks.
- 1
Give it an owner
Name one person responsible for maintaining the school website, with school leaders and the governing body checking it at least once a year.
- 2
Check one area a month
Work through the compliance checklist one area at a time. Twenty six areas becomes twenty minutes a month, not a lost weekend before an inspection.
- 3
Date every document
Put a review date on every policy and document, and replace anything that has passed it. Out of date policies are one of the most common problems we find in an audit.
- 4
Watch for changes
Requirements can change part way through an academic year. Keep an eye on the DfE guidance, or let us do it: the guide is updated whenever the sources change.
4.9 out of 5 from the people who use our training
38 reviews of our school website compliance workshops and training days on SchudioTV, 33 of them five stars.
“There is ALWAYS improvements to our website following these workshops… It’s a genuine ‘safe space’ to get your website compliant with so many additional tips and advice.”
“It’s very isolating to be the one with responsibility for the website when it is the first point of call for potential parents and of course Ofsted.”
“I feel empowered to get the website back up to date and ensure that it truly reflects us as a School.”
“Content of workshop was enough to not get overwhelmed and actions to be completed attainable. Would recommend to anyone.”
“After the course we now feel Ofsted ready!”
School website requirements: your questions answered
What must schools publish on their website?
It depends on your type of school, but every school needs things like admission arrangements, curriculum information, a complaints policy, governance information, pupil premium and PE and sport premium reports, an SEN information report and, since 1 September 2026, an allergy safety policy. The checklist above lists all 26 areas, and the guide breaks them into individual items.
Have the DfE school website requirements changed for 2026/27?
The DfE’s two publish online lists were last updated on 24 October 2024. This year’s changes come from elsewhere: the allergy safety policy duty and the limit on branded uniform items from 1 September 2026, and a new funds statement for multi academy trusts due by 31 January 2027.
Do academies have to publish the same as maintained schools?
Not quite. Many items are a must for maintained schools but a should for academies and free schools. Your funding agreement can make some of them binding, and Ofsted inspectors will still look for them, so we recommend academies treat most shoulds as musts.
Is publishing this information a legal requirement?
Yes. Maintained schools must publish specified information online under the School Information (England) Regulations 2008, and academies through their funding agreement. Other duties, such as the allergy safety policy, come from their own legislation.
Do independent schools follow the same rules?
No. This guide covers state funded schools in England. Independent schools have their own information requirements under the Independent School Standards.
Do we need a privacy notice on our school website?
It is not on the DfE lists, but UK GDPR requires schools to tell parents, pupils and staff how their data is used. Most schools do this by publishing their privacy notices on the website, and we recommend it.
Who is responsible for school website compliance?
For maintained schools the governing body is responsible, and for academies it is the academy trust. In practice most schools give day to day responsibility to a named member of staff, with school leaders and governors checking the website regularly.
How often should we check our school website?
Little and often. Most requirements change when your school changes, such as a new policy, a new governor or new results. Review one area a month and check the whole site at the start of each academic year. That is what we mean by Always Ready.
Get the School Website Requirements Guide 2026/27
Free, 61 pages, and updated 27 October 2026. Pop in your details and it is yours.
Stay compliant. Stay confident. Stay Always Ready.
Prefer to talk it through? Join our free monthly compliance workshop.
Free download · 61 pages
