School Website Design: Parents, Policies and Ofsted Requirements
School website design that meets DfE published information rules for maintained schools and academies, with a structure parents can actually use.
Good school website design serves two audiences at once: parents and carers who need term dates, letters and contacts quickly, and the statutory list of information the Department for Education (DfE) expects schools and academies to publish online. The way to manage both is to build the navigation around what families look for every week, and give the required information its own clear, complete and dated section. Your latest Ofsted report has to be on the site, but the publishing rules themselves are DfE guidance. Inspectors, governors and prospective parents then find what they need without the website turning into a filing cabinet.
Key takeaways
- The DfE publishes separate lists of what maintained schools must publish and what academies, free schools and colleges should publish; both guidance pages were last updated on 24 October 2024.
- Several items have fixed dates: admission arrangements by 15 March, the pupil premium strategy statement by 31 December and PE and sport premium details by 31 July.
- Academy trusts have extra items, including audited annual report and accounts by 31 January and executive pay in £10,000 bands.
- Parents need a different front door: term dates, letters, clubs, menus, contacts and how to report an absence.
- Give every policy a review date and an owner, so the site stays accurate between updates.
What must a school website publish?
The requirements depend on the type of school. The DfE's guidance on what maintained schools must publish online covers local authority maintained schools. Academies, free schools and colleges have their own guidance, because their requirements come largely through their funding agreement. Here is a summary of the main items for maintained schools, as set out in that guidance.
| Item | Key points |
|---|---|
| Contact details | Postal address, phone number and the name of the staff member who handles queries; mainstream schools also publish the SENCO's name and contact details |
| Admission arrangements | Foundation and voluntary-aided schools publish their own; community and voluntary-controlled schools link to the local authority |
| Ofsted reports | A copy of the latest report or a link to it on the Ofsted website |
| Exam and assessment results | A link to the school performance tables service, plus the key stage measures for your phase |
| Curriculum | Content for every subject each year, including RE; phonics or reading schemes for key stage 1; courses for key stage 4 |
| Behaviour policy | Must comply with section 89 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 |
| SEN information report | Updated annually, including the accessibility plan and arrangements for disabled pupils |
| Pupil premium | Strategy statement on the DfE template, by 31 December each year |
| PE and sport premium | By 31 July: amount, spending, impact, sustainability, and Year 6 swimming attainment |
| Charging and remissions | What parents may be charged for and when charges are waived |
| Complaints policy | The complaints procedure |
| Governance | Details of the governing body and its committees |
| Financial information | Number of staff paid over £100,000, in £10,000 bands, and a link to the financial benchmarking service |
| Equality | Public sector equality duty compliance and equality objectives |
| Careers (secondary) | Careers lead's contact details and programme information, plus a provider access policy statement |
| Gender pay gap | Schools with 250 or more employees |
The guidance also lists items that are recommended rather than required, such as ethos and values, remote education, opening hours, uniform policy and the music development plan. Parents look for most of those, so they belong on the site anyway. This table is a summary; always check the current guidance itself before you sign off your site.
Academy website requirements
The DfE guidance on what academies, free schools and colleges should publish online says academies must publish specified information to comply with their funding agreement, with other requirements coming from laws such as the Equality Act 2010 and the Children and Families Act 2014. Much of the list mirrors the maintained schools list. The items that stand out for academy trusts are:
- Audited annual report and accounts, published by 31 January.
- Executive pay: the number of staff whose salary and benefits exceeded £100,000 in the previous year, in £10,000 bands.
- Trust governance: memorandum and articles of association, names of members and trustees, relevant business and financial interests, the funding agreement and current governance arrangements.
- Whistleblowing procedure.
For a multi-academy trust, that raises a structural question: what lives on the trust website and what lives on each school's site. A common, sensible pattern is trust-level governance and accounts on the trust site, with each school's own policies, results and admissions on its school site and clear links between the two.
Deadlines that should drive your website calendar
Several items have fixed dates in the guidance. Put them in a shared calendar with a named owner, so the website is updated on time every year.
| Date | What to publish | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| 31 December | Pupil premium strategy statement | Schools receiving pupil premium |
| 31 January | Audited annual report and accounts | Academy trusts |
| 28 February | Admission appeals timetable | Schools that are their own admission authority |
| 15 March | Admission arrangements for September entry | Schools that are their own admission authority |
| 31 July | PE and sport premium report | Schools receiving the funding |
| 31 August | In-year admission process | Schools that are their own admission authority |
Check the pupil premium section each autumn, ahead of the 31 December date, and the admissions pages each winter.
Designing for parents first
Current families usually arrive looking for something specific, and often on a phone. Build the navigation around those tasks, not around the school's internal structure.
- Term dates and INSET days, downloadable and in a calendar format.
- Letters home and newsletters, newest first, searchable.
- How to report an absence, with the phone number or system to use.
- Clubs, trips and lunch menus.
- Uniform, with where to buy it.
- Key contacts: office, SENCO, designated safeguarding lead, and how to raise a concern.
- Parent payment and communication systems, linked clearly.
Prospective parents are the second group: they want the feel of the school, the Ofsted report, results, the curriculum, admissions and how to book a visit. Give them a clear "Joining us" route. Our general guide to website navigation best practices explains how to keep menus short when there is a lot to fit in.
Organising statutory information so it stays accurate
The required information is easier to manage, and easier for governors and inspectors to check, when it lives in one clearly labelled section, such as "Key information" or "Statutory information", with a page or a document for each item.
- One page per item, using the same names as the DfE guidance, so nothing is missed.
- A short summary on the page, with the full document as a download, not a bare link to a PDF.
- A "last reviewed" date and owner on every policy page.
- Accessible documents. Where you can, publish policies as web pages rather than scanned PDFs, so they work with screen readers and on phones.
- An annual audit, ticking every item against the current guidance.
The guidance also says a free paper copy should be available on request, and that schools without their own website must publish the information elsewhere online and give parents a link.
Accessibility, safeguarding and photos
School websites are used by parents and pupils with a wide range of needs, so accessibility should be designed in from the start. The curriculum and SEN items in the guidance both include an accessibility plan, which is a school document rather than a website standard, but a site that is hard to use undermines it. Our website design work aims at WCAG 2.2 AA from the start.
Photos and names of pupils need care. Follow your school's own consent records and safeguarding policy before anything goes online, and make it easy for staff to check consent before they publish a news story.
Choosing a platform and an agency
Schools can choose a specialist school website provider, WordPress or a custom build. Whichever you choose, check:
- Staff can update letters, news and policies easily without a developer.
- There is a structure for statutory information, not just a page builder.
- Calendars, newsletters and document libraries are built in.
- You own your content and domain, and can move if you need to.
- The site works well on a phone and meets accessibility standards.
Our view: if your staff mainly need to post letters, news and policies, a specialist school platform is often the simplest choice. WordPress or a custom build earns its place when you want a distinctive site for admissions, a trust with several schools on one system, or connections to other tools your school already uses.
We cover why sector-specific structure matters in our guide to industry-specific website design, and our rebuild for Marie's Learning Centre, a nursery and preschool, shows our work for an early years setting.
Frequently asked questions
Is a school legally required to have a website?
The guidance focuses on publishing information online rather than on having a website as such. It says a school without its own website must publish the required information on another website and give parents a link to it. In practice, most schools have their own site, because that is the clearest way to meet the requirements and to communicate with families.
Does Ofsted check the school website?
The published information requirements come from the DfE, not Ofsted, but your website is one of the first places anyone looks before visiting, including inspectors. Keeping the statutory information complete, dated and easy to find, with your latest Ofsted report linked, is the simplest way to make a good first impression.
What is the difference between required and recommended information?
Required items are those the guidance says a school must publish, such as the behaviour policy, SEN information report and pupil premium statement. Recommended items, such as ethos and values, opening hours and the uniform policy, are good practice. Parents look for many recommended items, so include them in your parent-facing pages.
Should a multi-academy trust have one website or many?
Usually both: a trust website for trust-wide governance, accounts and executive pay, plus individual school sites or sections for each school's own information and parent communication. Shared design and a shared platform keep costs and maintenance down, while letting each school keep its own identity.
How often should school website policies be updated?
Each policy should be reviewed on the cycle the school or trust sets for it, with fixed items such as the pupil premium statement and the SEN information report updated on the timescales in the guidance. Show a review date on every policy page and run a full check of the statutory section at least once a year.
Plan a school website that works for families
Start with two lists: the statutory items for your type of school, ticked against your current site, and the ten things parents ask the office most often. Together they give you the structure. See our website design service, then start a project or contact us to talk it through.
