School Website Requirements September 2022
On September 5th, the DfE published updates to their guidance on what maintained schools must publish on their websites.
We’ve highlighted the main changes below as well as updated our free checklist.
We also offer compliance audits of your website, please visit our website for details.
New requirement – Uniforms
New requirement – Opening hours
Removed requirement – Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium
Removed requirement – Coronavirus (COVID-19) catch-up premium
Clarifications – Test, exam and assessment results
Clarifications – Curriculum
Clarifications – Remote education
Clarifications – Pupil premium
New requirements
School uniforms
The department produces statutory guidance on the cost of school uniforms which schools must have regard to when developing and implementing their school uniform policy. This guidance requires schools to publish their uniform policy on their website.
The published uniform policy should be easy to understand and, where a school has a school uniform, should:
- clearly state whether an item is optional or required
- make clear if the item will only be worn at certain times of the year (for example, if it’s summer or winter uniform)
- make clear whether a generic item will be accepted or if a branded item is required
- make clear whether an item can only be purchased from a specific retailer or if it can be purchased more widely, including from second-hand retailers
School opening hours
Schools should publish on their website their opening and closing times and the total time this amounts to in a typical week (for example 32.5 hours).
Schools should show the compulsory times they are open. This time runs from the official start of the school day (morning registration) to the official end of the compulsory school day. It includes breaks, but not optional before or after school activities.
Removed requirements
Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium
This section has been removed following the cessation of funding.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) catch-up premium
Removed – enough said.
Clarifications
Test, exam and assessment results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school) results
Keep 2018 to 2019 data but mark as not current. Explicit measures removed.
You do not need to publish your key stage 2 results for the academic year 2021 to 2022 on your website, as the Secretary of State will not publish this data. This is because statutory assessments returned for the first time since 2019, without adaptations, after disruption caused by the pandemic.
You should continue to display your school’s most recent key stage 2 performance measures, as published by the Secretary of State, on your website. For most schools, these will be the performance measures published for the 2018 to 2019 academic year.
You should clearly mark that these performance measures are for the 2018 to 2019 academic year and are not current. For example, you could add the following sentence to your results:
“The government will not publish KS2 school level data for the 2021 to 2022 academic year. They have archived data from the 2018 to 2019 academic year because they recognise that the data from that year may no longer reflect current performance.”
Key stage 5 (16 to 18) information
Progress measures removed.
If your school operates a sixth form, you must publish the most recent 16 to 18 performance measures, as published by the Secretary of State. For most schools, once published, these will be the performance measures for the 2021 to 2022 academic year:
- attainment
- retention
- destinations
Progress performance measures
If your school operates a sixth form, you do not need to display progress measures (level 3 value added), or an English and mathematics progress measure, for 16 to 18 students on your website. These measures will not be published for the 2021 to 2022 academic year.
Curriculum
Clarification of where to put your approach to curriculum with regards to SEN.
Previously:
Your approach to the curriculum should also include how you are complying with your duties in the Equality Act 2010 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 about making the curriculum accessible for those with disabilities or special educational needs.
Now:
You must also set out how over time you will increase the extent to which disabled pupils participate in the school’s curriculum, as part of your school’s accessibility plan. There are more details in the special educational needs and disabilities section.
Remote education
This has changed from must to should.
You must publish information about your school’s remote education provision on your website. An optional template is available to support schools with this requirement.
Now:
You should consider publishing information about your school’s remote education provision on your website. An optional template is available to support schools with this.
Pupil premium
Explicit references to types of information removed as these are part of the template. Reference to last years spend removed but 3 year plan recommended.
All schools that receive pupil premium funding must publish a pupil premium strategy statement each year by 31 December.
In the strategy statement, you must explain how your pupil premium and recovery premium is being spent and the outcomes that are being achieved for pupils. It’s important that parents and governors understand this, and you should write it with them in mind.
You must use the DfE template to produce your statement. This can be found alongside completed examples and guidance for school leaders on the pupil premium guidance page.
The template has been designed to ensure that your statement reflects the requirements in the pupil premium conditions of grant. This includes a requirement for pupil premium and recovery premium to be spent in line with the department’s ‘menu of approaches’ from the start of the 2022 to 2023 academic year. The menu can be found in the document ‘Using pupil premium: guidance for school leaders’, on the pupil premium guidance page.
We recommend that you plan your pupil premium use over 3 years. If you do so, you are still required to update your statement each year to reflect your spending activity for that academic year and the impact of pupil premium in the previous academic year.
Source:
What maintained schools must publish online
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/what-maintained-schools-must-publish-online
Updated 5 September 2022
