Ian Richardson
Built hundreds of website and helped countless schools realise their potential online. Ian should be called upon for straight-talking advice and to make a difference to the way you present your school through every outlet.
HomeSchool Website BlogSchool Website RequirementsExam and Assessment Results on your school website
Every school is required to publish your exam results information. You will find full and specific details of the action information you need to publish in our school website requirements guide.
As of 12th November 2020, DfE released significant changes to the information all schools are required to publish on their websites. This is due to the issues caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) and the changes reflect the impact this has had on exams and results.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Schools are not required to publish their exam and assessment results from 2019 to 2020 academic year as these have not been published as performance measures by the Secretary of State. You must, however, continue to display your 2018 to 2019 performance measures until new performance measures are published. You should clearly mark that these performance measures are not current. There’s further information on school and FE accountability expectations for the 2019 to 2020 academic year.
IMPORTANT NOTE: for Academies, Free Schools & Trusts all these requirements are listed as should rather than must
The key points to pull out are:
1/ You are not required to publish results for the 2019/20 academic year.
2/ You must continue to display the previous year's results.
3/ You must clearly mark that the information is not current.
4/ All the requirements in this section are noted as MUST for maintained schools and SHOULD for academies, free schools and Trusts.
The specific requirements are different depending on what Key Stage you're school covers. Here's the current breakdown as taken from the DfE website.
Performance Tables Published in December
Performance Tables Published in January
Academies and Free Schools
Performance Tables Published in January & March [Previously Required, Now Recommended]
(Shown separately for A levels, academic, applied general and tech level qualifications)
(Shown separately for A levels, academic, applied general and tech level qualifications)
(Shown separately for A levels, academic, applied general and tech level qualifications)
** This information is correct at point of writing.
The times of the year vary based on, once again, when you should publish information. For Key Stage 2 Results you should be publishing in December. Key Stage 4 the key dates are in January. So, for more detailed information on when you should be publishing your results, and indeed other key information read Key School Website Dates for Your Diary .
While it is only a specific requirement to publish certain aspects of your statutory content in a 'readily accessible' way, best practice says that there are specific rules to follow.
Firstly, if you're relying on linking to PDF files and Word files you're not using the best options. PDFs can be fine but some users will still find them difficult to interact with. Your school website partner should be able to provide a way of presenting statutory content that will work reliably on any device.
Schudio clients should use document groups for this.
For best practice advice and critical information on how to really get to grips with displaying your results information read Presenting Statutory Policies for Schools .
When publishing data on your school website it would be advisable to use the language of the requirements. From our point of view, this makes it easier to understand when we're completing a compliance audit on your school website. But, it also means that you're giving any inspectors that might visit your website a good first impression.
The single most effective way to keep on top of what results information you need to publish is to set up a selection of reliable resources to keep your website current.
First, enrol on The School Website Compliance Course which is an online, on-demand course. Our team talks you through each requirement, step-by-step so you always are fully trained in every area of compliance.
Also, check out our School Website Compliance Software. It's a powerful tool that lets you check your school website against the latest requirements all year round. Furthermore, we keep the checklist up to date. Then, we notify you of any changes to the statutory requirements, and provide ongoing support and advice. This is available within any website package or as a standalone product.
Simply add your email and you'll get expert advice weekly, direct to your inbox.
Built hundreds of website and helped countless schools realise their potential online. Ian should be called upon for straight-talking advice and to make a difference to the way you present your school through every outlet.