School website compliance 2026 is going to be much easier for schools that take a steady, planned approach across the year.

That does not mean trying to fix every page at once. It does not mean waiting until an inspection feels close. It means knowing what schools must publish, checking it regularly, and keeping key school information clear, current and easy to find.

During 2025, we reviewed 247 fully completed school website compliance audits carried out through the Schudio compliance system. Those audits covered more than 200 schools and gave us a useful picture of what schools are getting right, where gaps are appearing, and why website compliance can drift over time.

We have now pulled those findings together in our new report:

Download The State of School Website Compliance in 2025

This blog draws out the key findings and explains what they mean for school website compliance 2026.

Why school website compliance still feels hard

School website compliance can feel hard because there is so much information to manage.

A school website has to support parents, pupils, staff, governors, trustees, the wider community and inspectors. It has to provide clear contact details, safeguarding information, admission arrangements, curriculum information, policies, complaints procedure information, governance information, financial information and more.

For maintained schools, the DfE guidance explains what must be published online and what should be published online. This applies to local-authority-maintained schools, including primary schools, secondary schools, maintained special schools, maintained nursery schools, voluntary aided schools and voluntary controlled schools.

Academies and academy trusts have separate DfE guidance covering what they must publish online and what they should publish online. This includes academy trusts, free schools and FE colleges.

The challenge is not just knowing what the guidance says.

The harder part is keeping the website current across the whole academic year.

What our 2025 audit data showed

Across 247 fully completed school website compliance audits, the average compliance score was around 80%.

That is encouraging.

Many schools are not starting from nothing. In lots of cases, the basics are already in place.

But the most striking finding was this:

Only 6.5% of audits achieved full compliance.

That tells us something useful.

Most schools are close, but very few are complete.

A school website can look broadly right. It can have the expected pages. It can include lots of useful information. But when you check the detail, there may still be missing documents, old dates, unclear links, out-of-date policies, broken links, inaccessible school downloads or incomplete statutory content.

That is where the risk sits.

The areas schools usually get right

The strongest areas in the audit data were usually the ones that are simpler to publish and easier to spot.

Schools were strongest on:

• Ofsted reports
• ethos and values
• school contact details
• safeguarding information
• school opening hours

That makes sense.

These areas are often visible, familiar and used regularly. A missing telephone number or unclear contact details are likely to be noticed. An Ofsted report link is usually straightforward to add and check. Opening hours are practical information that parents often need.

This is good news.

It means many schools already have strong foundations for school website compliance.

The biggest school website compliance gaps

The biggest gaps in the 2025 audit data appeared in areas that are more detailed, time-sensitive or shared across different people.

The weakest areas included:

• governance information
• PE and sport premium
• remote education
• public sector equality duty
• gender pay gap information, where relevant
• SEN information report
• admission arrangements
• test, exam and assessment results
• Multi Academy Trust requirements
• curriculum

These areas are more likely to drift.

Governance information may rely on governors, clerks, school leaders or trust teams. Schools must publish details of governors, roles, responsibilities, terms of office, attendance and pecuniary interests where required.

PE and sport premium information needs annual review. Pupil premium information must include a current strategy statement. SEND information needs to be current and useful. Admission arrangements need to be clear for families. Curriculum pages need structure by subject, year group and key stage. Trust information needs clear signposting from the individual school website.

These are not usually quick “add one link and move on” jobs.

They need ownership.

They need review.

They need checking properly.

Compliance rarely fails all at once

One of the biggest lessons from our 2025 data is that school website compliance rarely fails all at once.

It drifts.

A page is published. Then it is forgotten. Then a date passes. Then a document becomes out of date. Then a local authority link changes. Then a staff name is wrong. Then an old policy stays live in one place, with a newer version somewhere else.

Over time, a website that once looked complete becomes unreliable.

This is why school website compliance 2026 needs to be treated as an ongoing process.

A good way to think about it is:

Published → Forgotten → Outdated → Incomplete → Hard to find → Compliance risk

That drift is rarely intentional.

It usually happens when no one has a clear process for keeping statutory content current.

A website can look complete and still be out of date

This is one of the biggest risks for schools.

A statutory page can exist and still be incomplete.

A policy can be uploaded and still be out of date.

A document can be available and still be hard to find.

A trust may have the correct central policy, but the individual school website may not link to it clearly.

From a parent’s point of view, information that is hard to find can feel like information that is missing.

From an inspection point of view, old or inconsistent information can create a poor first impression before anyone has spoken to the school.

That is why website compliance checks need to look beyond whether a page exists.

The real questions are:

• Is the required information current?
• Is it complete?
• Is it easy to find?
• Are linked documents correct?
• Are review dates still valid?
• Do the page and policy say the same thing?
• Would parents understand what to do next?
• Is the content written in plain English and parent friendly language?
• Does the website meet accessibility requirements?

What schools must publish: key areas to check in 2026

The full list depends on the type of school, but there are several key areas every school should review.

Contact details

Schools must publish contact details clearly on the school website.

This includes the school name, postal address, telephone number and a contact for public queries. Schools should not make users open a file just to find basic school information.

Academies should publish details for the trust where required, and individual school websites should make that connection clear.

Admission arrangements

Admission arrangements are a major area to check in 2026.

Schools must publish admission arrangements for children starting school at the normal point of entry in September by 15 March each year. They should retain them for the entire academic year in which offers for places are made.

Schools must publish information about in-year admission arrangements by 31 August each year, including whether the school, governing body, academy trust or local authority manages those applications.

Schools should also publish admission appeals information. By 28 February each year, schools are required to publish a timetable for how admission appeals will be organised and heard.

Where schools link to the local authority’s website, the school website should still explain the process clearly. A local authority link on its own is rarely the best experience for parents.

Curriculum

Curriculum remains one of the areas where websites often look full, but not always clear.

Schools must publish curriculum information that helps parents understand what is taught, when it is taught, and how the curriculum is structured.

This should include specific information by subject and year group where required. Primary schools should review key stage 1 phonics and reading schemes. Secondary schools should review key stage 4 courses, including GCSEs. Schools with 16 to 19 provision should review relevant curriculum and programme information.

Good curriculum pages should explain the structure of learning in each key stage, not just link to a set of documents.

SEND

Schools must publish a SEN information report and review it at least annually.

The report should help families understand the types of SEND supported, how support is arranged, who to contact, how progress is reviewed and how the school works with parents and external professionals.

This area is especially important for parent trust. A SEND page should feel clear, practical and reassuring, not just like a policy archive.

Safeguarding information

Schools must publish safeguarding information in a way that is clear and easy to find.

That should include current safeguarding or child protection policy information, details of the Designated Safeguarding Lead and clear guidance on how to raise a concern.

Safeguarding is one of the areas schools often take seriously, but it still needs checking. Staff change. Policy dates pass. Duplicate policies can appear across the site.

A duplicated safeguarding policy where one version is current and one is old can create immediate concern.

Behaviour and complaints

Schools must publish behaviour policy information. Behaviour policy content should be current, clearly dated and easy for parents to find.

Schools should publish a complaints procedure or complaints policy, making clear how complaints from parents and carers will be handled.

This should not be hidden in a long list of documents with no explanation. The page should use plain English and help parents understand the route to follow.

Governance information

Governance information was the weakest area in our 2025 audit data.

Schools must publish information about their governing body and committees where required. This may include names, roles, terms of office, attendance, appointment details and pecuniary interests.

Academy trusts must publish trust governance information, and school websites should signpost this clearly where the detail sits centrally.

Pupil premium, PE and sport premium and financial information

Schools receiving pupil premium funding must publish a pupil premium strategy statement. It should cover how funding is being spent and the outcomes being achieved for disadvantaged pupils. The DfE guidance says this statement must be updated annually to reflect current spending activity and the impact of pupil premium in the previous academic year.

PE and sport premium information was one of the weakest areas in our audit data. Common issues include old statements, missing impact information and unclear links.

Academy trusts also need to review financial information, including annual reports and accounts, executive pay and gender pay gap information where relevant. Trusts should make any required information easy to find, rather than buried deep in the website.

Where required, trust financial information may include an audited annual report, accounts, information about staff with a gross annual salary over the relevant threshold, and clear links to benchmarking information.

Public sector equality duty and accessibility

Schools should review public sector equality duty information, equality objectives and accessibility content.

School website accessibility is a key part of website compliance. Schools must meet accessibility requirements under public sector website accessibility rules and wider equality duties. The attached AI facts also highlight WCAG 2.1 AA, including keyboard navigation, screen reader support and alternative text for images.

A school website accessibility statement should be published, current and easily accessible. It should explain known accessibility issues and how users can report problems.

Meeting accessibility requirements is not just a technical exercise. It helps parents, carers and the school community access important information.

Careers guidance

Secondary schools should check careers guidance and careers programme information.

Schools should publish information about their careers programme where required, including how pupils, parents, teachers and employers can access further guidance. This is especially relevant for secondary schools and settings with older pupils.

Results and performance measures

Schools should review assessment results, test results, exam information and performance measures.

Where results are not applicable to a setting, for example some special schools, it can help to add a short statement setting out why the information is not published in the usual format.

This answers a question before it is asked.

Use documents carefully

Documents are often necessary, but they can create problems.

We regularly see:

• old versions left live
• duplicate policies in different places
• documents without clear review dates
• Word or Excel files uploaded instead of PDFs
• PDFs opening in the same browser window
• large files that slow the site down
• key information buried inside school downloads
• documents that do not meet accessibility requirements

Where possible, put essential information on the webpage itself, then link to documents for the detail.

For example, an admissions page should explain the process in parent friendly language, then link to the full policy, local authority information, digital form return or appeal arrangements where relevant.

A behaviour page should explain expectations clearly, then link to the full policy.

A curriculum page should explain the curriculum structure, then link to longer plans or subject documents.

This helps parents, inspectors and the wider community.

It also makes the website easier to review.

Use HTML format where possible

One simple improvement schools can make in 2026 is to put more key information directly on the website in HTML format.

HTML format is usually easier to read on mobile devices, easier to search, easier to update and better for accessibility than relying on PDFs alone.

This is especially helpful for:

• admissions
• SEND
• curriculum
• safeguarding
• behaviour
• complaints
• contact details
• public sector equality duty information
• accessibility information

Documents still have a place, but they should not be the only way users can understand the information.

Think like a visitor

A school website is not just a compliance filing cabinet.

It is where parents, carers, prospective families, inspectors, governors, trustees and members of the school community go to find information.

So content needs to be clear.

For example:

If behaviour is a pressure point in school, is the behaviour policy simply buried in a long list of PDFs? Or is there a clear page that explains expectations?

If admissions are complicated, does the page help parents understand the process? Or does it just send them away to the local authority?

If SEND support is a key concern for families, does the SEND page feel clear and supportive? Or does it rely too heavily on formal documents?

If a parent wants to know the shape of a typical week, can they find opening hours, routines, contact routes and the right person to speak to?

This matters for compliance, but it matters for communication too.

For academy trusts, visibility matters

For academy trusts, the challenge is bigger.

A trust may manage policies centrally, but every school website still needs clear signposting.

A trust may publish governance information, financial information, audited annual report content or policy documents centrally, but school-level visitors still need to find the right information from the individual school website.

That means trust website compliance is not just about whether the information exists somewhere.

It is about whether it is connected properly across every school website.

Trusts need to know:

• which schools are up to date
• which schools have missing information
• which statutory requirements are weakest
• which policies are out of date
• whether central information is linked correctly
• where schools need support

This is why a trust-wide view is so valuable.

The Always Ready approach

Our approach to school website compliance is simple.

Schools should feel always ready, rather than waiting for pressure to appear.

That does not mean perfection every day.

It means having a system.

A good school website compliance system should help you:

• know what needs to be published
• publish information in the right place
• publish specific information clearly
• review key areas across the year
• keep documents under control
• avoid duplicate versions
• check policy dates
• make information easy for parents to find
• update content when guidance changes
• share responsibility across the right people

This is a calmer way to manage compliance.

It takes pressure out of the process.

Practical school website compliance 2026 checklist

Use this as a starting point for your next review.

1. Check the official DfE guidance for your school type.
2. Review contact details, including telephone number, school address and public enquiry contact.
3. Check safeguarding information and policy dates.
4. Review behaviour policy and complaints procedure pages.
5. Check admission arrangements, admission appeals, appeal arrangements and local authority links.
6. Review curriculum information by subject, year group and key stage.
7. Check reading schemes, phonics information and key stage 4 courses where relevant.
8. Review SEN information report and accessibility plan.
9. Check public sector equality duty information and equality objectives.
10. Review pupil premium strategy statement and measurable outcomes.
11. Review PE and sport premium information.
12. Check governance information, roles, attendance and pecuniary interests.
13. Check financial information for academy trusts, including any required gender pay gap information.
14. Review assessment results and performance measures.
15. Check school website accessibility and accessibility statement.
16. Fix broken links and remove old school downloads.
17. Put key information into HTML format where possible.
18. Use plain English on parent-facing pages.
19. Record a review date for each major compliance area.
20. Assign each area to a named content owner.

Download the full report

Our full report goes into more detail on the 2025 audit findings, including:

• headline compliance scores
• areas schools are getting right
• the most common compliance gaps
• why compliance drifts over time
• what this means for schools
• what this means for academy trusts
• practical next steps for 2026

You can download it here:

Download The State of School Website Compliance in 2025

Join our monthly compliance workshops

We run regular School Website Compliance Workshops to help schools stay on top of the latest requirements.

Each session focuses on practical steps schools can take to improve their websites, with real examples, live reviews and clear actions to take away.

If you want school website compliance 2026 to feel clearer and easier to manage, these sessions are a good place to start.

Final thought

The strongest message from our 2025 audit data is this:

Most schools are close, but very few are complete.

That should be encouraging.

School website compliance 2026 is manageable. The key is to stop treating it as a last-minute task and start treating it as part of the normal rhythm of school life.

Review regularly.

Give each area an owner.

Check the detail.

Make information clear for parents.

That is how schools stay ready.