What Maintained Schools Must Publish Online

Maintained schools in England have a clear set of information they must publish online, plus additional information the Department for Education recommends schools make available. For governors, headteachers and school business managers, the practical challenge is not just knowing the list. It is keeping the website, policy register and approval evidence aligned.

This guide summarises the main publication areas for maintained schools in England and gives school leaders a working checklist for website readiness. It is written for governance and operational planning, not as legal advice. Schools should always check the current Department for Education guidance and any local authority or sector-specific requirements.

Who this guide is for

This page focuses on maintained schools in England, including community schools, foundation schools, voluntary aided schools, voluntary controlled schools and maintained nursery schools where relevant.

Academies and independent schools have different publication requirements. Some items overlap, but the governance route and statutory framework may be different.

Why website publication matters

A school website is often the first place parents, inspectors, governors, local authorities and members of the public look for required information. When the website is out of date, the school may still have the right policy internally, but the public evidence does not match.

Common problems include:

A statutory policy exists but is not linked from the website.
The website links to an old version after governors approved a new one.
Admissions information is current internally, but the published timetable is out of date.
Financial information is missing or not updated by the required date.
The school relies on a local authority page but does not link to it clearly.
The website does not provide a paper-copy route for parents who request one.

A good website publication register should track the requirement, owner, live URL, last checked date and next review date.

Core information maintained schools must or should publish

The Department for Education guidance groups publication requirements across several areas. The wording below separates items that are generally required from items schools are recommended to publish or should check carefully against their own circumstances.

Contact details and basic school information

Maintained schools should ensure their website clearly shows:

School name, postal address and telephone number.
Contact details for the school office or named contact.
Name of the headteacher.
Contact details for the chair of governors.
SENCO contact details where required.
Information on how parents can request a paper copy of information on the website, free of charge.

The practical check is simple: can a parent, inspector or local authority officer find the right contact route in less than a minute?

Admission arrangements

Admission publication requirements depend on whether the school is its own admission authority.

Foundation and voluntary aided schools usually need to publish admission arrangements and related information directly. Community and voluntary controlled schools should make clear where local authority admissions information can be found.

A maintained school publication register should track:

Admission arrangements where the school is the admission authority.
In-year admissions information.
Appeals timetable and process where applicable.
Links to the local authority admissions page where the local authority is responsible.
Publication dates for annual admissions information.

The DfE guidance includes specific dates for some admissions information, including 15 March for admission arrangements, 31 August for in-year admission information, and 28 February for admission appeals timetables where applicable.

Behaviour, complaints and charging

Maintained schools should publish key parent-facing governance policies, including:

Behaviour policy.
Charging and remissions policy.
Complaints procedure.
School uniform information where applicable.

These pages should be checked after every policy approval. A behaviour policy that was approved by governors but not replaced on the website creates a avoidable evidence gap.

Curriculum information

Schools must publish curriculum information so parents can understand what is taught and how the curriculum is organised. The publication record should include:

Curriculum content for each academic year by subject.
Phonics or reading scheme information where relevant.
Key Stage 4 course information where relevant.
How parents can find out more about the curriculum.
Relationships, sex and health education information, including consultation or policy links where required.

The website should be specific enough to help parents understand the curriculum, not just state that the school follows the national curriculum.

Governance information

Maintained schools must publish governance information. A strong governance publication record includes:

Names of governors.
Governor roles and responsibilities.
Committee membership where relevant.
Relevant business and pecuniary interests.
Attendance records at governing body and committee meetings.
Governance structure and term-of-office information where required.

Governance pages often become outdated when governors join, leave or change roles. Build a termly check into the clerk or governance professional's workflow.

Financial information

Maintained schools must publish certain financial information. The register should track:

Number of employees whose gross annual salary exceeds the relevant threshold specified in current guidance.
Link to the school's page on the schools financial benchmarking service.
Other financial information required by current DfE guidance.

Financial publication is date-sensitive, so assign an owner and review date rather than treating it as a one-off upload.

Ofsted, performance and pupil premium information

Maintained schools should keep the following current where applicable:

Link to the school's most recent Ofsted report.
Link to school performance tables.
Key Stage or exam results information where required.
Pupil premium strategy statement and review information.
PE and sport premium information for primary schools.
Remote education information where required by current guidance.

These pages can date quickly after results cycles, inspection updates or funding-plan changes.

SEND, equality and accessibility

Publication requirements and expectations in this area include:

SEN information report.
Accessibility plan.
Equality objectives and public sector equality duty information.
Supporting links to local offer information where appropriate.

These items are important because they are both statutory and parent-facing. They should be tested for accessibility and clarity, not only presence.

What if the school does not have its own website?

DfE guidance allows a maintained school without its own website to publish required information on an alternative website and make the address and details known to parents. In practice, the school still needs a clear publication owner and a check that the information is easy to find.

The same register should be used whether the live page is on the school website, a trust or local authority site, or another approved location.

A practical publication register

For each item, record:

Requirement area, such as admissions, governance or finance.
Exact page title or policy title.
Must publish, should publish, or local check required.
Live URL.
Internal owner.
Last checked date.
Next review date.
Approval body, such as headteacher, governing body or committee.
Evidence location, such as minutes, policy file or statutory statement.
Action needed, if any.

This turns website publication into a live governance task rather than a once-a-year scramble.

Common publication gaps

When schools audit their websites, the same gaps appear repeatedly:

Required documents are present but hidden in news posts or old downloads.
Policies use inconsistent names across the website and policy register.
The published version has no approval or review date.
The website has duplicate versions of the same policy.
Governance membership is out of date.
Admissions dates were updated internally but not on the live page.
Finance and performance links are broken.
The school has no record of when the page was last checked.

A publication register makes these gaps easier to spot before they become urgent.

How Edvance helps

Edvance helps maintained schools and governance teams organise the publication workflow. It can help you:

Build a structured record of website publication requirements.
Track owners, approval evidence, review dates and live URLs.
Separate England, Ireland and other jurisdictional content.
Identify missing or potentially out-of-date website evidence.
Prepare a clearer governor view of publication readiness.

Get free access to Edvance

FAQs

Does this guide apply to academies?

This guide focuses on maintained schools in England. Academies have a different governance and funding framework, although some publication areas overlap. Academies should check the current academy-specific DfE guidance.

Do maintained schools need their own website?

A school without its own website can publish required information on an alternative website, but it must make the address and details known to parents and ensure the required information is available.

How often should website publication be checked?

At least termly for high-change areas such as governance membership, admissions, finance links and policy updates. Schools should also check immediately after governors approve a new policy or after DfE guidance changes.

Who should own the publication register?

Ownership varies by school. It may sit with the headteacher, school business manager, governance professional, clerk or office lead. The key is that each item has an owner and a review date.

Is publishing a policy the same as approving it?

No. Approval and publication are separate controls. A policy can be approved internally but missing from the website, or published online without the latest approval evidence. Track both.

Related resources

Sources

Department for Education, What maintained schools must or should publish online, updated 24 October 2024.
School Information (England) Regulations 2008, as amended.
Equality Act 2010.
Children and Families Act 2014.
Department for Education maintained schools governance guidance.