How to Audit Your School Website for Statutory Compliance

A school website audit turns a broad statutory duty into a repeatable governance routine. Instead of reacting to a broken link or an outdated policy, the school checks what is live, records what it found and assigns a clear next action. That is useful for maintained schools, academies and governing boards that want a stronger evidence trail.

Run a focused audit each term and a more complete review each year, ideally before the autumn term settles into its busiest period. The right frequency depends on changes in funding, policy, leadership and local arrangements. A good audit makes those changes visible rather than assuming last year's pages are still accurate.

Agree ownership before opening the first webpage

Name one operational owner for the audit. This could be the headteacher, SBM or another senior leader with enough authority to obtain updates. Their role is to coordinate the work, not to personally verify every policy or funding statement.

Set a governor oversight role as well. A designated governor or the relevant committee can receive the completed report, test the response to material gaps and seek assurance that actions have owners and dates. The clerk to governors can help preserve the agenda, papers and minutes that form the approval trail.

Subject owners should check their own content. The SENCO can verify SEND material, the safeguarding lead can verify safeguarding pages and the school business manager (SBM) can confirm finance-related content. In an academy, include the correct trust contact for pages held centrally, because school and trust obligations may sit in different places.

Build a review scope that matches the school type

Start with the appropriate DfE publication guidance, not a generic internet checklist. Maintained schools and academies have overlapping requirements, but academy trusts also have funding-agreement and trust-level publication duties. Mark each row as "maintained school", "academy", "trust" or "all", so no one applies an item to the wrong organisation.

Use the School Website Compliance Checklist for UK Schools as the working list. Group items into governance, finance and funding, safeguarding, curriculum and SEND, policies, admissions, performance and contact information. Add local requirements separately, with a source and review date.

Be precise about SFVS. It applies to maintained schools only, not academies. For an academy trust, record relevant Academies Financial Handbook and funding-agreement items instead; this avoids a misleading audit conclusion and keeps financial oversight on the right basis.

Test content as a parent, not only as an editor

Open every page from the public website, preferably in a private browser window and on a phone as well as a desktop. Follow the route a parent would use from the homepage. A document that exists in the content system but is not linked publicly is not easy for a visitor to find.

For each item, capture the live URL, document title, version date, review date and a screenshot or PDF. Test download links, search results, headings and basic readability. Note whether the document is current, accessible and easy to locate; these are separate checks.

Avoid scoring a page as complete simply because a file is present. Compare its content with the required item and check that the school name, role names, contact details and dates agree with other pages. Conflicting information is a possible gap even when each file appears polished.

Record evidence in a simple, consistent format

A useful evidence record should allow another person to repeat the review. Include the requirement or source, the live URL, evidence captured, reviewer, date checked, outcome and next action. Use simple status labels such as complete, needs update, missing, not applicable or awaiting confirmation.

For a missing or unclear item, describe the issue in plain language. For example: "Safeguarding policy link opens a prior-year document; safeguarding lead to replace after approval." This is stronger than writing "policy issue" because it shows what needs to happen and why.

Keep supporting evidence with the audit rather than in personal inboxes. A shared governance evidence log gives the governing board a traceable record and reduces the risk that knowledge is lost when roles change. Retain a version history of the audit itself, especially after significant website changes.

Turn findings into assigned remediation tasks

Convert each action into a task with one owner, a due date and a route for approval. A policy may need approval before it can be published; a page may need a technical change; an admissions link may need confirmation from the LA or trust. These are different tasks and should not be left under one vague action.

Prioritise items by public impact and risk. Safeguarding contacts, required policies, admissions information and funding statements may need prompt attention. For lower-priority presentation issues, schedule a realistic date but still keep them visible until closed.

Review open tasks at a short standing meeting rather than waiting for the next full audit. If a deadline cannot be met, record the reason, revised date and interim control. Add recurring or high-impact items to the school governance risk register so the governing board can see patterns over time.

Report clearly to the governing board

The board report does not need to reproduce every URL. Give the governing board a one-page summary: scope, completion rate, material possible gaps, actions past due, approvals needed and the date of the next review. Attach or link the full evidence record for anyone who needs detail.

Use the meeting to invite challenge. Governors can ask whether the right checklist was used, whether trust-held pages were included and whether each action has a named owner. Inspectors may ask to see evidence that the governing board monitors statutory website obligations, so the minutes should record the review and agreed follow-up.

Close the cycle after actions are rechecked on the live site. Update the evidence record, note the date verified and report any unresolved item. A termly dashboard and an annual deep review give a practical balance between routine maintenance and board-ready assurance.

Edvance helps governing boards and trust leaders track governance obligations, evidence compliance, and stay inspection-ready year-round. Explore Edvance for UK schools.