What Must Independent Schools Publish on Their Website?

A school website does a lot of work. It welcomes families, explains your ethos and helps commissioners understand what you offer. It is also, very often, the first piece of evidence an inspector looks at before they speak to anyone at the school.

This guide explains what the independent school standards require you to publish online, make available or provide to parents. It is based on Part 6 of the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 and Ofsted's current inspection guidance.

Why the information standard matters

Part 6 exists so that parents, and parents of prospective pupils, can make informed decisions and know how the school works. Clear, accurate information builds trust. It also tells inspectors a great deal about how carefully a school is led.

Ofsted's inspectors review your website as part of their preparation for every type of additional inspection, including checking that the safeguarding policy is published there.

What must be published on the website?

The standards require some information to be published on the school's website, where one exists:

• the arrangements for safeguarding pupils, which in practice means your safeguarding policy
• a copy of your latest Ofsted inspection report, published and maintained by any date specified
• a copy of any boarding inspection report, where relevant
• details of certain regulatory action by the Secretary of State, such as a decision to remove the school from the register or impose a restriction on the proprietor
• your relationships education and relationships and sex education policy statement, which must be published on a website and given free to anyone who asks

What must be made available to parents?

Other information must be made available to parents of pupils and prospective pupils. If you have a website, this means it is on the website in an accessible form, available to inspect at school during the school day and that you take reasonable steps to tell parents it is there. Without a website, parents must be told they can request it, and it must be sent free of charge.

This information includes:

• your policy and arrangements for admissions, behaviour and exclusions
• educational and welfare provision for pupils with EHC plans and pupils with English as an additional language
• your curriculum policy
• your arrangements for behaviour, anti-bullying, health and safety and first aid
• the school's academic performance in the previous school year, including any public examination results
• your complaints procedure and the number of complaints registered under the formal procedure in the previous school year
• a copy of any inspection report

What must be provided to parents?

A further set of information must be provided to parents and prospective parents, and to inspectors on request:

• the school's address and telephone number, and the name of the headteacher
• the proprietor's details, which depend on whether the proprietor is an individual or a body
• where there is a governing body, the name and contact address of its chair
• a statement of the school's ethos, including any religious ethos, and its aims

Parents of each registered pupil must also receive an annual written report on their child's progress and attainment, unless they have agreed otherwise.

What has changed recently?

The DfE's April 2026 guidance reflects new standards on recording and reporting the use of force, seclusion and restraint, and connects data protection complaints to the complaints standard. If you have updated your behaviour or complaints policies as a result, make sure the published versions are current.

From Our Experience

We often see websites with an old safeguarding policy still online after the school has updated it, or a complaints procedure that does not match the one in the staff handbook. Many leaders tell us they had not noticed, because nobody had looked at the site as a parent would. Schools that get this right usually ask someone outside the school to check it.

A common misconception

"If it is on the website, we have met the standard." Publication is only part of it. The safeguarding policy must also be suitable and implemented effectively, and parents must be made aware that information is available.

Questions for leaders and proprietors

• Is our current safeguarding policy published on our website, and is it the version staff follow?
• Is our latest inspection report on the website and shared with parents?
• Does our website show the number of formal complaints from last year?
• Do parents know which information is on the website and how to request copies?
• Who checks the website, and how often?

Frequently asked questions

Do we have to publish our complaints procedure?

The complaints procedure must be made available to parents, along with the number of complaints registered under the formal procedure in the previous school year. If you have a website, that normally means publishing it there.

How quickly must we share a new inspection report?

Once you receive the final report or report card, parents of each registered pupil must receive a copy within 5 working days, and it must be published and maintained on the website.

We do not have a website. What then?

Where no website exists, the standards allow information to be provided to parents on request, free of charge, and you must take reasonable steps to make parents aware that they can ask.

Does every school need to publish academic results?

Particulars of the school's academic performance in the previous school year must be made available, including the results of any public examinations.

Our Perspective

A compliant website is a sign of a school that is open with families. Getting it right takes very little time, and it gives inspectors, parents and commissioners an accurate first impression of the care that goes into everything else.

How Can Jarvis Education Help?

Our independent reviews and audits include a website compliance review against Part 6 and every policy the standards reference. You receive a clear list of what is working, what must be done now and what to consider, so your website gives the right first impression.