Web Design for Schools

What usually goes wrong

• The statutory information is there somewhere, but an inspector or a parent has to hunt for it.
• Term dates, the newsletter and the absence line are three clicks deep on a phone.
• Policies are a wall of PDFs with names like Policy_v4_FINAL_updated.pdf.
• One person in the office can edit the site, and everything queues behind them.
• The accessibility statement is missing, which the public sector regulations require you to publish.
• Admissions is a page of prose when it should be the strongest thing on the site.

Questions schools ask us

Do you work with single schools or only trusts?

Both. A single school build is one site with clear permissions. A trust build shares a structure across schools so each has its own identity while the statutory sections stay consistent and the trust can see them all.

How much does it cost?

It depends on how many pages you carry and whether it is one school or several. We give you a fixed, itemised quote after a short call. Nothing open ended, and nothing that changes once the work starts.

Can you migrate the content we already have?

Yes. We take the statutory pages first because those are the ones that must not break, then the rest. Old URLs redirect so links in newsletters and letters home keep working.

What happens when the DfE changes the publication list?

We tell you what changed and where it lands on your site. Adding a section is a small job, and it is included in the ongoing care rather than treated as new work.

How long does a school website take to build?

The build is rarely the slow part. Gathering the statutory content and getting sign off from the head and governors takes longer than the site does. We work in one pass so you review a finished structure instead of a stream of decisions.

More questions we get from schools

What does a school have to publish on its website?

The Department for Education sets the list, and it differs slightly for maintained schools and academies. It covers admissions arrangements, the curriculum, exam and assessment results, the Ofsted report, your pupil premium and PE and sport premium strategies, the SEND information report, governance details, financial information and your key policies including behaviour and safeguarding. Academies also publish their funding agreement and trust details.

Do school websites have to meet accessibility regulations?

Yes. Schools are covered by the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018. You need to meet WCAG 2.2 AA as far as is reasonably practicable and publish an accessibility statement saying where you fall short. There are partial exemptions, including for some pre existing PDFs, but the main site is in scope.

How do we handle the pile of policy PDFs?

Keep the PDF where a signed or version controlled document matters, but stop making it the only route in. Give each policy a page with a plain title, a review date and the substance in HTML. Parents can read it on a phone, search engines can index it, and screen readers can get through it.

Should the website be aimed at parents or prospective parents?

Both, and they want different things. Current parents come for term dates, letters and how to report an absence, and they come often. Prospective parents come once or twice and want to know what the school is like and how to visit. Put the everyday things one tap from the homepage and give admissions its own clear route.

Can staff update the website themselves?

They should be able to. The common failure is a site where one person holds the keys and everything queues behind them. Set permissions so the office can post a newsletter and the SENCO can update the SEND report, while the statutory pages stay locked to whoever is accountable for them.