Ensuring your school's website is fully compliant with Department for Education (DfE) requirements can feel like navigating a maze. Policies aren't just documents to be filed away; they are the foundation of your school's culture, setting clear expectations for everyone in your community. Four of the most critical are the Behaviour, Anti-Bullying, Complaints, and Whistleblowing policies.

The Core Requirements: A Breakdown by School Type

The rules for what you must publish aren't one-size-fits-all. The requirements differ slightly but significantly between maintained schools and academies or FE colleges. Let's break them down.

For Maintained Schools

The guidance for maintained schools is very specific. Here’s what you must have on your website:

• Behaviour Policy: You must publish your behaviour policy online. The policy itself must be robust and comply with Section 89 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006.

• Complaints Policy: You must publish your complaints policy. This is a requirement under Section 29 of the Education Act 2002.

• SEN Complaints Procedure: This is a crucial and often-missed detail. You must also publish the details of any arrangements for handling complaints from parents about the support provided for pupils with special educational needs (SEN). This information must be included as part of your SEN Information Report. For clarity and best practice, it's wise to reference this in your main complaints policy as well.

What about Anti-Bullying and Whistleblowing?

Based on the specific DfE guidance, there isn't a statutory requirement for maintained schools to publish separate anti-bullying or whistleblowing policies on their websites. However, it is considered best practice for the principles of your anti-bullying strategy to be clearly detailed within your main Behaviour Policy.

For Academies and FE Colleges

For academies, academy trusts, and FE colleges, the landscape is different. The guidance introduces some key distinctions and additional requirements.

• Behaviour Policy & Anti-Bullying Strategy: The guidance states that academies must publish their behaviour policy. Crucially, it specifies that this policy must include their anti-bullying strategy. The same rule applies to FE colleges—they must also publish a behaviour policy that incorporates their anti-bullying strategy.

• Complaints Policy: All academy trusts must have a complaints procedure that meets the standards of the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations. This procedure must be available to parents and carers.

• SEN Complaints Procedure: Just like maintained schools, academies must publish the details for handling SEN-specific complaints within their SEN Information Report.

• Whistleblowing Policy: This is the most significant difference. The guidance is clear that academy trusts must publish details of their whistleblowing procedure. Similarly, FE colleges must publish their whistleblowing policy and ensure it is reviewed regularly.

Stay Compliant with Confidence

Keeping track of every requirement, every review date, and every nuanced difference between school types is a major challenge. An outdated policy or a missing document can leave your school vulnerable during an inspection.

How can you be certain your website is fully compliant?

Acuity AI for Education provides an instant, automated audit of your school's website. Our AI-powered tool scans your site against every current DfE requirement, checking for outdated policies, missing information, and regulatory risks. In minutes, you can get a clear, actionable report and the peace of mind that comes with knowing you're compliant.

Ready to see where you stand? Get your free, no-obligation website audit today at https://acuity.education.