Ofsted inspections can be a daunting prospect for any school. These extremely thorough inspections are renowned for being unexpected and particularly stressful. A vital part of your school’s ofsted inspection is a review of the information on your school website. Ofsted require certain key elements to be displayed prominently on your website with easy access for all users. With the ever-changing nature of the online world, school website Ofsted requirements are regularly updated. This year is no exception, as new requirements have been added for 2023. Compliance with these guidelines is essential to your school’s Ofsted outcome.
To help prepare your school for the next Ofsted inspection, we have put together a list of all the statutory information required by Ofsted to appear on your school website.
It is important to note that the requirements may differ depending on whether you are a Maintained School or Academy, Free School or Sixth Form College. Further information for maintained schools can be accessed here, and for academies, free schools and colleges can be accessed here.
What’s New for 2022-23?
As of the 2022-2023 academic year, school website Ofsted requirements state that it is now requiredd to display School Opening and Closing Times. We recommend that these are displayed on your School Day page, or equivalent. A simple table containing the school opening and closing times is a clear way to display this information.
Another addition to the requisites is to display a Uniform Policy.
Full Checklists 2022-23
Maintained Schools Checklist
Academies, Free Schools & Colleges Checklist
Preparing your school website for an Ofsted inspection
As a first step, we recommend reviewing your current website against our checklist to make sure it contains all the required content. By doing so, you can verify that your information is current and make any necessary changes.
Following this, make sure this content is easily accessible. Therefore, it is vital that your school’s website is well organised and easy to navigate.
It is also critical that each page’s content is organised and clear. As a result, Ofsted inspectors will have an easier time finding the information they need. Finally, review other features and pages to decide what works well on your website and what could be improved.
would you like further support?
If you would like assistance with creating a new website that aligns with Ofsted requirement or for more information please contact us.