The School Website Checklist for Academies and Trusts (2026/27) is an editable Word checklist of what an academy or trust must or should publish on its website, updated for 2026/27.
It follows the DfE guidance What academies and further education colleges must or should publish online, which we checked on 29 September 2026 (the list was last updated on 24 October 2024). We've also added the changes from other guidance that affect your website this year, marked in red so you can spot them:
- funding agreements: the DfE stopped publishing them on GOV.UK in September 2026, so trusts now publish a redacted copy on their own website
- the new legal limit on compulsory branded uniform and PE kit (3 items in primary, or 4 in secondary and middle schools if one is a tie), which applies to academies from September 2026
- what to publish while there's no Progress 8 (2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026) and no key stage 2 progress scores
- linking to your Ofsted report card if you've been inspected since November 2025
Inside the 10-page document:
- all 21 DfE sections for academies, free schools, 16 to 19 academies and trusts, with every item marked must or should
- columns for Y / P / N, owner, review date and the link to each page, so you can record what sits on the trust site and what sits on each academy's site
- a diary of publishing deadlines, from the annual accounts in January to the pupil premium statement in December
- a sign-off page for the head, website lead, SBM and a trustee
Maintained schools have a separate list. Use our maintained schools checklist instead.
Part of the HeadteacherChat community library. Members get this resource, the full topic pack it belongs to and every update when guidance changes, alongside live sessions and more than 1,400 fellow school leaders. Join the community.
