Know who the site is for

Start with the visitors and what each one needs to do. A clear list keeps design decisions grounded and stops the menu growing into a maze.

• Prospective parents: ethos, results, admissions, open events and how to visit

• Current families: term dates, letters, clubs, uniform, payments and contacts

• Staff and governors: policies, meeting information and quick publishing

• Inspectors and the public: statutory information that is easy to find

Prospective parents usually decide whether to book a visit based on a few pages. Those pages deserve the best photography and the clearest writing on the site.

Plan the statutory content from day one

The Department for Education sets out what maintained schools must or should publish online. It covers admission arrangements (or a link to the local authority's, for community and voluntary controlled schools), the behaviour policy, charging and remissions, the complaints policy, contact details, curriculum content, the latest Ofsted report, exam and assessment results, the SEND information report, equality objectives, governance and financial information. Some items have fixed dates, such as the pupil premium strategy statement by 31 December and the PE and sport premium report by 31 July.

Academies follow their funding agreement instead, and DfE has separate guidance on what academies and academy trusts must or should publish. Trusts must publish their audited annual report and accounts by 31 January, alongside governance documents and the number of staff paid over £100,000 in £10,000 bands.

A good design gives each of these a predictable home, usually a single About or Key information section. That way governors can check compliance in minutes, and nothing gets lost when staff change.

Get accessibility right for a public body

State-funded schools, including academies, generally count as public sector bodies under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018. GOV.UK guidance on accessibility requirements for public sector websites says covered sites must meet WCAG 2.2 at level AA and publish an accessibility statement.

Schools and nurseries are partly exempt. The regulations still cover content linked to essential online administrative functions, which GOV.UK describes as the content people need to use the school's services, such as a school meals form, and a partly exempt school must still publish an accessibility statement. Independent schools are not usually public sector bodies, but building to the same standard is still the sensible choice.

WCAG 2.2 added new success criteria, which W3C explains in what's new in WCAG 2.2. Several matter for school sites, including minimum tap target sizes, focus that is not hidden behind sticky banners, and logins that do not rely on memory puzzles.

Design the admissions journey

For many schools, especially independent schools and those with places to fill, the admissions pages do the most important work. Treat them like a service journey rather than a single page.

• A short overview of the school with real photography and a clear ethos statement

• Key facts in one place: age range, size, results links and inspection outcome

• Open events and visit booking with a simple form

• How to apply, including dates and links to the local authority where relevant

• Named contacts for admissions questions

Write in plain English and keep paragraphs short. Many parents will read on a phone, often in a spare five minutes.

A worked example: mapping a primary school site

Here is how a hypothetical one-form-entry maintained primary might organise its pages. The aim is that any visitor can reach what they need in two clicks.

Each statutory item sits in Key information with a review date, so the business manager can check the list once a term.

Use photography and brand to show the school

Stock photos of smiling children tell parents nothing about your school. Real photography of your classrooms, grounds, uniform and activities does far more to build trust, and it can be reused for prospectuses and signage.

Plan a photo day before the design starts, with consent forms checked and a shot list agreed. Include wide shots that work behind text, as well as close detail of lessons and clubs.

Your crest, colours and type should carry across the site, letters and social media. If the brand feels dated, a light refresh before the build is usually cheaper than fixing it afterwards.

Make it easy for staff to update

The best school site is the one staff can keep current without calling a developer. Look for a platform with simple editing, reusable page templates and the ability to give limited access to class teachers or office staff.

Publish documents as web pages where you can, rather than PDFs. HTML pages are easier to read on phones, easier to keep accessible and easier for search engines to understand. DfE's guidance, for example, says a PE and sport premium report published from its digital form must be converted to HTML for accessibility.

Help families find you in search

Parents often search for the school name, for schools in a town, or for a specific question such as term dates. Clear page titles, a logical structure and fast loading help with all three.

Give popular pages such as term dates, uniform and admissions their own clear addresses, so families can bookmark them. Avoid hiding key dates inside newsletters, where search engines and busy parents struggle to find them.

Make sure the school's name, address and phone number are consistent across the site and any listings. Our on-page SEO checklist covers the basics that apply to school pages too.

How The Think can help

The Think is a small branding and web design studio that builds websites in Framer, a visual platform that lets staff edit text and images without code. We plan structure, write copy, build to accessible standards and set up redirects when an old site is replaced.

We are best suited to independent schools, trusts and settings that want a distinctive site with a strong admissions journey. See our school website design page to find out how we work.