School Website Checklist: What Parents Look For in 2026

For most families, the school website is the first impression and the everyday reference: where admissions open, where the circular is, when the holidays start. A good school website answers those questions in seconds on a phone. A poor one sends parents to WhatsApp groups and the school office.

Use this checklist to review your current site or to plan a new one.

The essentials parents look for first

• Admissions: dates, eligibility, the process, documents required and a way to enquire or apply online
• Contact details: phone, email, address and a map, visible on every page
• Notices and circulars: the latest first, with dates and downloadable attachments
• Academic calendar: term dates, exams, holidays and events
• Fee information: the fee structure, or at least how and when fees are paid
• Transport: routes, timings and contacts, if the school runs buses

If any of these take more than two taps to find on a phone, parents will call the office instead.

Pages that build trust

• About the school: history, affiliation and recognition, vision and the principal's message
• Faculty: qualifications and experience, presented with care for staff privacy
• Facilities: labs, library, sports and transport, with real photographs
• Achievements: results, competitions and alumni, kept current
• Mandatory disclosures: the information your board or regulator requires to be published

Features that save staff time

• A content management system so the office can post notices, news and photos without a developer
• Online admission enquiry and registration forms that arrive by email or in your school software
• Photo and video galleries organised by event and year
• Downloads for forms, prospectus, syllabus and lists
• Announcements banner for urgent news such as closures

Technical must-haves

• Mobile-first design: large text and buttons, quick loading on mobile data
• SSL (the padlock): essential for any page with a form
• Speed: compressed images, especially in galleries
• Search readiness: the school's name, location and key pages set up so parents find the right site on Google
• Accessibility: readable contrast, alt text on images and pages that work with screen readers
• Backups and updates: so the site stays safe

For education societies and groups

If your society runs several schools, plan one platform with a shared brand and a section or site for each institution. Parents get a consistent experience, and the society can manage updates centrally. We have built this for education groups with many institutions. See our education projects.

Common mistakes

• Notices from two years ago on the home page
• PDFs of scanned images that cannot be read on a phone
• No phone number on the contact page, or one that is never answered
• Huge photos that make the site slow
• A website only the agency can update

Next step

Check your current website against this list on your own phone. If more than a few items are missing, it may be time for a redesign. Read about our school and college website design, or talk to us about your school.