Today the Department for Education published three updates to its guidance about the information schools either ‘must’ or ‘should’ publish on school and trust websites.
The guidance is listed separately for academies and maintained schools, but these new updates apply equally to both settings. Here’s what you need to know.
1. The pandemic is behind us
The pandemic’s impact on assessment is over - at least as far as the government is concerned.
Previously, the tests, exams and assessment results section in the guidance recommended that alongside key stage 4 and 16-18 results, schools should publish a sentence referring to “the uneven impact of the pandemic on…performance data”, and advising readers not to “make direct comparisons…to data from previous years”.
Now, though, all mention of the pandemic has since been removed in this section - which, given this year’s GCSE cohort are students who were in Year 7 in 2020 when the pandemic hit, may raise some eyebrows.
2. Gender pay gap data
The concept of publishing gender pay gap data is nothing new, and no legislation regarding schools has changed here.
But the DfE has added a section to the guidance that makes explicit the legal pay gap reporting requirements that apply to academy trusts and schools.
In line with the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017, academy trusts and schools with 250 or more employees must report their gender pay gap information to the government via the online service.
They must also publish this information in “a prominent place” on their website within a year of their “snapshot date” - for most employers, this will be 31 March.
In addition, it states that institutions with 250 or more employees may wish to publish a text explaining their gender pay gap, as well as an action plan outlining how they plan to address it - if indeed it needs addressing.
Like other smaller businesses, academy trusts and schools with fewer than 250 employees are not required to publish this information, but “should give serious consideration to the business benefits of doing so”, the DfE says.
The guidance also offers information on voluntary ethnicity pay reporting.
3. Music development
The subject in the spotlight for these new additions is music.
Alongside the recommendation that schools publish their curriculum for every subject, they are now also expected to publish information about their music development plan. A template to do this, and which can be adapted, for example for each key stage level, is offered to assist leaders.
The music development plan follows The power of music to change lives: a national plan for music education, which was published by the DfE and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport in June 2022.
The plan sets out the government’s vision to enable all children in England to “learn to sing, play an instrument and create music together” and “have the opportunity to progress their musical interest and talents, including professionally”.
The DfE asks that schools and academies publish a summary of their music development plan before the start of the 2024-25 academic year, and update it accordingly each year.
It hopes that publishing a summary will help schools raise awareness of their plan, promote their music offer to parents and carers, and lead to more opportunities for schools and music hubs to work together.
A to Z
Finally, the DfE has embraced the benefits of alphabetisation as the guidance is now listed in alphabetical order, rather than the seemingly random arrangement in which it was before.
Ellen Peirson-Hagger is senior writer at Tes
