Accessibility plan for disabled pupils
A plan for improving disabled pupils' access to the curriculum, to the school's physical environment and to information. Every school must publish one and review it at least every three years.
Check this on my websiteWho it applies to
- Published on
- The school's own website
- School type
- Academies and maintained schools
- School stage
- All stages, from early years to sixth form
- Does not apply to
- No school types are excluded
When is it due?
- How often
- Every 3 years
Reviewed every three years.
What's needed
Publish the accessibility plan for disabled pupils on the statutory information or policies page, dated and reviewed at least every three years.
What it must contain
3 parts- Sets out how it will increase disabled pupils' participation in the curriculum over timeMust
- Sets out how it will improve the physical environment for disabled pupilsMust
- Describes how it will make information accessible to disabled pupilsMust
What the official sources say
Set out in 3 official sources:
What academies, free schools and colleges must or should publish online
Academies must prepare an accessibility plan that sets out how, over time, they will increase the extent to which disabled pupils participate in the curriculum.
Must§ Curriculum > What all academies should publish
Equality Act 2010 Schedule 10 (accessibility for disabled pupils)
1 The responsible body of a school in England and Wales must prepare— a an accessibility plan; b further such plans at such times as may be prescribed.
Must§ Equality Act 2010 Sch 10 para 3(1)
2 An accessibility plan is a plan for, over a prescribed period— a increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the school's curriculum, b improving the physical environment of the school for the purpose of increasing the extent to which disabled pupils are able to take advantage of education and benefits, facilities or services provided or offered by the school, and c improving the delivery to disabled pupils of information which is readily accessible to pupils who are not disabled.
Must§ Equality Act 2010 Sch 10 para 3(2)(a)-(c)
Show 3 more from this source
3 The delivery in sub-paragraph (2)(c) must be— a within a reasonable time; b in ways which are determined after taking account of the pupils' disabilities and any preferences expressed by them or their parents.
Must§ Equality Act 2010 Sch 10 para 3(3)
4 An accessibility plan must be in writing.
Must§ Equality Act 2010 Sch 10 para 3(4)
5 The responsible body must keep its accessibility plan under review during the period to which it relates and, if necessary, revise it.
Must§ Equality Act 2010 Sch 10 para 3(5)
SEND code of practice
Schools and local authority education functions are not covered by this last duty, but they must publish accessibility plans (and local authorities, accessibility strategies) setting out how they plan to increase access for disabled pupils to the curriculum, the physical environment and to information.
Must§ Introduction, para xx, page 17
xxi. School governing bodies and proprietors must also publish information about the arrangements for the admission of disabled children, the steps taken to prevent disabled children being treated less favourably than others, the facilities provided to assist access of disabled children, and their accessibility plans.
Must§ Introduction, para xxi, page 17
Show 1 more from this source
4.35 The information must also include information about the arrangements for the admission of disabled pupils, the steps taken to prevent disabled pupils from being treated less favourably than other pupils, the facilities provided to assist access for disabled pupils and the schools’ accessibility plans.
Must§ Chapter 4, para 4.35, page 69
Questions schools ask
Does every school have to publish the accessibility plan for disabled pupils?
Academies and maintained schools must publish it.
When does the accessibility plan for disabled pupils need to be published?
How often: Every 3 years. Reviewed every three years.
What must the accessibility plan for disabled pupils include?
Sets out how it will increase disabled pupils' participation in the curriculum over time; Sets out how it will improve the physical environment for disabled pupils; Describes how it will make information accessible to disabled pupils.
Where does the requirement for the accessibility plan for disabled pupils come from?
It is set out in What academies, free schools and colleges must or should publish online, Equality Act 2010 Schedule 10 (accessibility for disabled pupils) and SEND code of practice.
Changes to the official sources
Dated change notes published by the Department for Education on the sources above.
24 October 2024 · What academies, free schools and colleges must or should publish online
We have updated the ‘test, exam and assessment results’ section. Some of the information which academies and FE colleges should publish has changed in that section. We have added a section on the information that FE colleges in intervention must publish. We have updated information for academies in the ‘behaviour policy’ section. We have also made changes to the ‘pupil premium’, ‘PE and sport premium’, ‘complaints policy’ and ‘governance information’ sections.
15 May 2024 · What academies, free schools and colleges must or should publish online
Reformatted the guidance to improve usability. Added a new section on 'Pay gap reporting', updated the 'Test, exam and assessment results' and included information about publishing a music development plan in the 'Curriculum' section.
12 November 2020 · What academies, free schools and colleges must or should publish online
Added new sections on 'Coronavirus (COVID-19) catch-up premium' and 'Executive pay'. Updated sections on 'Admission arrangements', 'Ofsted reports', 'Exam and assessment results', 'Curriculum', 'Pupil premium', 'Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium', 'Coronavirus (COVID-19) catch-up premium', 'PE and sport premium for primary schools', 'Equality objectives' and 'Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)'.
We last checked these sources on 21 September 2026.
Is this on your school's website?
We check your site the way an inspector or a parent would find it: page by page, against the official wording of each requirement. If it's there, you get the page and the words we found. If it isn't, you get every place we looked.
Check this one requirement free, or scan your whole site against every requirement.
Official sources last checked 21 September 2026 · register version 1.0.4