MustDepartment for Education (DfE) behaviour guidance

Statement of behaviour principles

The governing body's written statement of the principles behind the school's behaviour policy. It applies to maintained schools, and the headteacher must act in line with it.

Check this on my website

Who it applies to

Published on
The school's own website
School type
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?

Renewal
No fixed date

The official sources set no renewal date. Keep it accurate whenever it changes.

What's needed

Publish the governing body's written statement of behaviour principles alongside the behaviour policy on the policies page (guidance says schools should).

What it must contain

No parts listed

The official sources name no separate parts for this requirement. We check that it is published and easy to find.

What the official sources say

Set out in 1 official source:

Behaviour in schools: advice for headteachers and school staff (Feb 2024)

Version 20240215

  • The headteacher of a maintained school must act in accordance with the current statement of behaviour principles made by the governing body and have regard to any guidance provided by the governing body on promoting good behaviour at the school.

    Must§ Developing a school behaviour policy, page 8 (footnote 5: ss88(2) and 89(2) EIA 2006)

Questions schools ask

Does every school have to publish the statement of behaviour principles?

The official sources we check set no requirement for academies. The official sources we check set no requirement for maintained schools.

When does the statement of behaviour principles need to be published?

Renewal: No fixed date. The official sources set no renewal date. Keep it accurate whenever it changes.

Where does the requirement for the statement of behaviour principles come from?

It is set out in Behaviour in schools: advice for headteachers and school staff (Feb 2024).

Changes to the official sources

The sources for this item do not publish dated change notes. Their current versions are listed above.

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.

Any format works: .co.uk, .sch.uk, .org.uk or .com.

We email the result here. Privacy notice

Free: check up to 3 requirements a year, results by email. Paid: every requirement checked, re-checked after you fix it, and monitored all year.

Or scan your whole site free →

Official sources last checked 21 September 2026 · register version 1.0.4