Data protection policy: what to publish on your school website
Your data protection policy, with the date it was last reviewed.
Check this on my websiteWho it applies to
- Published on
- School and trust websites
- 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 it's due
Keep it up to date
There's no fixed date. Update it whenever something changes.
What's needed
Publish your data protection policy on the data protection or policies page on your website, showing the date it was last reviewed.
What it must contain
1 part- Dates when the data protection policy was last reviewedMust: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.
What the official sources say
Set out in 1 official source:
Data protection in schools: data protection policies and procedures
It’s a legal requirement that your school has data protection policies and procedures in place and that you regularly review and update these, along with the associated documentation.
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Statutory policies
Questions schools ask
Do schools have to publish a data protection policy?
Academies and maintained schools must.
What does our data protection policy need to show?
Dates when the data protection policy was last reviewed.
How often do we need to review our data protection policy?
Keep it up to date. There's no fixed date. Update it whenever something changes.
Where does the requirement for the data protection policy come from?
It is set out in Data protection in schools: data protection policies and procedures.
Recent changes to the official guidance
None of the published updates to the official sources change this requirement.
We last checked these sources on 21 September 2026.
Is this on your school's website?
Enter your school email address and we'll check your website for this requirement.
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Official sources last checked 21 September 2026 · register version 1.0.4