ShouldDepartment for Education (DfE) publishing rules

Ethos and values statement

A statement of the school's ethos and values, for parents and others reading the website. DfE guidance says maintained schools and academies should both publish one.

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Who 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?

Renewal
No fixed date

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

What's needed

Publish a statement of the school's ethos and values on the about-us or welcome 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 2 official sources:

What maintained schools must or should publish online

Updated 24 October 2024 · All items from this source

  • Schools should publish a statement setting out their ethos and values.

    Should§ Ethos and values > What schools should publish

What academies, free schools and colleges must or should publish online

Updated 24 October 2024 · All items from this source

  • Academies and FE colleges should publish a statement setting out their ethos and values.

    Should§ Ethos and values > What academies and FE colleges should publish

Questions schools ask

Does every school have to publish the ethos and values statement?

Academies and maintained schools should publish it.

When does the ethos and values statement 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 ethos and values statement come from?

It is set out in What maintained schools must or should publish online and What academies, free schools and colleges must or should publish online.

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The sources for this item do not publish dated change notes.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.

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Official sources last checked 21 September 2026 · register version 1.0.4