Statement of boarding principles: what to publish on your school website
If your school takes boarders, this is your statement of boarding principles and practice, with your boarding policies and how boarders and parents can complain.
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
- Only applies to
- Schools with boarding provision
- 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 statement of boarding principles and practice on the boarding page on your website, with your boarding policies and how boarders and parents can complain.
What it must contain
5 parts- Makes its boarding principles and practice available to parents, carers and staffShould: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.
- Has a written health and safety policy that it puts into practiceShould: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.
- Explains how to complain, how it will be handled and the timescale for a responseShould: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.
- Gives boarders a clear, easy way to raise their own complaints about boardingShould: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.
- Reflects the extra safeguarding factors that apply to boarding in its child protection policyShould: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.
What the official sources say
Set out in 1 official source:
National minimum standards for boarding schools
A suitable statement6 of the school’s boarding principles and practice is available to parents, carers, and staff, is known to and understood by boarders, and is seen to work well in practice.
Should: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.§ Part A, Standard 1 - Statement of boarding principles and practice, 1.1
8.4 Keeping children safe in education sets out that boarding schools have additional factors to consider with regard to safeguarding. As such it will be important that the boarding school’s child protection policy (and/or other policies if appropriate) reflect:
Should: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.§ Part D, Standard 8 - Safeguarding, 8.4
Show 3 more from this source
The school has and follows an effective policy on recording and responding to parental complaints that is compliant with the following relevant regulatory standards – The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (legislation.gov.uk) and http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/32/section/29. The policy is clear on how to make a complaint, how it will be dealt with and the timescales for a response.
Should: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.§ Part F, Standard 14 - Complaints, 14.1
The school should also have a clear and easily accessible process for boarders to raise their own complaints about boarding provision.
Should: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.§ Part F, Standard 14 - Complaints, 14.2
The school ensures compliance with relevant health and safety laws by drawing up and effectively implementing a written health and safety policy.
Should: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.§ Part E, Standard 9 - Safety of boarders, 9.1
Questions schools ask
Do boarding schools have to publish a statement of boarding principles?
For academies and maintained schools, it's recommended in official guidance, but isn't a legal requirement in itself. It only applies to schools with boarding provision.
What does a statement of boarding principles need to include?
Makes its boarding principles and practice available to parents, carers and staff; Has a written health and safety policy that it puts into practice; Explains how to complain, how it will be handled and the timescale for a response; boarders a clear, easy way to raise their own complaints about boarding; Reflects the extra safeguarding factors that apply to boarding in its child protection policy.
When do we need to update our boarding statement?
Keep it up to date. There's no fixed date. Update it whenever something changes.
Where does the requirement for the statement of boarding principles come from?
It is set out in National minimum standards for boarding schools.
Recent changes to the official guidance
The official sources for this requirement don't publish dated change notes. We check them for changes ourselves.
We last checked these sources on 21 September 2026.
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Official sources last checked 21 September 2026 · register version 1.0.4