Statutory Requirements
As an academy in England, St Paul’s Catholic College is required to publish specific information on its website as stipulated by the UK government.
This page outlines how St Paul’s Catholic College meets those statutory requirements and provides direct links to the content on this website. The full list of statutory requirements can be found on the government’s website under ‘What academies and further education colleges must or should publish online’.
Admission Arrangements
What academy trusts must publish
Academy trusts must publish their admission arrangements to comply with the:
- school admissions code
- school admission appeals code
The school admissions and appeals codes do not apply to special academies, alternative provision settings or stand-alone 16 to 19 institutions.
September admissions – normal point of entry
By 15 March each year, the trust must publish on its website the admission arrangements for children who will be starting school at the normal point of entry in September of the following year. It must retain them there for the whole of the academic year in which offers for places are made.
The admission arrangements must explain:
- how the trust considers applications for places in each relevant age group (that is, the age group in which children are normally admitted to its schools)
- how many children the trust intends to admit in each relevant age group (known as the published admission number, or PAN)
- what a parent or carer needs to do if they want to apply for their child to attend one of the trust’s schools
- how the trust allocates places if there are more applicants than places available
Where applicable, the trust must also explain how:
- children applying to a selective school are selected for a place
- a parent or carer of a primary-age child can request that a school delay or defer their child’s entry to reception, and the process for requesting admission outside the normal age group
- many external applicants a school intends to admit into the sixth form
Admission appeals
By 28 February each year, the trust must publish a timetable setting out how it will organise and hear admission appeals.
This timetable must:
- include a deadline that allows a parent or carer at least 20 school days from the date of notification that their application was unsuccessful to prepare and lodge a written appeal
- include reasonable deadlines for:
- a parent or carer to submit additional evidence
- admission authorities to submit their evidence
- the clerk to send appeal papers to the panel and parties
- ensure that a parent or carer lodging an appeal receives at least 10 school days’ notice of their appeal hearing
- ensure that decision letters are sent within 5 school days of the hearing, wherever possible
Annual reports and accounts
Behaviour Policy
Careers Programme Information
What secondary academies and 16 to 19 academies must publish
Secondary academies and 16 to 19 academies must publish a policy statement to comply with section 42B of the Education Act 1997, known as the ‘provider access legislation’.
This statement must set out the circumstances in which they will give providers of technical education and apprenticeships access to year 8 to 13 pupils, as applicable.
What secondary academies, 16 to 19 academies and FE colleges should publish
Secondary academies, 16 to 19 academies and FE colleges should publish information about how they deliver careers guidance to years 7 to 13, as appropriate to their setting and required by their funding or accountability agreement.
For the current academic year, this should include:
- the name and contact details of their careers lead
- a summary of the careers programme, including details of how young people, parents, carers, teachers and employers can access information about it
- how the academy or college measures and assesses the programme’s impact on young people
- the date by which it will review this information
Charging & Remissions Policies
Complaints Policy
What academy schools and trusts must make available
All academies and trusts (with the exception of 16-19 academies) must have a complaints procedure that meets the requirements in the standard at the Education (Independent School Standards (England) Regulations 2014 Schedule 1, Part 7. The complaints procedure must be available to parents and carers of children attending an academy.
What academy schools must publish
Academy schools must publish the details of any arrangements for handling complaints from parents and carers about the support they provide for pupils with special educational needs (SEN). They must do this as part of their SEN information report.
What academy trusts and FE colleges must publish
Academy trusts must publish details of their whistleblowing procedure.
Contact Details
What academies and FE colleges should publish
Academies and FE colleges should publish:
- their postal address
- their telephone number
- the name of the member of staff who deals with queries from parents and carers, and the public
- the name of their headteacher or principal
- the name and contact details of the chair of their governing body, if applicable
- the contact details of their academy trust and a link to its website, if applicable
What mainstream academy schools must publish
Mainstream academy schools must also publish in their SEN information report the name and contact details of their special educational needs co-ordinator.
Curriculum
What mainstream academy schools must publish
Mainstream academy schools must also publish in their SEN information report the name and contact details of their special educational needs co-ordinator.
What all academies should publish
All academies should publish:
- the content of the curriculum in each academic year for every subject, including mandatory subjects such as religious education (RE) – this applies even if it is taught as part of another subject or known by another name
- information to make parents and carers aware they have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE
- how parents, carers or other members of the public can find out more about the curriculum
Alongside the content of their music curriculum, all academies are expected to publish information about their music development plan.
Where applicable, they should also publish a list of the:
- key stage 1 phonics or reading schemes they use
- key stage 4 courses, including GCSEs, available
- 16 to 19 qualifications they offer
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.
What academies with 16 to 19 provision should publish
Academies with 16 to 19 provision should also publish information on how their curriculum meets the 16 to 19 study programme requirements.
Ethos & Values
What academies and FE colleges should publish
Academies and FE colleges should publish a statement setting out their ethos and values.
Executive Pay
Governance Information
Ofsted Reports
What academies should publish
Academies should publish either a:
- a copy of your school’s most recent Ofsted report
- link to the report on the Ofsted website
Pay Gap Reporting
What academy trusts, academies and FE colleges with fewer than 250 employees should publish
Academy trusts, academies and FE colleges with fewer than 250 employees:
- are not required to comply with the regulations, but
- should give serious consideration to the business benefits of doing so
Guidance on who counts as an employee is available.
For academy trusts, academies and FE colleges interested in looking at their ethnicity pay gap, guidance for employers on voluntary ethnicity pay reporting is also available.
Public Sector Equality Duty
Pupil Premium
What academies must publish
Academies that receive pupil premium funding must publish a strategy statement on their school website by 31 December each year.
It must explain:
- how the academy is spending its pupil premium funding
- the education outcomes which disadvantaged pupils are achieving
Academies must publish their statement in the DfE template provided on the pupil premium guidance page.
DfE recommends that academies plan their pupil premium spending over 3 years. If they do so, they must still update their statement annually to reflect:
- their spending activity for the current academic year
- the impact of pupil premium in the previous academic year
Remote Education
What academies should publish
Academies should publish information about their remote education provision.
School Uniform
What academies should publish
Academies whose pupils are required to wear a uniform should publish an easily understandable policy on their website, in line with statutory guidance on the cost of school uniforms.
It should include information about:
- optional or required items
- items that will be worn only at certain times of year (for example, winter or summer uniform)
- items that must be branded or can be generic
- whether items can be bought only from a specific retailer or more widely
- where second-hand uniform can be purchased
Test, Exam and Assessment Results
What all academies should publish
All academies should publish a link to the compare school and college performance service and to their own performance measures page on it.
Key stage 4
Academies with key stage 4 pupils should publish their most recent key stage 4 performance measures, as published by the Secretary of State, comprising:
- their Progress 8 score
- the percentage of their pupils achieving a grade 5 or above in GCSE English and GCSE maths
- their Attainment 8 score
- the percentage of their pupils staying in education or going into employment after key stage 4
- the percentage of their pupils who were entered for the English Baccalaureate (EBacc)
- their EBacc average point score (APS)
