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How to review your accessibility plan

All schools must have an accessibility plan under the Equality Act 2010. Understand the requirements, find out what questions to ask your school or trust leaders, and use our models to see what good looks like. Plus, see examples of plans from schools and trusts, including different models of delegation.

Last reviewed on 29 October 2024See updates
Ref: 38451
Statutory/mandatory for:
Maintained schools
Academies
Free schools
Independent schools
Sixth-form colleges
Pupil referral units
Non-maintained special schools
Contents
  1. Key facts
  2. What your accessibility plan needs to do 
  3. 3 key questions to challenge the plan 
  4. Model accessibility plans for schools and trusts 
  5. Examples from schools and trusts

What your accessibility plan needs to do 

All schools must have an accessibility plan to comply with the Equality Act 2010. This is explained in the Department for Education (DfE)'s Equality Act advice for schools (page 29).

Aims of the plan

Your plan must aim to:

  • Increase how much pupils with disabilities can participate in your curriculum
  • Improve the physical environment so pupils with disabilities can take better advantage of the education, benefits, facilities and services that you provide
  • Improve the availability of accessible information to pupils with disabilities

Should the accessibility plan be trust-wide? The part of the plan that deals with improving the physical environment will need to contain information that is specific to each academy. Your trust may delegate responsibility for the plan to your academies, or create a trust-wide plan that's then adapted by each academy. You'll find