Last reviewed on 26 October 2022
Statutory/mandatory for: Maintained schools Academies Free schools Independent schools Sixth-form colleges Pupil referral units Non-maintained special schools

You must have an accessibility plan under the Equality Act 2010. Understand the requirements, find out what questions to ask your school leaders, and use our model to see what good looks like. Plus, see examples of plans from primary, secondary and special schools.

What your accessibility plan needs to do 

All schools must have an accessibility plan to comply with the law. This is explained in the DfE's advice for schools on the Equality Act 2010 (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 of your school 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

Your school also needs to be aware of the importance of providing adequate resources to implement the plan.

You can choose the plan's format

Your plan can be a freestanding document or published as part of another document, such as the school improvement plan or equality policy. 

Some schools use the terms 'policy' and 'plan' interchangeably.

There's no requirement for where