Schools are required to comply with requests for use from the returning officer of an election
All state-funded schools can have their rooms used as polling stations, free of charge.
The returning officer is only required to reimburse the school for:
- Any damage done to the premises
- Any costs incurred as a result of the use of the premises for polling (e.g. lighting and heating)
This is set out in paragraph 22 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and in planning and organisation guidance from the Electoral Commission.
Room choices are up to the returning officer
However, the returning officer should discuss this with your school leaders. While the returning officer is responsible for administering the polling, your school remains responsible for safeguarding and the health and safety of pupils and staff.
This was explained to us by ASCL.
There's no requirement for schools to close
The decision to close falls to your headteacher.
It will usually depend on whether:
- Pupils and the voting public can be kept apart
- There are separate entrances and exits for pupils and the voting public
- Voting can take place without compromising your school's controlled access
- Pupils' education won't be interrupted
Pupil safety must always be the priority when making this decision.
This is based on a letter to the Electoral Commission from former education secretary Nicky Morgan in 2016. It's the most recent governmental advice on this that can be found, but it's no longer available online.
Your school should contact your local authority (LA) to see if it has any guidance on this matter.
What happens on polling day
Your school leaders and staff should handle these arrangements, but it's useful for your board to know what's going on.
If your school is closing
Your school leaders should:
- Warn affected parents in advance to give them time to make childcare plans
- This includes when before or after-school provision is affected
- For maintained schools: your school should have at least 190 teaching days during the school year, so it should try to find a practical way of making up the lost day with extra sessions, in line with any relevant LA guidance (but don't worry if that's not achievable)
- For academies: your school is free to determine how many teaching days it has, so it's up to your staff to decide whether to arrange extra sessions
If you want to avoid losing a teaching day, your headteacher can try to reschedule one of your school's INSET days so it falls on the polling day.
If your school is staying open
Your school leaders should:
- Plan for how they'll keep members of the public separate from pupils
- This includes during breaktimes or in an incident like a fire evacuation
- This might involve producing a risk assessment
- Know how they'll handle a member of public accessing the rest of the school or causing an incident
- A security lockdown procedure would be useful here
- Let parents know in advance about any changes in arrangements for the school day, such as for dropping off or collecting children
The information in this section was outlined in Nicky Morgan's letter to the Electoral Commission.