Freedom of information: publication scheme

Your school needs to adopt the ICO's model publication scheme

Your school must adopt the ICO’s model scheme and make it publicly available – e.g. by linking to it on its website (see the section 'where to publish the scheme and guide to information' below). Your school doesn't need to edit the scheme in any way.

The model publication scheme can be downloaded as a PDF from the ICO's website, where you'll find it under the heading 'what is the model publication scheme?'.

You'll also find the requirements for publication schemes in the ICO's guidance 'model publication scheme – using the definition documents' (pages 2 to 3). This is can be found in the section 'what kind of information should we publish and include in our guide to information?' on the ICO's website.

What the scheme covers 

The ICO’s model publication scheme says:

This publication scheme commits an authority to make information available to the public as part of its normal business activities.

It has sections on:

• Freedom of Information Act 
• Classes of information
• The method by which information published under the scheme will be made available
• Charges that may be made for information published under the scheme
• Written requests

The ICO explains that your school shouldn't edit the publication scheme. It should simply publish or link to it on its website to show members of the public the guidelines you follow.

Your school should publish a guide to information alongside the scheme 

It can use the ICO's guidance to help with this. Go to the heading 'education' and the guidance is in the document called 'schools in England'.

Your school's guide to information should include further detail about the information your school publishes.

It should specify:

• The documents available
• The format of the documents
• Any charges made for the information (known as the schedule of fees)

This is explained in the ICO's guidance 'model publication scheme – using the definition documents' (pages 5 to 7),  available from the ICO's website and linked previously in this article. 

Where to publish the scheme and guide to information

The ICO's guidance doesn't specify exactly how your school should make the scheme, guide to information and the schedule of fees available.

An representative from the ICO recommended that your school either:

• Publishes them on its website (also suggested by the ICO guidance)
• Or, if your school is part of a trust and the documents are published on the trust website, provides a clear signpost on your school's website to where they can be found

Your school could also publish them on a public notice board, or through any other means that it normally communicates with the public.

Examples from schools

Someries Infant School and Early Childhood Education Centre, a foundation school in Luton, links to the ICO's model publication scheme on its website alongside its published guide to information.

The guide to information:

• Provides links to pages on its website where specific information can be obtained
• Makes clear where hard copies are available on request, and that these can be obtained by contacting the school
• Explains that it makes a charge of 5p per page for hard copies of documents
• Explains that some documents, such as the asset register, are available for inspection only

The White Horse Federation multi-academy trust (MAT) combines the publication scheme, with its guide to information available under the publication scheme (go to 'policies' then 'freedom of information publication scheme').

The Thinking Schools Academy Trust has a freedom of information policy – download it here (under 'trust policies'). It includes the guide to information available under the publication scheme (see appendix 1). It also explains where information can be obtained in hard copy form, from the trust or individual academy websites, or from somewhere else.

Ark Schools MAT has a data protection and freedom of information policy (under 'key policies and documents') which includes the guide to information available under the publication scheme (see appendix 1). It explains where information can be obtained in hard copy form, from the trust or individual academy websites, or from somewhere else.