What should a school prospectus include? A practical checklist for primary, secondary and sixth form

A school prospectus should tell families who you are, what a normal day looks like, what you offer and exactly how to visit and apply. Keep it short, honest and full of real photographs of your own pupils, and point to your website for the details that change every year.

This guide gives you a contents checklist, explains what changes for primary, secondary and sixth form, and answers the big question: do you still need a printed prospectus at all?

What is a school prospectus for?

A prospectus is often the first thing a family takes home from an open evening. Its job is to help a parent picture their child at your school, and then make the next step easy: book a visit, or apply.

It is not the place for every policy. Maintained schools have not had to publish a prospectus since 2012, when the law changed to require set information on the school website instead. So let the website carry the statutory detail, and let the prospectus do the welcoming.

What should a school prospectus include?

• A welcome from the headteacher. Short and warm, in their own voice. One page at most.
• Who you are. Your ethos and values in plain words. What makes your school yours?
• A day in the life. The times of the school day, what happens at break and lunch, and how a typical day feels for a pupil.
• What pupils learn. An overview of the curriculum, with a link to the full detail on your website.
• Care and support. Pastoral care, how you support pupils with SEND, and who parents can talk to.
• Beyond lessons. Clubs, sport, music, trips and responsibilities.
• Your people. A few short pupil and staff voices, with permission.
• Facilities. Show them in use, not empty.
• Uniform. What is compulsory, what is optional and where to buy it. From September 2026, schools must keep compulsory branded items of uniform and PE kit to three, or four for secondary and middle schools if one is a tie, so check your prospectus matches your policy.
• Practical information. Address, travel, start and finish times, breakfast and after-school clubs.
• How to visit. Open evening dates, tours and how to book.
• How to apply. The council families apply through, the closing date, and a link to your admission arrangements.
• Ofsted. A short mention and where to read the full report, rather than long quotes.
• Contact details. Phone, email, website and social media.

Primary, secondary and sixth form: what changes?

Primary school prospectus

Parents applying for Reception want reassurance. Focus on settling in, Reception routines, the outdoor space, friendships, early reading and phonics, and wraparound care. Keep it short and warm. Remind families that Reception applications close on 15 January 2027 for September 2027 entry, and that GOV.UK says they must still apply even if their child is at a linked nursery.

Secondary school prospectus

Families are thinking about the move from Year 6. Cover transition and how you help Year 7 settle, pastoral care, behaviour, subjects and key stage 4 courses, clubs and sport, and what pupils go on to do. Year 7 applications close on 31 October, so the prospectus needs to be ready for September and early autumn open evenings.

Sixth form prospectus

Students choose a sixth form for themselves, so write to them as much as to their parents. Cover the courses and entry requirements, results and destinations, study support, enrichment, and how sixth form life feels different. GOV.UK says families apply directly to the school or college for a sixth form place, not through the council. DfE also says 16 to 19 academies and colleges should publish admission arrangements that include their open days and how to apply, so your prospectus and website need to agree.

How long should a prospectus be?

As short as it can be while still answering families’ questions. As a rough guide, a primary prospectus can often say everything in 8 to 12 pages. A secondary prospectus usually needs more, perhaps 16 to 24, because there is more to explain. A sixth form guide depends on how many courses you list.

If you are tempted to go longer, move the detail onto your website and link to it. Parents will read a short prospectus from cover to cover. They will skim a long one.

Do schools still need a printed prospectus?

Not legally. But a printed prospectus still has a job to do. It is something families can take home from an open evening, leave on the kitchen table and come back to.

Print works well at open evenings and tours, at nursery and primary school visits, at community events and in your reception area. DfE guidance also says schools should provide a free paper copy of their published information if a parent asks, so it helps to have printed material ready anyway.

A sensible approach for many schools is a shorter printed prospectus for open events, plus a fuller digital version on the website.

Digital prospectus: what are the options?

• A PDF on your website. Quick to produce, but hard to read on a phone. GOV.UK lists PDFs that screen readers cannot read among the common accessibility problems on public sector websites.
• Web pages. Your prospectus content built into your website. Easy to update and easy to read on any device.
• An interactive digital brochure. A prospectus built for screens, with films that play inside the page, links to book a visit, and sections families can jump between. It shares easily by email, WhatsApp and social media, and you can update it without a reprint.

Whichever you choose, think about accessibility. Schools are partly exempt from the public sector website accessibility regulations, but the Equality Act 2010 still requires reasonable adjustments, such as providing information in another format when a parent asks.

Getting the photography right

Photographs do much of the work in a prospectus, so they are worth planning properly.

• Use real photographs of your own pupils and staff, taken on a normal day. Families can spot stock images.
• Plan a photography day around the timetable, with a shot list for each page.
• Check consent before the shoot. The ICO’s own example is a pupil photographed for a school prospectus: the school told the family and offered an opt-out first. If a pupil later objects, the ICO says the school should stop using the photo in future materials and may need to take it off the website, but does not necessarily have to recall printed copies.
• Think carefully before printing pupils’ names next to their photos. The NSPCC advises against supplying children’s names with their images.

Our school photography service covers prospectus and website shoots.

How often does a prospectus need to be updated?

Plan a light update every year, and a full redesign every few years or whenever something big changes. Each year, check:

• open evening dates and application deadlines
• staff changes, especially the head and senior team
• a new Ofsted report
• uniform details, including the September 2026 limit on branded items
• new courses, facilities or clubs
• photos of pupils who have left, or whose families have withdrawn permission

Schools that set their own admissions must publish their admission arrangements by 15 March each year. A spring or early summer update, ready for September, fits that rhythm well.

How Moments can help

We design prospectuses, brochures and flyers for schools, trusts and education providers, written with you and delivered ready for the printer. For Nulogic, we designed a family of brochures, a prospectus and two-sided flyers for the 2026 academic year, all built around one brand, with photography of Nulogic’s own staff and young people.

See our school prospectus design service, or get in touch for a clear, fixed quote. If you are reviewing your website at the same time, our checklist of what a school website must include will help.