What should a college put on its website? The facts a decision depends on, each on a page that can be checked
A college website should carry a page for each programme with fixed facts, the fees and dates for the current cycle, outcome figures with their source, the accreditation and disclosure records, a grievance route, an accessibility statement and a dated notices archive. The test for anything else is simple: if a reader would have to phone, email or open a scan to find it, it belongs on a page.
By Rish Sadh, founderUpdated
Short answer
Put the facts that decisions depend on in plain pages, not in brochures, banners or scanned documents. An applicant decides on programme, fee and date. A parent decides on outcomes and trust. An assessor confirms records. Each needs a page that states the fact, the year it applies to and who is responsible for it.
What does an applicant need before they apply?
A programme page with the same rows every time: level and award, duration, eligibility, fees for the current year, intake and closing dates, how it is assessed and who to contact. Add an admissions page that says what the process is, in order, and where the dates and merit lists will be published.
The reader is comparing, so the rows matter more than the prose. When two programmes carry the same rows in the same order, the comparison takes a minute. When they do not, the reader leaves to find a college where it does.
What do an assessor and a worried parent look for?
Evidence that the institution is what it says it is: accreditation and quality records with their dates, the public disclosure it is required to make, outcome figures per programme and per year with the office that confirmed them, and the policies on grievance, safeguarding and harassment. These pages are read least often and matter most when they are read.
Publish them as pages first and documents second. A page states the record, its date and its owner in text. The document is attached as a readable file. A scan on its own cannot be searched, read aloud or quoted.
The records page is the oldest on the site and the one opened when something has gone wrong.
Seven pages to check a college site against
Each one is a question a reader would otherwise have to phone to ask.
A programme page with fixed rows
Level, duration, eligibility, fees with their year, dates, assessment and a contact, in the same order on every programme.
An admissions page with dates in one place
The process in order, the closing date, and where merit lists and rounds are published against the intake they belong to.
Outcomes per programme and per year
Medians, not averages, each attributed to the office that confirmed it. A missing figure is shown as missing, never estimated.
An accreditation and disclosure page
Each record with its issue date and owner, and the document attached as a text-readable file.
A grievance route that is written down
The steps, the committee, the independent escalation and a contact address, findable from every page in one click.
An accessibility statement
The standard the site aims for, how it was tested and how to report a barrier.
A dated notices archive
Every notice carries the date it was published, and a withdrawn notice stays listed and is marked withdrawn.
Where can I see this laid out?
Thornmere is an invented college Reidify built to show the seven pages above as one connected site. It is a concept, so every figure on it is labelled illustrative. The wider argument for structuring an institutional site this way is on the colleges and universities page.
Common questions
What is the single most useful page on a college website?
The programme page. It is where applicants, parents and AI systems all end up, and where a missing fee, date or eligibility rule costs the most. A fixed set of rows, in the same order on every programme, does more than any redesign of the homepage.
Should fees be on the website?
Yes, for the year they apply to, on the programme page itself. Where a fee is not yet confirmed, say so and give the date it will be. A reader who has to phone for a fee will usually try the next college instead.
Is a PDF enough for accreditation and disclosure records?
Not on its own. Publish a plain page that states the record, its date and its owner, and attach the document as a text-readable file. A scanned image cannot be searched, read aloud by a screen reader or quoted by an AI system.
How often should notices be updated?
When the college issues them, each with the date it was published. A withdrawn notice should stay listed and be marked withdrawn, with the date, so the archive stays trustworthy.
What AI-first design means
The definition behind structuring a site for people and for machines.
Website design for colleges and universities
The use case this checklist belongs to.
Thornmere, an institutional website concept
An invented college built as a worked example.
How much does an AI-first website cost
What to expect before scoping a rebuild.
See which of these seven pages your college site is missing.