Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Apply to become an academy service.

This website is run by the Department for Education. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the service using speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We've also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

We'll get back to you within 2 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, email us at: regionalservices.rg@education.gov.uk .

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint,  contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) (opens in new tab) .

Technical information about this website's accessibility

The Department for Education is committed to making its websites accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 AA standard, due to the following non-compliances and exemptions.

Non-accessible content

The content is non-accessible for the following reason(s):

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • some links of the same type are labelled differently. This fails WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria 3.2.4 (Consistent Identification)
  • users of assisted technology are not presented with labels or instructions for some questions. This fails WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions)
  • it is not possible to tell what some links do from either their text, or their text plus their context. This fails WCAG 2.1 A success criteria 4.1.2 (Link Purpose)

Disproportionate burden

We have determined that there is disproportionate burden to meet all the requirements. Making improvements would leave us unable to provide a minimum viable product (MVP). We will meet the requirements as soon as we can.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are looking into the non-compliances mentioned previously and aim to resolve these in a future iteration of the website.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 22 March 2023. It was last reviewed on 22 March 2023.

This website was last tested on 15 March 2023. The test was carried out by a Senior Accessibility Advisor at the Department for Education.

We used this approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test: testing your product with an accessibility expert - Google Slides .