School Website Requirements: CBSE Disclosure and Admissions
By Ideovent Team. Published 2 Oct 2026.
What a school website in India needs: CBSE's mandatory public disclosure, the pages parents check before admission, and a checklist to finish by November.
A school website has two jobs. It has to satisfy your board, which for a CBSE school means publishing a mandatory public disclosure on the website. And it has to help with admissions, which means answering a parent's questions quickly and clearly, on a phone, while they compare you with other schools.
This guide covers both jobs, with a checklist to finish before the admission season starts.
What CBSE requires on a school website
CBSE expects every affiliated school to run a website. Its affiliation FAQ asks "Is it mandatory for schools to maintain website?" and answers: "Yes, the schools are required to develop and maintain its website providing vital information about the school on the website."
That vital information is the Mandatory Public Disclosure, in the Appendix IX format (CBSE Circulars 03/2021 of 5 March 2021 and 09/2021 of 21 May 2021, and their later amendments). In January 2026, CBSE told affiliated schools to upload the disclosure in its revised format by 15 February 2026 and warned that non-compliance could lead to action under the affiliation bye-laws, as Careers360 and Education Post reported.
The format has five parts: general information, documents and information, result and academics, teaching staff, and school infrastructure. According to Careers360's report of the 2026 circular, schools must publish, among other things:
- The fee structure and the annual academic calendar
- School Management Committee (SMC) and Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) details
- Class 10 and Class 12 board results for the last three years
- The number of registered students, and the teacher-student ratio
- Teachers' details and qualifications: principal, vice-principal, PGTs, TGTs, PRTs, special educators and counsellors
- Self-attested documents: affiliation and renewal letters, trust or society registration, RTE recognition, building and fire safety certificates, drinking water and sanitation certificates, and the DEO certificate
Put the disclosure behind a clearly labelled "Mandatory Public Disclosure" link on the home page, keep every document current, and replace a certificate on the day it is renewed. If your school follows a state board or ICSE, check that board's own rules. The admission advice below applies to every school.
The pages parents check before admission
Assume a parent is reading on a phone, comparing you with two or three other schools. Give them these pages:
- Admissions. The most important page in the season. It should say which classes are open, the age criteria for each class as on a stated date, the process step by step (registration, form, interaction if any, list, fee payment), the documents required, and the important dates for this year. Add an enquiry form and a WhatsApp button.
- Fee structure. A clear table by class, separating one-time, annual and termly or monthly charges, with transport shown on its own. For a CBSE school this is part of the disclosure anyway.
- Academics. The curriculum, the subjects and streams offered in Classes 11 and 12, and how students are assessed.
- Facilities. Labs, library, sports and activity spaces, shown in real photographs of your campus.
- Transport. Routes or areas covered, pick-up and drop timings, and the fee.
- Notices and calendar. Holidays, parent-teacher meetings and exam dates. A notices section with last year's dates on it tells parents nobody is looking after the site.
- Results and achievements. Board results as published. Show a student's name or photograph only with the parents' consent.
- Contact. Office timings, phone, WhatsApp, email, a map link, and which gate visitors should use.
When to have it ready
Admission seasons start early. In Delhi, registration for nursery and other entry-level classes in private unaided schools for the 2026-27 session opened on 4 December 2025, with the first list scheduled for 23 January 2026, according to the Directorate of Education schedule reported by Careers360. Parents need your details before forms open, so aim to have the admissions page, the fee structure and the enquiry form live by November.
Handling admission enquiries
A website that collects enquiries is only as good as what happens next:
- Keep the form short. Parent's name, phone number, the class sought and an optional message. Ask for more at the school, not on a public form.
- Reply within one working day, on the channel the parent used.
- Keep one list of every enquiry with its status, so nobody is forgotten in the rush.
- Show the next step. After a form is sent, tell the parent what will happen and when.
Speed, phones and Google
Google says it "uses the mobile version of a site's content, crawled with the smartphone agent, for indexing and ranking". So the phone version of your site is the one that counts: readable text without zooming, buttons large enough to tap, and photos compressed so the page opens quickly on mobile data.
Your Google Business Profile matters as much as the website when a parent searches for schools nearby. Keep the school's name, address, phone number and office timings the same on both, and use the school's real name without added keywords, as Google's guidelines require.
The checklist
- A "Mandatory Public Disclosure" link on the home page, in the current Appendix IX format, with documents in date (CBSE schools)
- An admissions page with classes, age criteria, process, documents and this year's dates
- A fee table by class, with transport separate
- An enquiry form and a WhatsApp button on every page
- Academics, facilities and transport pages with real photographs
- Notices and a calendar that are actually current
- Results as published, and student photos only with consent
- Contact details, office timings and a map link
- The same name, address and phone on the website and your Google Business Profile
- Everything above live by November
Questions school owners ask
Is a website compulsory for a CBSE school?
Yes. CBSE's affiliation FAQ says schools are required to develop and maintain a website, and the Mandatory Public Disclosure in the Appendix IX format has to be published on it.
What is the Mandatory Public Disclosure?
A set of information and documents that CBSE requires an affiliated school to publish on its website: general information, documents and certificates, results and academics, teaching staff, and infrastructure.
Should a school put its fees on the website?
For a CBSE school, the fee structure is part of the disclosure. For any school, a clear fee table saves parents a phone call and saves your office from answering the same question all season.
How much does a school website cost?
With us, a school website of several pages costs ₹12,000 to ₹25,000, paid once. On a monthly plan, Growth is ₹1,999/month + ₹2,999 one-time setup, on a 12-month plan, and adds a page for each course or service, an enquiry form and a Hindi version. Our guide to what a website costs in India covers the yearly costs too.
See what a school website from us includes, or send us your school's details for a written scope and a fixed price.
Sources
- CBSE Circular 03/2021: Appendix IX, the Mandatory Public Disclosure format (PDF), read 2 October 2026
- CBSE SARAS affiliation manual: Frequently Asked Questions (Chapter 12), read 2 October 2026
- Careers360: CBSE schools to upload results, fees and teacher details by February 15, 2026, read 2 October 2026
- Education Post: CBSE public disclosure mandate, 14 January 2026, read 2 October 2026
- Careers360: Delhi nursery admissions 2026 schedule, read 2 October 2026
- Google Search Central: Mobile-first indexing best practices, read 2 October 2026
- Google Business Profile: Guidelines for representing your business, read 2 October 2026