FAQs What is an acceptable use policy?

It is important to create an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for young people and staff to sign up to and a good way to make them aware of their responsibilities and the consequences of their actions online.

Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) are documents that outline correct use of new and emerging technologies, and the sanctions for misuse. Schools may use them to document individual policies or responsibilities around the use of technology.

AUPs may need to be updated to take account of new technologies and children’s applications. Schools will need to be aware of existing and potential issues as they develop their own policies.

If schools are concerned that AUPs are not being followed and they have concerns about e-safety – for example, access to inappropriate material, or deliberate misuse of emails and networks – they may wish to log such incidents.  This would help staff to identify trends, and address problems. Monitoring of network activity and good data management will help schools.

You may also wish to explore creating a staff 'code of conduct' in relation to these issues.

An example of an AUP is available here.