Direct Access has delivered a structured and highly coordinated access audit programme across multiple school sites within Westmorland & Furness, ensuring minimal disruption to daily operations while maintaining rigorous compliance and data accuracy.
Auditing a large number of active school environments required:
Careful scheduling around term times and school activities
Strict adherence to safeguarding and security protocols
Minimising disruption to staff, pupils, and learning environments
Consistent data collection across multiple sites
Visits had to be carefully scheduled around term times and key school activities to avoid disruption, while strict adherence to safeguarding and security protocols was essential. Each school had unique operational considerations, from reception procedures to site-specific access requirements, and our team needed to ensure consistency and accuracy in data collection across all locations. Balancing these factors required meticulous planning and clear communication with both the client and the schools themselves.
To address these challenges, we collaborated closely with the client to develop a detailed and practical schedule for site visits. Each school was contacted in advance through designated points of contact to confirm visitor protocols, safeguarding requirements, parking arrangements, and any other site-specific considerations. On the day of the audit, our team followed a structured methodology designed to maximise efficiency and minimise disruption to staff and pupils. Using tablets equipped with specialised audit software, we captured observations, photographs, annotated diagrams, and key measurements directly on-site. This digital workflow ensured high levels of accuracy, rapid data collection, and immediate access to findings for review.
The audit programme was successfully delivered across all school sites (which came to over 120 facilities total), with minimal impact on the daily routines of staff and pupils. The resulting dataset provided the client with a robust foundation for assessing accessibility across the school estate and supported informed decision-making and planning for future improvements.