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Main types of schools

Overview of the main types of schools

 

Type of school:	Community	Foundation and trust	Voluntary aided	Voluntary controlled	Academy
Formerly known as	County schools	Grant-maintained schools	Grant-maintained schools	Grant-maintained schools	City technology colleges (CTCs) 4
Funded by	State through local authority	State through local authority	Mainly state through local authority	State through local authority	A combination of sponsors from the business, faith and voluntary sectors, and the DCSF (any remaining capital costs and recurrent funding).
Staff employed by	Local authority	School's governing body	School's governing body	Local authority	School's governing body
Ownership of land and buildings	Local authority	Foundation aligned with governing body	Charitable foundation (typically). The governing body contributes to building maintenance and costs.	Charitable foundation (typically)	Charitable foundation (typically)
Admissions authority1	Local authority (unless the local authority delegates admissions authority to the governing body)	School's governing body (subject to the rules imposed by central Government)	School's governing body (in consultation with the local authority and other relevant schools in the area)	Local authority (unless the local authority delegates admissions to the governing body)	School's governing body
Governors appointed by	Local authority	Local authority; foundation generally appoints about a quarter of school governors	Foundation (majority of governors)	Local authority	Sponsor (majority of governors)
Percentage of schools represented	62.1%2	16.6%2	16.3%2	3.3%2	1.4%2
Extra information	The school's governing body exercises the appointments and dismissals of staff, but the local authority remains the employer and has automatic advisory rights on all employment decisions.	See below about the differences between foundation schools, trust schools and academies.	Voluntary-aided schools are mainly religious or 'faith3' schools, although any child of any faith can apply for a place in one. The charitable foundation is often a religious organisation.	These are different from voluntary-aided schools because they are run by the local authority. They are almost always religious or 'faith3' schools.	Read more about academies

 

 

The differences between foundation schools, trust schools and academies

Trust schools were introduced in 2007. They are a type of foundation school that form a charitable trust with an outside party - for example a business or educational charity - aiming to raise standards and explore new ways of working.

Despite some similarities, trust schools are not the same as academies.

The governing body decides whether a foundation school should become a trust school; parents have a say too.

 

 

Benefits of trust schools:

• Trust schools ensure that the good practice and positive links with partners (for example businesses or educational charities) continues after the involvement of those who initiated them has ended. Trusts can therefore help to ensure longevity of existing relationships.
• They can strengthen existing relationships by placing them on a more formal footing. For example, the agreement between the school and partner can help to clarify roles and responsibilities.
• Trust partners can enjoy enhanced PR from this high-profile way of working with the community.
• More primary, secondary and special schools are being encouraged by the Government to consider becoming foundation or trust schools.

For more information on foundation and trust schools, visit the Supporting Trust & Foundation Schools website.

 

 

¹Decides which admissions criteria to use (to allocate places if the school has more applicants than places)

²The Composition of Schools in England, DCSF (2008)

³Faith schools have a particular religious character or formal links with a religious organisation. Most faith schools in England are Christian, although there are also Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Hindi faith schools. Faith schools follow the National Curriculum like state schools, and religious education does not take up much more of timetable than non-faith schools. There is currently a debate over whether faith schools should receive Government funding. Voluntary-aided schools are not allowed to discriminate against other faiths except in the appointment of religious education teachers. In 2006 the Church of England promised that all of its new schools will offer at least 25% of places to children from non-Christian families.

⁴City technology colleges are being encouraged by DCSF to convert to academies. As of September 2008, all but three city technology colleges had converted to academies or had plans to do so. For more information on CFCs, go to Other types of schools.