Secondary schools in the UK - explained.

The Department for Children, Families and Schools (DCFS) has been very busy over the last few weeks. And much of their excitement has come from the numerous announcements telling us that England now has the "highest number of new schools opening for thirty years".

But all these different types of schools are confusing parents. Many of you have asked School Gate to explain exactly what they are, especially in the secondary sector. Because we always want to help, here’s our helpful School Gate list. Please note that this list only defines what kind of schools exist. It doesn't really make judgements. I will leave those up to you...

In any case, you should always try to find out as much as you can about a school before you apply. Look at the Ofsted website for information about inspections, and visit the school if you can.

There is also an excellent government website (not something you normally read) which you can use to find out more information on education and learning in any area of England. Meanwhile the Composition of Schools Report tells you, in great detail, all about the characteristics and make up of schools in England.

Details about Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland follow - I don't want to offend anyone!

Secondary Schools in England:

In 2007, there were four million pupils at 3,343 maintained secondary schools in England. There are also 2,284 independent schools, 10 City Technology Colleges and 46 Academies.

In 2007, 62% of these maintained secondary schools were community schools, 16.6% were foundation, 16.3% were voluntary aided, 3.3% were voluntary controlled, 1.4% were academies and 0.3% were City Technology Colleges. 82.3% had no religious character, 10.1% were Roman Catholic, 6.0% were Church of England, 1.2% were another Christian faith and the remainder were Jewish, Muslim or another faith.

But let's explain a little more about what all these schools actually are. I'd be interested to know your comments on the different types.

1) Community Schools
These are state schools, with all staff employed by the local authority. Similarly the school's land and buildings are also owned by the local authority, which also has primary responsibility for admissions. In other words, these types of school have no discretion when it comes to who they must admit.

2) Foundation Schools
These are also state schools, but the staff are employed by the governing body, and it, or a charitable foundation, owns the school’s site and premises.
Foundation schools receive recurrent funding through the local authority, but the primary responsibility for admissions is through the governing body. This means that there may be some kind of "covert" selection through the admissions criteria and it would be wise to find out exactly what these criteria actually are if you want your child to get in.

3) Voluntary Controlled Schools
These are also state schools, with staff who are employed by the local authority. The School's land and buildings are normally owned by a charitable foundation, with playing fields generally owned by the local authority. VC schools receive recurrent funding through the local authority, which also has primary responsibility for admissions.

4) Voluntary Aided Schools
These state schools have staff who are employed by the governing body. Land and buildings are normally owned by a charitable foundation, with playing fields generally owned by the local authority. The governing body has primary responsibility for admissions, and usually also contributes a minimum of 10 percent of any capital project costs. The foundation/trust makes up a majority of the governing body.
These schools are often very appealing to parents because they control their own admissions, and can have specific criteria when it comes to accepting students. Many of these types of schools have a religious connection,and may demand regular attendance at Church, for example.

5) Specialist schools
Any maintained secondary or special school, or non-maintained special school, is eligible to apply for specialist status - and therefore get more funding.
They are designated in one of ten specialist areas: arts, business & enterprise, engineering, humanities, language, mathematics & computing, music, science, sports, technology (or a combination of two) or one of four special educational needs (SEN) specialism strands.
They have to put together a four-year development plan showing how standards will be raised across the school as well as in the specialist subjects, and raise £50,000 sponsorship to support their application.
Designated schools receive a one-off capital grant of £100,000 and additional annual grant for four years at £129 per pupil.
The law permits 10 percent selection by aptitude (in prescribed subjects) by schools with a specialism (not just specialist schools).
2,610 schools including 65 special schools, now have specialist status compared with 182 in May 1997.  A full list of Specialist Schools is available on the Specialist schools website.
Recent changes mean that specialist schools meeting what the DCFS call "high performing criteria" have the opportunity to take on leading options which are vocational, a second subject specialism, a focus on pupil or school underperformance, training school status or SEN specialism.
These schools often appeal to parents because of the extra funding and because they may be able to get their child in if he or she shows an aptitude for the relevant specialism. Make sure you emphasise this on any application form.
For more information on specialist schools and academies, log onto their website.

6) Training schools –  see specialist schools above

7) Independent Schools
These are fee-paying private schools which control their own admissions, as well as recruit and employ their own staff.
A governing body is not a statutory requirement for an independent school.
There are around 2,300 independent schools in England, educating around seven percent of the pupil population.

8) City Technology Colleges
Set up by the previous Tory government, these are classified as independent schools, but are non fee paying because they are charitable companies limited by guarantee. They often specialise in science and IT.
Sponsors of CTC constitute an educational trust which owns or leases the college, and appoints representatives to the Board of Governors.
Members of CTC consist of nominees of the sponsoring company and the Secretary of State.
The Department for Children, Families and Schools (DCFS) funds running costs, whilst the CTC sponsors provide at least 20 per cent for all capital projects.
CTCs control their own admissions. Applicants must live within the CTC catchment area.
Employers donate equipment and play active roles on CTC Governing Bodies, help to develop units of qualifications, or provide work placements for pupils and staff.
Of the 15 original CTCs, five have now converted to Academy status and another seven are in the process of converting to Academy status.

9) Academies (Formerly City Academies, before the Education Act 2002)
These are all-ability independent state schools, established and managed by independent sponsors, and a big favourite with New Labour. The Government has said that it is "committed" to establishing at least 400 academies, with 47 more opening this month, and four more in January 2009.
Core education at Academies is funded by the Government on the same basis as for other state schools in the locality. However, sponsors (which now include many universities) usually establish an endowment fund worth £2 million. This is used to fund activities over and above the core education.
Academies work via an Academy Trust, which is established as a charitable company, and the independent/charitable sponsor will always appoint the majority of governors. The governors are responsible for the employment of Academy staff and also for admissions arrangements.
Academies often appeal to parents because they are new, look good and have good facilities.

10) Maintained Special Schools
These are funded by the relevant Local Authority and can be either a Community Special or a Foundation Special School.

11) Non Maintained Special Schools (NMSS)
These are non-profit making independent schools run by charities or charitable trusts.
They receive some capital funding from the DCFS for capital work and equipment, as well as some other revenue funding.
Their main income is primarily from fees charged to the local authority for pupils placed in the schools.

12) Independent Special Schools
Legally there is no such thing as an independent special school. However, for practical reasons, the DCFS treats any independent school with at least 50 percent of the pupils having SEN and 25 percent with statements of special needs, as a special school.
Independent special schools are wholly funded by pupil fees and can be run on a profit-making basis. Most pupils who attend have been placed by local authorities, although parents may fund places for their children directly.

(There are also grammar schools in some areas of the country. You can find out more about them from the National Grammar Schools website).

Secondary Schools in Scotland:

There are 381 state secondary schools in Scotland, with 312,979 pupils. Most pupils go from feeder primary schools into the local secondary school.

The Scottish government has produced a very helpful booklet which gives more information on the process of choosing and applying to a school. Local authorities decide on admissions, but parents are able to make specific ("placing") requests in cases of particular needs.

There are also 150 independent/private schools across Scotland.

For more information on schools in Scotland, visit Scottish Schools Online. For more information on independent schools, visit www.scis.org.uk

Secondary Schools in Wales

There are 222 secondary schools, which are LEA maintained, 44 special schools, 67 independent schools and 68 pupil referral units in Wales.

The number of pupils at maintained secondary schools as of January 2008 was 206,936.

Secondary Schools in Northern Ireland

There are 147,942 pupils in post-primary schools in Northern Ireland. They are educated in 226 post- primary schools, while there are also 17 Independent schools (which may cater for all age ranges), 2 Hospital schools and 43 Special schools.

Secondary schools in NI are made up of:

- Controlled schools, which are under the management of the schools' Board of Governors. The Employing Authorites are the five Education and Library Boards.

- Maintained schools, which are under the management of the Board of Governors. The Employing Authority is the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS).

- Other Maintained and voluntary (grammar), Integrated (primary and secondary), and Institutions of Further and Higher Education. Each school is under the management of a Board of Governors.

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and Seven ways to get your children to do their homework.

Comments

[nicky]

I'll never get my head round it all, though I have just discovered that my son's school is a Specialist Technology school - actually I knew that, but didn't really know what that meant. It's the only one in our town anyway... good job it's ok and not crap, really. The college he'll go on to is actually on the High Performing Specialist School list, which is quite comforting, as I'm not that convinced about it, but again it's the only one.

[Marc Sheffner]

The plethora of types reminds me of my mobile phone company's billing and options system - designed to be so confusing and complex that no comparison with other providers is possible.

[whimsey]

I don't get it. What are all these 'new schools' that the government claim are opening? Are they new builds on new land with new pupils? Or just rebadges of existing schools?

A rebadge is not a 'new school' is it? It's just the same school, with perhaps different funding/staffing/governance/admission rules. Oh, and a shiny new name.

That's not new. A real 'new school' would be one that increases the overall number of school places, not just replaces one tranche of them that an existing (but now rebadged) school had.

[Gipsy]

It is good to see the different categories explained. There are so many more than I thought there were!

[j]

Well of course this is very useful, thank you.

My heart does sink, though, on behalf of parents with limited education or English skills, as they try to make sense of this and do the best for their child. Do we really need such a complex offering?