Grant-maintained school

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Grant-maintained schools or GM schools were state schools in England and Wales between 1988 and 1998 that had opted out of local government control, being funded directly by a grant from central government. Some of these schools had selective admissions procedures.

Contents

History

Grant-maintained status was created by the Education Reform Act 1988, as part of the programme of the Conservative government to create greater diversity in educational provision and to weaken the influence of local education authorities.

GM schools would be owned and managed by their own boards of school governors, rather than the local authority. Proposals to convert to grant-maintained status could be initiated by the governing body or by a number of parents, but would then be determined by a ballot of parents. [1] [2] Skegness Grammar School was the first school to apply for, and to receive, grant-maintained status, whilst Castle Hall School in Mirfield was the first GM school to open.[ citation needed ]

The Education Act 1993 made it possible for independent schools to convert to grant-maintained status, and for independent sponsors to set up new grant-maintained schools. [1] Schools entering the state sector under these provisions included: [2]

Grant-maintained schools were allowed to set their own admissions criteria, which were sometimes at variance with those applied by the local education authorities. Some schools successfully applied to become fully selective grammar schools, others introduced partial selection, and some practised selection by interview. [1]

The popularity of GM schools in some areas was attributed to the poor financial support offered by local education authorities. GM schools were entitled to apply to central government for capital grants for essential building works.

The additional funding, distinct admissions policies and semi-independent status of grant-maintained schools were controversial and caused friction with LEAs. [1] [3]

At their peak in early 1998, there were 1,196 grant-maintained schools, most of them secondary schools. Within the state sector, they accounted for 3% of primary schools, 19% of secondary schools and 2% of special schools. [2]

Legacy

Grant-maintained status was abolished by the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. [4] GM schools that had previously been voluntary aided, or which had private sponsors, normally returned to voluntary aided status, while others became foundation schools. However schools could choose a different status, and a few became voluntary controlled or community schools. [2] [4] Though funded through local authorities, voluntary aided and foundation schools retain some independence. They own the school buildings and grounds, employ the staff and control their own admissions. [5]

After the abolition of grant-maintained status, the only schools still directly funded by central government were the 15 City Technology Colleges. In 2000 the Labour government introduced a new kind of directly funded school, the City Academy, later renamed Academy. [6] Following the 2010 General Election the Academies Act 2010 was enacted, vastly expanding possibilities for schools to become academies. It was described by journalist Mike Baker as "not an extension of the Labour government's academies, but the recreation of the grant-maintained (GM) schools". [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Education in England is overseen by the United Kingdom's Department for Education. Local government authorities are responsible for implementing policy for public education and state-funded schools at a local level.

Education in Scotland is overseen by the Scottish Government and its executive agency Education Scotland. Education in Scotland has a history of universal provision of public education, and the Scottish education system is distinctly different from those in the other countries of the United Kingdom. The Scotland Act 1998 gives the Scottish Parliament legislative control over all education matters, and the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 is the principal legislation governing education in Scotland. Traditionally, the Scottish system at secondary school level has emphasised breadth across a range of subjects, while the English, Welsh and Northern Irish systems have emphasised greater depth of education over a smaller range of subjects.

Education in Northern Ireland differs from education systems elsewhere in the United Kingdom, but is similar to the Republic of Ireland in sharing in the development of the national school system and serving a similar society with a relatively rural population. A child's age on 1 July determines the point of entry into the relevant stage of education in the region, compared to 1 September in England and Wales. Northern Ireland's results at GCSE and A-Level are consistently higher than those in England and Wales; Scotland uses a different examination system.

State schools or public schools are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation. State funded schools exist in virtually every country of the world, though there are significant variations in their structure and educational programmes. State education generally encompasses primary and secondary education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comprehensive school</span> Type of school

A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis of selection criteria, usually academic performance. The term is commonly used in relation to England and Wales, where comprehensive schools were introduced as state schools on an experimental basis in the 1940s and became more widespread from 1965. They may be part of a local education authority or be a self governing academy or part of a multi-academy trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skegness Grammar School</span> Grammar school in Skegness, Lincolnshire, England

Skegness Grammar School is a coeducational grammar school and sixth form with academy status, located in Skegness, Lincolnshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Specialist schools programme</span> UK Government programme for schools

The specialist schools programme (SSP), first launched as the Technology Colleges programme and also known as the specialist schools initiative, specialist schools policy and specialist schools scheme, was a government programme in the United Kingdom which encouraged state schools in England and Northern Ireland to raise private sponsorship in order to become specialist schools – schools that specialise in certain areas of the curriculum – to boost achievement, cooperation and diversity in the school system. First introduced in 1993 to England as a policy of John Major's Conservative government, it was relaunched in 1997 as a flagship policy of the New Labour governments, expanding significantly under Prime Minister Tony Blair and his successor Gordon Brown. The programme was introduced to Northern Ireland in 2006, lasting until April 2011 in England and August 2011 in Northern Ireland. By this time, it had established a near-universal specialist system of secondary education in England, with almost every state-funded secondary school in England having specialised. This system replaced the comprehensive system which had been in place since the 1970s.

In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in community schools. Foundation schools were set up under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to replace grant-maintained schools, which were funded directly by central government. Grant-maintained schools that had previously been voluntary controlled or county schools usually became foundation schools.

A voluntary controlled school is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust has some formal influence in the running of the school. Such schools have less autonomy than voluntary aided schools, in which the foundation pays part of any building costs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Technology College</span> Specialist secondary school in the UK

In the United Kingdom, a Technology College is a specialist school that specialises in design and technology, mathematics and science. Beginning in 1994, they were the first specialist schools that were not CTC colleges. In 2008, there were 598 Technology Colleges in England, of which 12 also specialised in another subject.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Direct grant grammar school</span> Former type of English secondary school

A direct grant grammar school was a type of selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted fees, some paid by a Local Education Authority and some by the pupils' parents or guardians. On average, the schools received just over half of their income from the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School Standards and Framework Act 1998</span> United Kingdom legislation

The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was the major education legislation passed by the incoming Labour government led by Tony Blair. This Act:

A voluntary aided school is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust, contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In most cases the foundation or trust owns the buildings.

A community school in England and Wales is a type of state-funded school in which the local education authority employs the school's staff, is responsible for the school's admissions and owns the school's estate. The formal use of this name to describe a school derives from the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Howard School, Kent</span> Bi-lateral with sixth form school in Rainham, Kent, England

The Howard School is a boys' secondary school in Rainham, Kent, England, with approximately 1,500 pupils. It offers a partially selective system and is one of only five bi-lateral schools in the United Kingdom. The partially selective system permits admission to the grammar school section by the 11-Plus selection, however a passing mark is not required if the pupil is seen to have the ability to work in the 'grammar stream', and non-selective admission to the high school. The school is a Sports College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State-funded schools (England)</span>

English state-funded schools, commonly known as state schools, provide education to pupils between the ages of 3 and 18 without charge. Approximately 93% of English schoolchildren attend 20,000 or so such schools. Since 2008 about 75% have attained "academy status", which essentially gives them a higher budget per pupil from the Department for Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comprehensive school (England and Wales)</span> Term for a non-selective secondary school in England and Wales

A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis of selection criteria, usually academic performance. In England and Wales comprehensive schools were introduced as state schools on an experimental basis in the 1940s and became more widespread from 1965. They may be part of a local education authority or be a self governing academy or part of a multi-academy trust.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Levinson, David; Cookson, Peter W.; Sadovnik, Alan R. (2002). Education and Sociology. Taylor & Francis. pp.  215–218. ISBN   0-8153-1615-1.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Grant Maintained Schools Database: Dataset Documentation". The National Digital Archive of Datasets. The National Archives. 1999. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Wintour, Patrick (5 December 1995). "Attack on 'incomprehensible' policy incenses Blunkett". The Guardian . Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  4. 1 2 School Standards and Framework Act 1998, Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
  5. ↑ "The Composition of Schools in England" (PDF). Department for Children, Schools and Families. June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2009.
  6. ↑ Clare, John (26 October 2005). "Funding for schools to be 'fair and equal'". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  7. ↑ Baker, Mike (31 July 2010). "Gove's academies: 1980s idea rebranded?". BBC News Online .
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