In the United Kingdom, a Technology College is a specialist school that specialises in design and technology, mathematics and science. [1] 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. [2]
The Education Reform Act 1988 made technology mandatory, however the Conservative government were unable to afford the cost of funding schools to teach the subject. A first attempt at developing specialist schools to solve this issue, the City Technology College (CTC) programme between 1988 and 1993, had produced only 15 schools, despite an initial aim of 200. In response, Cyril Taylor, chairman of the City Technology Colleges Trust, proposed to allow pre-existing schools to become specialists in technology (CTCs were newly opened schools). This was expected to mitigate the programme's failure and allow the government to gradually pay for the subject of technology. [3] [4] The Major government launched the £25 million Technology Schools Initiative (TSI) afterwards. [4] From 1991, secondary schools were granted additional funds as a reward for specialising in technology in order to improve the curricular provision of technical education. 89 local education authorities applied to join the TSI, with a number of schools individually applying in authorities that chose not to take part. Some authorities, namely those run by the Labour Party, refused to participate on political grounds (Labour had opposed technology schools). [5] [6] 222 schools had specialised in technology by 1993 (not including CTCs), with government plans to have these schools collaborate and share their resources with other secondaries. [7]
The Conservative manifesto for the 1992 general election promised to "expand the initiative across the country", [8] with the July 1992 education white paper Choice and Diversity: A new framework for schools reinforcing the initiative's goal of encouraging schools to specialise in technology after the Conservatives' victory. However, the focus was no longer on improving technical education. Instead the focus drifted to increasing diversity in the school system. [9] In the same year, another education white paper Technology colleges: schools for the future was released. Like technology schools, new Technology Colleges specialising in mathematics, technology and science were to be established from already existing secondary schools in hopes of furthering the CTC programme's impact and adding diversity to the school system. [3] The Technology Colleges programme was launched in 1993, allowing schools with voluntary aided and grant-maintained status to apply for Technology College status after raising £100,000 in private sponsorship. The first successful applicants were then designated with this status in 1994. [3] The TSI was scrapped [10] and the programme was opened up to all other state schools in November 1994. [4] The programme evolved into the specialist schools programme. [11]
The specialist schools programme's funding was mainstreamed in April 2011. Consequently, non-academy schools no longer need to designate and re-designate for Technology College status, but also no longer receive government grants for using the status. They must now dedicate part of the Dedicated Schools Grant to maintain the status' specialisms. Academy schools could already attain the status freely, without requiring designation. [12]
In England, a City Technology College (CTC) is an urban all-ability specialist school for students aged 11 to 18 specialising in science, technology and mathematics. They charge no fees and are independent of local authority control, being overseen directly by the Department for Education. One fifth of the capital costs are met by private business sponsors, who also own or lease the buildings. The rest of the capital costs, and all running costs, are met by the Department.
A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 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.
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.
Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the specialist schools programme (SSP) in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages. Schools that successfully applied to the Specialist Schools Trust and became Language Colleges received extra funding for language teaching from this joint private sector and government scheme. Language Colleges act as a local point of reference for other schools and businesses in the area, with an emphasis on promoting languages within the community. They are also encouraged to develop links with schools and other institutions in foreign countries. There were 216 Language Colleges in the country by 2010.
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.
An academy school in England is a state-funded school which is directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local authority control. The terms of the arrangements are set out in individual Academy Funding Agreements. 80% of secondary schools, 40% of primary schools and 44% of special schools are academies.
St Anselm's College is an 11–18 boys, Roman Catholic, grammar school and sixth form with academy status in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It was established in 1933 and is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury. It is one of four Roman Catholic secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, and one of three Irish Christian Brothers schools in the Merseyside area.
Business and Enterprise Colleges (BECs) were introduced in 2002 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in England. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields. Schools that successfully applied to the Specialist Schools Trust and became Business and Enterprise Colleges received extra funding for applied business teaching from this joint private sector and government scheme. Business and Enterprise Colleges act as a local point of reference for other schools and businesses in the area, with an emphasis on promoting enterprise and commercial awareness within the community.
SSAT Limited is a UK-based, independent educational membership organisation working with primary, secondary, special and free schools, academies and UTCs. It provides support and training in four main areas: teaching and learning, curriculum, networking, and leadership development.
An Arts College, in the United Kingdom, is a type of specialist school that specialises in the subject fields of the performing, visual, digital and/or media arts. They were announced in 1996 and introduced alongside Sports Colleges to England in 1997, being one of the five "practical specialisms" of the specialist schools programme. They were then introduced to Scotland in 2005 and Northern Ireland in 2006. By 2011, when the programme ended, there were over 491 Arts Colleges in England. More have been introduced since then, however schools must be an academy, free school or use the Dedicated Schools Grant to become one.
The Schools of Ambition programme, also called the Schools of Ambition initiative, was a government programme in Scotland that aimed to improve school character and performance by offering struggling secondary schools philanthropist money and an extra annual £100,000 in government funding for three years. This would then be spent towards implementing a transformation plan that could include environmental changes, investment into curricula and staff, and cooperation with businesses, sixth forms and the local community. Participating schools became Schools of Ambition, specialist schools that likely had a change in management, which aimed to stand out as innovating, leading schools that would inspire the youth. The scheme was launched by Jack McConnell's Labour–Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2005 and discontinued by Alex Salmond's SNP government in 2010.
Woodham Academy is often simply referred to as Woodham and is an 11–16 mixed secondary school with academy status in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, England. It was formerly a foundation school that was established in 1970 and adopted its present name after becoming an academy in 2012. The school is part of the Eden Learning Trust.
Sports Colleges are senior secondary schools which promote sports alongside secondary education.
Specialist schools in the United Kingdom are schools with an emphasis or focus in a specific specialised subject area, which is called a specialism, or alternatively in the case of some special schools in England, in a specific area of special educational need. They intend to act as centres of excellence in their specialism and, in some circumstances, may select pupils for their aptitude in it. Though they focus on their specialism, specialist schools still teach the full curriculum. Therefore, as opposed to being a significant move away from it, the specialism is viewed as enriching the original curricular offer of the school.
Sir Cyril Julian Hebden Taylor was a British educator and social entrepreneur, who founded the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS) in 1964. He served as an education reformer and special adviser to successive elected British Governments from 1987 to 2007 and founded the City Technology Colleges Trust, subsequently the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT).
A comprehensive school, or simply a comprehensive, typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–16 or 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.
Applied Learning Colleges, formerly Vocational Colleges, were introduced in 2006 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in England. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, vocational education. Schools that successfully applied to the Specialist Schools Trust and became Applied Learning Colleges received extra funding from this joint private sector and government scheme. In order to fulfil the criteria for Applied Learning College status schools had to either be designated as a High Performing Specialist School or select it as part of a combined specialist when first specialising. By 2009, 164 schools had specialised into an Applied Learning College.
A maths school is a type of specialist free school sixth form college in England which specialises in the study of mathematics. Each maths school is sponsored by a university and, frequently, also a nearby established sixth form college or multi-academy trust. All students in a maths school must follow a course of study that includes A-Levels in mathematics and further mathematics.
Specialist schools, also known as specialised schools or specialized schools, are schools which specialise in a certain area or field of curriculum. In some countries, for example New Zealand, the term is used exclusively for schools specialising in special needs education, which are typically known as special schools.
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