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.
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.
Harris City Academy Crystal Palace is a mixed-sex secondary school in Croydon, south London, England. It was established in 1990 to replace Sylvan High School, a newly built mixed comprehensive school which had opened in 1974. Sylvan, judged to be under-performing, re-opened as a City Technology College (CTC) sponsored by Lord Harris of Peckham. In September 2007, Harris CTC became Harris City Academy Crystal Palace.
St Birinus School, previously known as Didcot Boy's County Modern and Didcot Senior Boys, is a boys' academy in Didcot, Oxfordshire, England. St Birinus was founded in 1936 as a secondary modern before becoming a comprehensive in 1973. In September 2012 the school became an academy with the same name. St Birinus' key catchment area includes the town of Didcot and the surrounding rural area, from Harwell in the west to South Moreton in the east and from Long Wittenham in the north to Chilton in the south, however the school also caters for parents in other parts of Oxfordshire who wish their children to be educated in a single-sex environment. As of September 2019 the headteacher is Will Manning. The school is a dual specialist technology college and language college.
The Priory Pembroke Academy is a school for pupils aged 11–16 on Croft Lane in the village Cherry Willingham, located just outside the city of Lincoln, England.
Cordeaux Academy was a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located on North Holme Road in Louth, Lincolnshire, England.
The Portsmouth Academy is a secondary school with academy status, located in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England on St Mary's Road in the central district of Fratton near St Mary's Church. Originally established as a girls' school, it became co-educational in the 2017/18 school year.
Ormiston Denes Academy is a secondary school with academy status located in the northern outskirts of Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk. It has around 1000 students aged 11 to 16.
Morecambe Bay Academy is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Morecambe, Lancashire, England. It was founded as Morecambe Grammar School in 1919, moving to its current site on Dallam Avenue in 1938 on a former golf links course. In 2019, it was renamed to Morecambe Bay Academy during the process of becoming an academy.
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.
The James Hornsby School is a co-educational secondary school located in Laindon, in the Borough of Basildon, Essex, England. It was formed from the merger in 1998 of the Laindon School and Nicholas Comprehensive, and occupies the site of the latter.
Worden Academy is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in Leyland, in the South Ribble district of Lancashire, England.
Thorns Collegiate Academy is a coeducational secondary school located in Brierley Hill, West Midlands, England.
Central Lancaster High School (CLHS) is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Lancaster, England. Located on Crag Road on the Ridge area in east Lancaster. In recent years, the school has been performing well below average. Only 26% students obtained a grade 5 or above in English and Maths in 2017, compared to the English national average of 43% and the local authority average of 44%.
Alcester Academy is a state secondary school that educates girls and boys aged between 11 and 16, in Alcester, Warwickshire, England. It serves both Alcester and other surrounding villages such as Bidford-on-Avon.
Ormiston Venture Academy is a secondary school with academy status located in Oriel Avenue, Gorleston in the English county of Norfolk. The school educates children aged 11 to 16. It is housed in a block constructed in 2008 and a second newer building that stands where the original building, constructed in 1954, was located. The present facility includes a new reception area, Learning Resource Centre, and classrooms; it was opened in March 2014 by alumnus Callum Cooke.
This article details a number of defunct schools that were once located in Sandwell in the West Midlands of England. For details of currently operating schools in Sandwell, please see: List of schools in Sandwell.
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.
Ormiston Forge Academy is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status located in the Old Hill area of Cradley Heath, West Midlands, England.
Ormiston NEW Academy is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in the Fordhouses area of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands of England.
