Schools and learning

Types of state school

There used to five categories of mainstream state school (county, controlled, special agreement, aided and grant-maintained). On 1st September 1999 these were replaced by four new categories: Community, Voluntary Controlled (VC), Voluntary Aided (VA), and Foundation schools.

Schools in these four categories have very important similarities. They are all self-managing, do not charge fees and work in partnership with other schools. They all work with and receive funding from the Local Authority. There are however some differences, which are detailed below:

Community schools

Within a community school the Local Authority employs the school's staff, owns the school's land and buildings and is the admissions authority. The Local Authority has primary responsibility for deciding the arrangements for admitting pupils.

Voluntary Controlled (VC) schools

Within voluntary controlled schools. The Local Authority is the employer and the admissions authority. The school's land and buildings will normally be owned by a charitable foundation or a religious group (e.g. Church of England, Roman Catholic of Jewish).

Voluntary Aided (VA) schools

Within voluntary aided schools the governing body is the employer and the admissions authority. The school's land and buildings will normally be owned by a charitable foundation or a religious group (e.g. Church of England, Roman Catholic of Jewish). The governing body will contribute towards the capital costs of running the school.

Foundation schools

At Foundation schools the governing body is the employer and the admissions authority. The school's land and buildings are either owned by the governing body or by a charitable foundation.