In
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, 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 school
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 des ...
s (but not
voluntary aided
A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...
) usually became foundation schools.
Foundation schools are a kind of "maintained school", meaning that they are funded by central government via the
local education authority, and do not charge fees to students.
As with
voluntary controlled schools, all capital and running costs are met by the government.
As with
voluntary aided schools, the governing body employs the staff and has responsibility for admissions to the school, subject to rules imposed by central government.
Pupils follow the
National Curriculum.
Some foundation schools, also called trust schools, have a
foundation or
trust that owns the land and buildings.
Otherwise the land and buildings are owned by the governing body.
The foundation usually appoints about a quarter of the school governors, as in voluntary controlled schools, but in some cases it appoints the majority of governors, as in voluntary aided schools.
Within the maintained sector in England, approximately 2% of primary schools and 15% of secondary schools are foundation schools. Almost all of these are non-faith schools.
The proportion is considerably smaller in Wales, where four primary schools and eight secondary schools have foundation status.
See also
*
Community school (England and Wales)
*
State-funded schools (England)
*
Education in England
Education in England is overseen by the United Kingdom's Department for Education. Local government in England, Local government authorities are responsible for implementing policy for public education and State-funded schools (England), state ...
*
Education in Wales
References
{{Portal bar, Education, Schools, England, Wales, United Kingdom
State schools in the United Kingdom
School types
Education in England
Education in Wales
Public education in the United Kingdom
Schools in England
Schools in Wales
Educational institutions established in 1998
1998 establishments in the United Kingdom
1998 establishments in England
1998 establishments in Wales