An Arts College, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, is a type of

specialist school 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 specialis ...

that specialises in the subject fields of the

performing A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Performance has evolved glo ...

visual The visual system is the physiological basis of visual perception (the ability to detect and process light). The system detects, transduces and interprets information concerning light within the visible range to construct an image and buil ...

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

and/or

media arts New media art includes artworks designed and produced by means of electronic media technologies. It comprises virtual art, computer graphics, computer animation, digital art, interactive art, sound art, Internet art, video games, robotics, 3D ...

. 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 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 ...

. 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 An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, free school or use the Dedicated Schools Grant to become one. Arts Colleges are entitled by the

School Standards and Framework Act 1998 The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was the major education legislation passed by the incoming Labour government led by Tony Blair. This Act: * imposed a limit of 30 on infant class sizes. * abolished grant-maintained schools, introduci ...

to select 10% of its yearly pupil intake based on academic aptitude, however this partial selection is optional. Arts Colleges act as a local point of reference for other schools and businesses in the area, with an emphasis on promoting art within the community.

History

Arts Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the now defunct

in the

. The system enabled secondary and

primary schools A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

to specialise in certain fields, in this case, the performing, visual and/or media arts. After Arts Colleges were introduced to Northern Ireland, an additional digital specialism was made available. Schools that successfully applied to the

Specialist Schools Trust SSAT (The Schools Network) Limited (branded as SSAT, the Schools, Students and Teachers network) is a UK-based, independent educational membership organisation working with primary, secondary, special and free schools, academies and UTCs. It ...

and became Arts Colleges received extra funding from this joint private sector and government scheme. The specialist schools programme was discontinued by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in April 2011. Since then schools can become Arts Colleges either through academisation or through the Dedicated Schools Grant.

References

Art schools in England Performing arts in England 1997 introductions 1997 in education Specialist schools programme {{UK-edu-stub

History

Sponsors

References