Voluntary controlled school

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A voluntary controlled school (VC school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a Christian denomination) has some formal influence in the running of the school. Such schools have less autonomy than voluntary aided schools, in which the foundation pays part of any building costs.

Contents

Characteristics

Voluntary controlled schools are a kind of "maintained school", meaning that they are funded by central government via the local authority, and do not charge fees to students. The majority are also faith schools.

The land and buildings are typically owned by a charitable foundation, which also appoints about a quarter of the school governors. However, the local authority employs the school's staff and has primary responsibility for the school's admission arrangements. Specific exemptions from Section 85 of the Equality Act 2010 enables VC faith schools to use faith criteria in prioritising pupils for admission to the schools. [1]

Pupils at voluntary controlled schools follow the National Curriculum. [2] [3] [4]

History

Prior to the Education Act 1944, voluntary schools were those associated with a foundation, usually a religious group. That Act imposed higher standards on school facilities, and offered voluntary schools a choice in funding the costs this would incur.

The Roman Catholic Church chose to retain control of its schools, while more than half of Church of England schools became voluntary controlled. [5]

By 2008, in England, approximately 15% of primary schools were voluntary controlled, almost all of them associated with the Church of England. Only 3% of secondary schools were voluntary controlled, of which about half were Church of England schools. [6]

In 2012, the Fair Admissions Campaign began to encourage local authorities to stop using faith criteria in admissions policies for VC schools. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

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The education system in Northern Ireland differs from elsewhere in the United Kingdom, but is similar to the Republic of Ireland in sharing in the development of the national school system and serving a similar society with a relatively rural population. A child's age on 1 July determines the point of entry into the relevant stage of education in the region, whereas the relevant date in England and Wales is 1 September.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State school</span> Type of school funded in whole or in part by general taxation

A state school, public school, or government school is a primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. Such schools are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state.

A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The word parochial comes from the same root as "parish", and parochial schools were originally the educational wing of the local parish church. Christian parochial schools are called "church schools" or "Christian schools."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comprehensive school</span> Type of school

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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.

Catholic schools are parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. As of 2011, the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school system. In 2016, the church supported 43,800 secondary schools and 95,200 primary schools. The schools include religious education alongside secular subjects in their curriculum.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, school governors are the overseers of a school. In state schools, they have three main functions:

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A voluntary aided school is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In most cases the foundation or trust owns the buildings.

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 describe a school derives from the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Richard Reynolds Catholic College</span> Academy in Twickenham, Greater London, England

St Richard Reynolds Catholic College is a coeducational Catholic school for pupils aged 4 to 18. It is located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England.

The Fair Admissions Campaign aims to abolish the faith-based selection of pupils in state funded schools in England and Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State-funded schools (England)</span> School in England which provides education to pupils between the ages of 3 and 18 without charge

English state-funded schools, commonly known as state schools, provide education to pupils between the ages of 3 and 18 without charge. Approximately 93% of English schoolchildren attend such 24,000 schools. Since 2008 about 75% have attained "academy status", which essentially gives them a higher budget per pupil from the Department for Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comprehensive school (England and Wales)</span> Term for a non-selective secondary school in England and Wales

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.

The 50% Rule in English faith school admissions was introduced in 2010 and stipulates that where newly established academies with a religious character are oversubscribed, at least 50% of their places must be open places, i.e. allocated without reference to faith. The rule is sometimes referred to as the Faith Cap on admissions. However, as the open places are just as accessible to faith applicants as non-faith applicants, in practice the rule does not explicitly prevent such schools from having more than 50% of students with a faith affiliation.

References

  1. "Equality Act 2010". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  2. "Categories of Schools - Overview". Governornet. Department for Children, Schools and Families. 5 September 2003. Archived from the original on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  3. "The Composition of Schools in England" (PDF). Department for Children, Schools and Families. June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  4. Types of School Archived 2009-05-04 at the Wayback Machine , Citizens Advice Bureau.
  5. Lawson, John; Silver, Harold (1973). A Social History of Education in England. Routledge. ISBN   978-0-415-43251-1.
  6. "Pupil Characteristics and Class Sizes in Maintained Schools in England: January 2008 (Provisional)". Department for Children, Schools and Families.
  7. "Challenge local authorities". FAC Website. Fair Admissions Campaign. Retrieved 22 April 2014.