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Specialist schools in the United Kingdom

This article is about specialist schools in the United Kingdom. For specialist schools in other countries, see specialist school. For special needs schools, see special school.

A sign for Loreto Grammar School in Altrincham with its specialist status in maths and science advertised.

Specialist schools[a] in the United Kingdom (sometimes branded as specialist colleges in England and Northern Ireland) 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.[9][10][11] Therefore, as opposed to being a significant move away from it, the specialism is viewed as enriching the original curricular offer of the school.[12]: 445 

Devolution has led to different policies and concepts around specialist schools in each of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom.[13][14][15]: 55  In England, a near-universal specialist system of secondary education has been established,[16][17] with the majority of secondary schools (3,000 or 90%) specialising in one or more subjects as of 2019,[18]: 359  while in Wales and Scotland a comprehensive system has been retained,[15] with no specialist schools in Wales and few specialist schools in Scotland.[19][20] There were 12 specialist schools in Northern Ireland as of 2015.[21]

From 1993 (2006 in Northern Ireland) to 2011, specialist schools in England and Northern Ireland were granted additional government funding through the specialist schools programme. This programme limited the specialisms available to schools unless they had academy status, which is exclusive to England, and required them to raise money in private sector sponsorship before specialising. Since its discontinuation in 2011, the requirement of sponsorship and limitations on specialism have been lifted, but schools no longer gain extra funding for being a specialist school in those countries. In Scotland, specialist schools are directly funded by the government, unlike other schools which are funded by their local authority.[20]

  1. ^ "Schools that Work for Everyone". TheyWorkForYou. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  2. ^ Sinkinson, Anne J. (19 August 2006). "Going for specialist school status: perspectives from a front line head of department". School Leadership & Management. 25 (2): 191–208. doi:10.1080/13632430500036181. S2CID 145733548 – via Taylor & Francis.
  3. ^ "Specialist Schools". Hansard (House of Commons). 407. 23 June 2003 – via UK Parliament.
  4. ^ Burton, Diana; Bartlett, Steve (20 May 2009). Key Issues for Education Researchers. SAGE. p. 164. ISBN 9780857029454.
  5. ^ "INSPECTION REPORT: NEWLANDS GIRLS' SCHOOL". Ofsted. 2005. p. 1. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  6. ^ Ritchie, Astrid (9 March 2001). "Could Blair's big gamble pay off here?". TES. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  7. ^ Aitkenhead, Decca (24 September 2005). "The real zeal". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Specialised Schools". Hansard (House of Commons). 238W. 28 April 2008 – via UK Parliament.
  9. ^ "What kind of school do you want to teach in?". targetjobs. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  10. ^ Hill, Michael; Irving, Zoë M. (2 February 2009). Understanding Social Policy. Wiley. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-4051-8176-1.
  11. ^ "Sport 'improves boys' behaviour'". BBC News. 14 June 2004. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  12. ^ Dimmock, Clive (7 December 2011). "Diversifying Schools and Leveraging School Improvement: a Comparative Analysis of The English Radical, and Singapore Conservative, Specialist Schools' Policies". British Journal of Educational Studies. 59 (4): 439–458. doi:10.1080/00071005.2011.636732. S2CID 143121614 – via Taylor & Francis Online.
  13. ^ Birrell, Derek (9 September 2009). The Impact of Devolution on Social Policy. Policy Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-84742-225-5.
  14. ^ Trench, Alan (2007). Devolution and Power in the United Kingdom. Manchester University Press. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-7190-7575-9.
  15. ^ a b Adams, John; Schmueker, Katie (2005). Devolution in Practice 2006: Public Policy Differences Within the UK. IPPR. ISBN 978-1-86030-269-5.
  16. ^ This article contains OGL licensed text This article incorporates text published under the British Open Government Licence: Department for Children, Schools and Families (30 June 2009). Your child, your schools, our future: building a 21st century schools system (PDF). HM Stationery Office. p. 45. ISBN 9780101758826. Now, thanks to the hard work of schools, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT), the Youth Sport Trust (YST) and other partners, we have a truly specialist secondary system – with well over 90% of all secondary schools having achieved specialist status.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference :8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Morrison, James; Gordon, Robert (4 June 2019). Essential Public Affairs for Journalists (6th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-882803-7.
  19. ^ Trench, Alan (24 May 2017). The State of the Nations 2008. Andrews UK Limited. p. 211. ISBN 978-1-84540-548-9.
  20. ^ a b Gibb, Kenneth; Maclennan, Duncan; McNulty, Des; Comerford, Michael (6 July 2017). The Scottish Economy: A Living Book. Taylor & Francis. p. 234. ISBN 978-1-317-33601-3.
  21. ^ Borooah, V.; Knox, C. (26 May 2015). The Economics of Schooling in a Divided Society: The Case for Shared Education. Springer. p. 180. ISBN 978-1-137-46187-2.


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