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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, 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,

visual The visual system comprises the sensory organ (the eye) and parts of the central nervous system (the retina containing photoreceptor cells, the optic nerve, the optic tract and the visual cortex) which gives organisms the sense of sight (the ...

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

and/or

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

. 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 secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

, 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, introducin ...

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 Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

and

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

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 p ...

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

Department for Education and Skills
Art schools in England Performing arts in England 1997 introductions 1997 in education {{UK-edu-stub Specialist schools programme

History

Sponsors

References