The United Church Schools Trust (UCST) is a large education

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

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 ...

which owns and operates a group of 12

independent schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

. The charity is operating under the name

United Learning United Learning is a group of state-funded schools and fee-paying independent schools operating in England. United Learning is the trading name for United Church Schools Trust (UCST) and United Learning Trust (ULT). It is one of the largest 10 ch ...

as of 2012.

History

UCST was founded in 1883 (as the ‘Church Schools Company’) to extend the reach of academic education in

Victorian England In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

and to educate young women based on

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

(and particularly

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

) principles. The majority of its schools are now co-educational. As a group, it is non-denominational and welcomes pupils of all faiths and none to its schools. In 2002, it established the United Learning Trust (now

) as a fully owned subsidiary to extend UCST’s work and ethos into the state sector through the Academies Programme. Together, UCST schools and ULT academies educate more than 30,000 pupils. UCST is one of the 100 largest UK charitable organisations. Its central office is based in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

. It is governed by
Board of Trustees
and a
Executive Team

Schools

UCST currently owns and manages 12 independent schools across England: *

AKS Lytham AKS Lytham (AKS), or ArnoldKEQMS, is an independent, co-educational day school located on the Fylde, Lancashire, England. It was formed from the merger of King Edward VII and Queen Mary School (KEQMS) in Lytham St. Annes and Arnold School in Bl ...

Ashford School Ashford School is a coeducational independent boarding and day school in East Hill, Ashford, Kent. There are 480 students in the senior school (ages 11 to 18) and 360 in the prep school (ages 3 to 11). The school is owned and run by the Unit ...

Caterham School (Truth without Fear) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding school , religious_affiliation = Protestant (United Reformed Church) , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...

Dunottar School Dunottar School is an independent school in Reigate, Surrey, England, established in 1926. History The school was established in 1926 by Jessie Elliot-Pyle in Brownlow Road with three pupils, and was named after Dunnottar Castle in Scotland. She ...

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...

* Embley * Greenacre School *

Guildford High School Guildford High School is an independent day school for girls that was founded in 1888. Approximately 1,000 girls between ages 4 to 18 attend the school from Guildford and its surrounding towns and villages. The school comprises a Junior School ...

Tranby School Tranby School, commonly known in the area as the 'Collegiate' or 'Tranby Croft', is a co-educational independent day school in Anlaby, near Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 2005 as a result of a merger of two of t ...

Lincoln Minster School Lincoln Minster School (Known locally as "LMS" or "The Minster") is an independent co-educational day and boarding school in Lincoln, England. It comprises three schools: the nursery and pre-preparatory, preparatory, and senior school. While the ...

* Rowan Preparatory School * St Ives School for Girls *

Surbiton High School Surbiton High School is a private independent school in Surbiton in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England. It has seven buildings overall including the Boys’ Preparatory School, Girls’ Preparatory School, the Se ...

Five schools are boarding and day; seven schools are day only. Five schools are single-sex (girls); nine schools are co-educational. The schools are accredited through the

Independent Schools Council The Independent Schools Council (ISC) is a non-profit lobby group that represents over 1,300 schools in the United Kingdom's independent education sector. The organisation comprises seven independent school associations and promotes the busin ...

(ISC). The UCST planned to merge

King Edward VII and Queen Mary School King Edward VII and Queen Mary School (KEQMS) was an HMC independent co-educational school in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England, formed in 2000 by the merger of King Edward VII School, Lytham and Queen Mary School. It merged with Arnold ...

(KEQMS) with Arnold School in September 2012, to create Arnold KEQMS (now

). A parent group lodged an appeal with HM Courts and Tribunal Service – First Tier Tribunal on Friday 9 December 2011. The appeal was heard on 11 & 12 April 2012 and a decision was released by the tribunal on 17 May 2012 stating that the merger can proceed; however, the lease granted to UCST does not adequately protect the assets of the Lytham Schools and will therefore need to be re-written. The parents group have since announced that they will not be appealing this decision and the merger will therefore go ahead.

Academies

UCST's subsidiary charity the

United Learning Trust United Learning is a group of state-funded schools and fee-paying independent schools operating in England. United Learning is the trading name for United Church Schools Trust (UCST) and United Learning Trust (ULT). It is one of the largest 10 ch ...

operates 60

academies 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 ...

and one City Technology College.

United Learning

In 2012 ULT and UCST rebranded to operate under one name, United Learning.The Road to United

Learning Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, value (personal and cultural), values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machine learning, machines ...

They legally remain as two separate charities.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1883 establishments in the United Kingdom Charities based in Northamptonshire Educational charities based in the United Kingdom