Science Colleges were introduced in 2002 as part of the now defunct

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 ...

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 ...

. The system enabled

secondary schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

to specialise in certain fields, in this case,

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

. 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 Science Colleges received extra funding from this joint private sector and government scheme. Science Colleges act as a local point of reference for other schools and businesses in the area, with an emphasis on promoting science within the community. The funding received by such Colleges was dependent on the number of pupils currently attending and was on average approximately £1,600. The funding was often used by schools to upgrade their facilities to a standard befitting a "Specialist" institution. A proportion of the money was used to spread the skills of the school into the local community, often involving outreach centres or adult education schemes. After the Specialist Schools Programme's discontinuation schools can still become Science Colleges through the Dedicated Schools Grant or by becoming 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 ...

References

External links

Specialist Schools and Academies Trust
2002 in education 2002 introductions Science education in the United Kingdom Specialist schools programme {{UK-edu-stub