Specialist schools 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 ...

(sometimes branded as specialist colleges in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

) 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 Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

in England, in a specific area of

special educational need Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

. They intend to act as centres of excellence in their specialism and, in some circumstances, may select pupils for their

aptitude An aptitude is a component of a competence to do a certain kind of work at a certain level. Outstanding aptitude can be considered "talent". Aptitude is inborn potential to perform certain kinds of activities, whether physical or mental, and ...

in it. Though they focus on their specialism, specialist schools still teach the full curriculum. Therefore, as opposed to being a significant move away from it, the specialism is viewed as enriching the original curricular offer of the school.

Devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...

has led to different policies and concepts around specialist schools in each of the four

constituent countries of the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK), since 1922, comprises three constituent countries and a region: England, Scotland, and Wales (which collectively make up the region of Great Britain), as well as Northern Ireland, a ...

. In England, a near-universal specialist system of secondary education has been established, with the majority of secondary schools (3,000 or 90%) specialising in one or more subjects as of 2019, while in Wales and Scotland a comprehensive system has been retained, with no specialist schools in Wales and few specialist schools in Scotland. There were 12 specialist schools in Northern Ireland as of 2015. 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 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 ...

. 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 Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

Definitions

In 1998, Tony Edwards of the RISE Trust said that, in the United Kingdom, a specialist school could "simply be the neighbourhood school which has decided to emphasise a curriculum strength". In 2007, Sean Coughlan of ''

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'' defined specialist schools as state schools which "specialise in one or more subject areas", while Alexandra Smith of ''

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'' defined them as " hools that focus on a particular subject area". ''

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'' used a similar definition to Smith's in 2010. The 2015 UK-based '' Oxford Dictionary of Education'' defines a specialist school as "

secondary school 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 ...

which specializes in the teaching of a particular area of the curriculum", while the sixth edition of ''Essential Public Affairs for Journalists'', an Oxford University publication from 2019, concludes that specialist school is "a catch-all term embracing each and every school with a specialism" and not a particular category of school. A specialism is a specialist school's chosen subject area of focus.

Specialist colleges

Schools that gained specialist school status in the

could accordingly rebrand themselves as specialist schools or, alternatively, as specialist colleges. The specialist college branding was seen as a label of prestige. There were 2,000 of these specialist colleges in the United Kingdom in 2005. In the context of education after the age of 16, the term specialist college refers to institutions of

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

that focus on one course or subject rather than the usual wide selection of courses. Unlike sixth form colleges with specialist school status, which still teach their specialised subject within a broader curriculum, these specialist colleges are completely based around their specialism, and their facilities and staff's specialist subject knowledge challenge those of normal schools.

Special schools

Although they may be confused with each other, specialist schools have no relation to special schools. Special schools specialise in teaching special needs children rather than specific subject areas, but have been allowed to gain specialist school status since the 2000s, and many of them took an interest in possibly rebranding themselves as specialist colleges through the specialist schools programme. Some special schools in England are now specialist schools for a specific area of special educational need. There are four possible areas to specialise in: communication and interaction, cognition and learning, social, emotional and mental health, and sensory and physical needs. To specialise in one of these areas, special schools must have pupils aged 11 and above. They cannot specialise in more than one of these areas, but can further specialise within an area to reflect the special needs they help with, for example in

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or in

visual impairment Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

In the independent sector

In the independent sector of education, there are specialist schools for the performing arts such as theatre and stage schools. There were 11 specialist theatre schools in the United Kingdom in 2014, with most of these being in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

or its surrounding areas. In 2015, none of these schools were in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and neither were there any in the

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and

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

of England, so most pupils had to relocate if they wished to attend one. There are also specialist preparatory schools in England.

Music and Dance scheme

In 1965, a report called ''Making Musicians'' was commissioned by the

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation ( pt, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One ...

. The report, which was chaired by

Gilmour Jenkins Sir Thomas Gilmour Jenkins, KCB, KBE, MC (18 July 1894 – 9 September 1981), commonly known as Gilmour Jenkins, was a British civil servant. Jenkins was educated at Rutlish School and later took an external degree course of the University of ...

, recommended the creation of new "special music schools at primary and secondary level". Following the report, four specialist independent schools for music were established, in addition to the one that was already open. In 1973 two of the five specialist schools, the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal Ballet Lower School, were designated as centres of excellence for the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfo ...

. Designation brought with it a direct grant from the Department of Education and Science and admittance into a scheme that introduced a means-test for parents similar to the one seen in the scheme for direct grant grammar schools. A second report entitled ''Training Musicians'' was commissioned by the foundation in 1978. This report evaluated the state of specialist music education and recommended "that exceptionally talented young musicians and dancers should have access to elite education, regardless of their financial circumstances". This led to the creation of the government's Music and Ballet Schools scheme (MBS) in 1982. The scheme designated five independent schools across England and Scotland with specialist school status in music, and gave them and the Royal Ballet School

assisted places The Assisted Places Scheme was established in the UK by the Conservative government in 1980. Children who were eligible were provided with free or subsidised places to fee-charging independent schools - based on the child's results in the school ...

. This meant that children who passed one of their

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(the schools are selective in music) could be enrolled to them without needing to pay fees, provided that their parents passed a means-test and were on

low-income Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

. Families with a higher income still had to pay fees, although the government would pay toward some of the costs. The scheme was renamed the Music and Dance scheme (MDS) in 2002. Eight independent schools, including four music schools and four dance schools, along with 12 music centres and ten dance centres were participating in the scheme as of September 2022.

In the state sector

Early years: 1986–1997

City technology colleges and technology schools

In the state sector of education, specialist schools have their origin in the city technology college programme of the late 1980s, which was used by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

government of the time to reduce the power of

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

. The programme was announced at the 1986 Conservative Party Conference by Education Secretary Kenneth Baker, with plans for the creation of a pilot network of 20 new city technology colleges (CTCs) by 1990 being revealed. These new schools would be secondary schools with a curricular emphasis on science and technology. They would be funded jointly by the central government and industrial sponsors, who would have significant influence in the management of the schools, and controlled by educational trusts instead of the

local education authorities Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wi ...

(LEAs) which had funded and controlled all state schools up to this point. In 1987 the City Technology Colleges Trust, made to oversee the establishment of CTCs, was established. It was chaired by Cyril Taylor, a businessman and philanthropist whose proposal for the creation of 100 technical and technological schools to reduce rising levels of youth unemployment in January 1986 led to the creation of the CTC programme. Baker and Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

tasked Taylor with overseeing the establishment of the CTCs and he had founded the trust at their request. It was responsible for finding the sites for the new schools and raising industrial money for their buildings, and all CTCs would become members of it. Taylor was also recruited by Baker as his special adviser on CTCs and specialist schools, a role he would maintain under ten consecutive education secretaries from both major political parties until 2007. The first CTCs opened the following year through the

Education Reform Act 1988 The Education Reform Act 1988 is widely regarded as the most important single piece of education legislation in England and Wales since the 'Butler' Education Act 1944. Provisions The main provisions of the Education Reform Act are as follows: ...

. These were the first specialist schools in the state sector. Their establishment marked the first phase of the specialist schools policy in England, with the government intending to introduce "relevant" subjects, primarily technology, to the general curriculum. From 1990, the new prime minister

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon, formerly Hunting ...

was under increasing pressure to come up with a "more

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

-friendly" concept for specialist schools. The cost of each CTC in public money was unexpectedly high; their buildings had to be built from the ground up as LEAs refused to provide disused school buildings, which had significantly increased the cost of the programme. The government looked for an alternative way to create more specialist schools for technology and science. Its first solution was the creation of the technology schools initiative (TSI) in 1991. Through this initiative, the government would reward secondary schools with a one-time capital grant for specialising in technology, though these schools still had to follow the

National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with state or other ...

. LEAs in England and later Wales could nominate one or two of their schools for the grant while

grant-maintained schools 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 ad ...

and

voluntary aided schools A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

, which were largely independent of local authority control, could apply to the initiative separately. Overall, 222 schools in England and 27 schools in Wales benefited from the extra funding. The idea of turning existing secondary schools into specialist schools for technology came from Cyril Taylor, who had proposed it in response to the government's inability to pay for the implementation of technology as a compulsory subject in all schools, which had been enforced by the Education Reform Act 1988. Taylor argued that this would allow the government to gradually pay for the subject over a long period of time, and that it would also salvage the failures of the CTC programme. Nevertheless, the programme had to be discontinued in 1993 because of the increasing economic pressures caused by the 1992 sterling crisis. Overall, fifteen CTCs were established in England while none were established in Wales. Three of these remain open in the present day, with the rest becoming

academy schools An academy school in England is a state-funded school which is directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local authority control. The terms of the arrangements are set out in individual Academy Funding Agreements. Mos ...

in the 2000s.

Technology colleges and the Education Act 1993

As the TSI came to an end in 1993 and 1994, the government moved toward establishing new technology colleges. Also proposed by Taylor, these schools would be created from existing secondary schools and would specialise in technology, maths and science. They differed from the technology schools in that they had to raise £100,000 in private sector sponsorship to match their capital grant, which was also worth £100,000, before specialising. The technology colleges programme was developed by Education Secretary John Patten in 1992. It was launched in 1993 under the terms of the Education Act 1993 as a much more affordable replacement of the CTC programme. The

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Departme ...

designated the City Technology Colleges Trust as the main non-departmental body responsible for overseeing, promoting and delivering the new programme, with the intention of building on the fifteen CTCs which by now had become the "pilot network" for the technology colleges. The Education Act 1993, which only applied to

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is En ...

, let grant-maintained and voluntary aided schools install sponsor governors and become technology colleges, subject to the consent of the Secretary of State for Education and Science. It also gave all state secondary schools, including those maintained by their LEA, the right to specialise in one or more subject areas, with specialisms in art, drama, music, sport, foreign languages and technology also giving them the right to select 10% of their pupils on aptitude or ability in one of these five areas. Specialist schools still had to teach the National Curriculum and its "core" subjects, which were maths, science, English, and until September 1993 also technology. Before the act came into force, schools in England and Wales could already specialise in the core subjects. Despite being covered by the act, no more specialist schools were established in Wales, and the schools participating in the TSI would lose their specialist school status when it ended in 1994. The act was repealed by the

Education Act 1996 The Education Act 1996 is Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It led to the establishment of special local authorities, who for example would identify children with special educational needs Special educational needs (SEN), also known ...

, which retained its provisions without modifying them. At first, the technology colleges programme retained the CTC programme's element of autonomy from the local authorities; only voluntary aided and grant-maintained schools could participate in it. This element of the programme was short-lived and LEA-maintained schools could participate from 1994. To join the programme and become a specialist technology college, schools had to put forward a bid that included £100,000 in private sector sponsorship and a three-year (later four-year) curricular development plan. If approved, the schools were then designated with technology college status and rewarded with a £100,000 capital grant to be spent towards the technology specialism over a three-year (later four-year) period to match the development plan, re-designating after this period expired. This provided the basic framework for specialist schools in England under which 90% of its secondary schools would later specialise. The required money in sponsorship would be lowered to £50,000 in 1999 and removed entirely in 2010, though designated specialist schools would not receive any additional funding after designation if they did not raise the £50,000 in sponsorship which was required for designation previously.

Expansion as the specialist schools programme

The first technology colleges were designated in 1994. With the first designations, Education Secretary John Patten announced plans to introduce more specialist schools in art, sport, music, language and business over the next five years. The technology colleges were a trial of these plans and Patten expected to see 160 more designated over the next few years. New language colleges were also announced as part of the programme, and it became the

(SSP). The first language colleges were designated in 1995. In 1996, arts colleges and sports colleges were also announced as part of the programme, and the first designations in these statuses were granted in 1997. Unlike the programme's other specialisms, sports colleges were supported by the Youth Sport Trust (YST). It took on the City Technology Colleges Trust's task of helping schools raise the required sponsorship for specialist designation in sport and, like it, was funded by the DfE to do so. By the end of 1996, 182 schools had been designated with specialist school status, with the majority being Technology Colleges. In light of this, the City Technology Colleges Trust was renamed to the Technology Colleges Trust (it oversaw and delivered the programme). Cyril Taylor, chairman of the trust and successive adviser to multiple education secretaries, convinced leader of the opposition

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...

to support specialist schools.

Under New Labour: 1997–2010

Following the 1997 general election, the

government stepped down and was replaced by a Labour

one 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. The new education secretary was

David Blunkett David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, (born 6 June 1947) is a British Labour Party politician who has been a Member of the House of Lords since 2015, and previously served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough ...

. Blunkett was a supporter of the specialist schools programme and brought it to the mainstream. In 2000, Blunkett announced the launch of the

city academies An academy school in England is a state-funded school which is directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local authority control. The terms of the arrangements are set out in individual Academy Funding Agreements. Mos ...

programme (later the academies programme). Academies were required to specialise and re-designate through free government funding, choosing whatever subject specialism they desired. By 2001, 700 schools had specialist status and a further 1300 were part of the Technology Colleges Trust's affiliation scheme. That same year new education secretary,

Estelle Morris Estelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley, (born 17 June 1952), is a British politician and life peer who served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 2001 to 2002. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) ...

, published the education

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...

''Schools Achieving Success.'' This white paper outlined plans to introduce more specialisms and to expand the amount of specialist schools to 50% of English secondaries by 2005. In 2002 the Technology Colleges Trust was renamed yet again, this time to the Specialist Schools Trust (SST). This was done to reflect the rising popularity of specialist status and to represent the increased specialisms available (there were now eight). By January 2004, 54% of English secondaries were specialists, rising to 75% by the 2005/2006

academic year An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study. School holiday School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which sch ...

. The programme was introduced to Scotland and Northern Ireland in both of these years and, by 2011, there were 44 specialist schools in Northern Ireland. In 2007, the programme was introduced to primary schools, with 34 schools receiving specialist status.

Developments since 2010

End of the specialist schools programme

In 2010 Labour left government and were replaced by the Cameron-Clegg coalition. The new education secretary,

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since 2021. He has been Member of Par ...

, announced that specialist school funding from the specialist schools programme would be mainstreamed from April 2011. This meant that schools would now have to receive funds for specialisms through the Dedicated Schools Grant and no longer had to designate or re-designate for specialist status. Specialist status is now instead granted based on meeting benchmarks set by the DfE. This effectively rendered the specialist schools programme defunct. The requirement for academies to have specialisms, of which all 203 open academies had at the time, were abolished. Despite this, academies are still able to freely select and fund specialisms. The Specialist Schools Trust (now called the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust) was also stripped of government support and no longer had control over specialist designations, therefore rendering it obsolete. At around the same time, the Scottish and Northern Irish variants of the programme were discontinued. By this time, around 96.6% of secondary schools in England were specialists, with exactly 80 remaining unspecialised. In February 2011 the Minister for Schools,

Nick Gibb Nicolas John Gibb (born 3 September 1960) is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Schools since October 2022, having previously held the office from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2015 to 2021. He has served at the Department for ...

, said this was why the funding was mainstreamed, alongside a government venture for more school autonomy.

Continued specialisation in England under the coalition

From 2011, the specialist schools policy in England continued with a new goal of turning every school into an academy or free school so that schools could be improved across the board. However, the coalition claimed to prefer a decentralised approach where it would merely influence the policy, opting to intervene when it was only required, and it instead favoured the involvement of market forces and stakeholders such as community groups and private sector organisations. In the education white paper ''The Importance of Teaching'', it stated that it "want devery school to be able to shape its own character, frame its own ethos and develop its own specialisms, free of either central or local bureaucratic constraint". This white paper led to the creation of the Education Act 2011, which removed the legal requirement for academies to specialise from November 2011. In line with new proposals from Kenneth Baker, new

university technical colleges A university technical college (UTC) is a type of specialist secondary school in England that is led by a sponsor university and has close ties to local business and industry. These university and industry partners support the curriculum developm ...

(UTCs) were established from 2011. These are technical and vocational specialist schools for 14–18 year olds. Studio schools, which are also specialist schools for 14–18 year olds, were established from 2010. Specialist maths schools were announced by the coalition in 2011, and the first of these were established from 2014. They are selective schools for 16–19 year olds with mathematical aptitude and they offer a specialist curriculum in mathematics. UTCs, studio schools and maths schools fall under the free school category. Introduced by the coalition, free schools are a type of academy which are established by trusts, charities, religious groups, voluntary groups, parents and teachers. The term also covers new academies which are set up through a local authority competition called the free school presumption. Free schools can be established on the basis of providing a location with a new subject specialism.

Specialist schools in England after the coalition

In 2019, 3,000 English secondary schools, or 90% of all the secondary schools in England, were specialising in one or more subjects. It was also found that community schools maintained by their local authority were just as likely as academies and other schools run by trusts to specialise. The number of specialist schools was attributed to the prevalence of state school specialisation during the second and third ministries of the Labour government that governed the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2010. The Conservative Party's manifesto for the 2019 general election included commitments to introduce new "innovative" specialist schools. From 2020, some free schools were opened with specialist Maths or

Science College Science Colleges were introduced in 2002 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, science and mathematics Mathemati ...

status under Education Secretary Gavin Williamson's

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

recovery plan. Since 2022, specialist sixth form free schools have been set to open in 55 locations in England designated by the government as Education Investment Areas through its levelling-up policy. They will mainly serve disadvantaged children identified as being "talented" so that they have the highest standard of education available in England.

Types of specialist schools

Specialist schools programme

The specialist schools programme introduced 12 types of specialist schools, with an additional curricular " rural dimension" option. They were categorised between "academic specialisms" and "practical specialisms". Although the specialist schools programme is now defunct, English schools can still become one of these specialist colleges through either academisation or the Dedicated Schools Grant. Some of these specialist schools were granted the ability by the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to admit 10% of their intake by academic aptitude, making them partially selective. Schools in the programme took part in the "community dimension", forming connections with nearby local schools and the community. The programme was introduced to Scotland in 2005 and Northern Ireland in 2006, discontinuing in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Some Northern Irish schools have since retained specialist status.

High performing specialist status Some schools that demonstrated that they were achieving significantly higher results than other schools were invited to apply to be designated as high performing specialist schools. This typically allowed the school to apply for a further specialism, which brought with it additional funding so that the school could develop that further specialism. Some 900 schools (30% of specialist schools) have achieved this status.

Academies programme

The English academies programme introduced three new specialist schools; the studio school, the maths school and the university technical college (UTC). All three schools are a type of free school, which in itself is a type of academy. Studio schools typically serve around 300 14 to 19-year-old students regardless of academic aptitude and operate with a unique year-round 9 to 5 school day, meant to emulate

work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal t ...

. Furthermore, studio schools combine academic studies and vocational education, specialising in a multitude of subject fields including

gaming Gaming may refer to: Games and sports The act of playing games, as in: * Legalized gambling, playing games of chance for money, often referred to in law as "gaming" * Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles * Playing ...

and

marine industries Marine Industries Limited (MIL) was a Canadian ship building, hydro-electric and rail car manufacturing company, in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, with a shipyard located on the Richelieu river about 1 km from the St. Lawrence River. It employed up t ...

. Studio schools appear to inherit the specialist schools programme's extended provision, with studio schools' specialisms usually coinciding with industries of significance in their local areas. Studio schools are usually sponsored by a diverse range of companies such as

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Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

Hilton Hotels Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton. The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As ...

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

and

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

. UTCs also serve students from the age of 14, albeit rarely enrolling from

Key Stage 3 Key Stage 3 (commonly abbreviated as KS3) is the legal term for the three years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9, when pupils are aged between 11 and 14. In Northern Ireland t ...

. All UTCs are controlled by

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

sponsors and specialise in at least one

technical Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical analysis, a discipline for forecasting the future direction of prices through the study of past market data * Technical drawing, showing how something is co ...

field that is connected to a "local industry partner". UTCs focus on a mixed technical and academic curriculum and are meant to progress their students into the technical work sector. There are seven main UTC specialisms; engineering, digital technology, design, creative media, science, health and construction. Maths schools, as the name suggests, specialise in mathematics. They are the first exclusively sixth form specialist schools, serving students between the ages of 16 and 19. They, like UTCs, are sponsored by universities. These universities are those that are noted for being "selective mathematics universities". Maths schools admit students on a selective basis, with an 8 grade in GCSE maths being the minimum requirement. They are meant to prepare students for entry into their corresponding sponsor universities. They were announced in 2011 by the Cameron-Clegg coalition, being introduced in 2014. Although there are plans for more to be introduced from 2022, there are currently only three maths schools; King’s College London Mathematics School, University of Liverpool Maths School and

Exeter Mathematics School Exeter Mathematics School is a maths school located in Exeter in the English county of Devon. It opened in September 2014 under the free schools initiative and is sponsored by Exeter College and the University of Exeter. It is intended to be ...

. Normal academies are free to choose their specialisms, with some selecting unique specialisms such as

Wren Academy Wren Academy is a mixed all-through school (plus sixth form) located in North Finchley, London, England. It was opened in 2008. In 2015 Wren Academy opened a primary school phase. The school also has an in-house chapel. All Through Academy ...

's design and built environment specialism. This privilege is extended to free schools, with many being opened with the purpose of offering a location another subject specialism. This includes primary free schools, such as Ramsgate Arts Primary School, which has specialist status in the arts. Unique academy specialisms were dismissed by Cyril Taylor as "just weird". Taylor instead preferred "mainstream specialisations", further adding that academies should "Teach kids some basic hard academic subjects, learn to be a health worker later on!" From 2020, some free schools have been opened with specialist Maths or

status under education secretary Gavin Williamson's

recovery plan. From 2022, specialist sixth form free schools are set to open in 55 locations designated by the government as " Education Investment Areas". They will primarily serve disadvantaged children. The precursor to academies, City Technology Colleges, specialised in technology-based subjects, mostly science and technology. City Technology Colleges were the first specialist schools and were introduced in 1988.

Music and dance schools

St Mary's Cathedral and Music School - geograph

The government's Music and Dance Scheme designates nine independent

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of " room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exte ...

s throughout England and Scotland as specialist music and dance schools. These schools provide

A-Level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

s and Highers and also offer

day A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two ...

places. The nine specialist schools are: * Chetham's School of Music * St Mary's Music School *

Wells Cathedral School Wells Cathedral School is a co-educational independent school located in Wells, Somerset, England. The school is one of the five specialist musical schools for school-age children in the United Kingdom, along with Chetham's School of Music, th ...

* Yehudi Menuhin School * The Purcell School for Young Musicians *

Elmhurst Ballet School Elmhurst Ballet School is an independent school for professional classical ballet in the United Kingdom. It takes students aged 11–19 years who intend to pursue a career in professional classical ballet. Elmhurst provides a full academic day in ...

* The Hammond School *

The Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...

Tring Park School for the Performing Arts Tring Park School for the Performing Arts is an independent co-educational school offering specialist courses in Dance, Commercial Music, Musical Theatre and Acting for 8–19 year olds. Originally known as the Arts Educational School, Tring Pa ...

Football schools

The UK Football Schools initiative provides specialist

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

education. The initiative consists of football boarding schools, football academies and football universities. Some specialist football boarding schools are

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

and some specialist football universities are international, with additional provision in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The boarding schools offer free five day trials known as "football trial camps". All schools and universities within the initiative are funded by and partnered with UK Football Schools Limited, a

private limited company A private limited company is any type of business entity in "private" ownership used in many jurisdictions, in contrast to a publicly listed company, with some differences from country to country. Examples include the ''LLC'' in the United St ...

headquartered in

Redruth Redruth ( , kw, Resrudh) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England. The population of Redruth was 14,018 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, which also includes Carn Brea, Illogan ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

STEM, STEAM and STREAM

Since 2008 multiple English schools have adopted a specialism in the four

STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

subjects (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). A rarer specialism in the five

STEAM Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizatio ...

subjects has also been adopted by schools. A new specialism called STREAM (science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and mathematics) has recently been introduced. These specialist schools offer these subjects into the

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for ...

and provide a unique curriculum throughout the school day, offering subjects such as coding and

robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...

Common features

Although there are many different types of specialist school, most share some common features. Specialist schools share a common purpose of acting as centres of excellence. For example, maths schools are expected to be centres of excellence in teaching A-Level mathematics and specialist schools introduced by the specialist schools programme and Music and Dance Scheme are centres of excellence in their designated specialisms. Specialist schools may also receive additional funding in order to facilitate their status or specialism, with maths schools receiving £350,000 every year, specialist schools from the specialist schools programme formerly receiving £100,000 every four years and music and dance schools receiving additional funds through the Music and Dance Scheme.

Support and praise

England

The CTC programme was supported and announced by education secretary Kenneth Baker. Although most major companies and businessmen saw no reason to support the programme, sponsors were found in people like

Lord Harris Colonel George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, (3 February 1851 – 24 March 1932), generally known as Lord Harris, was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Bombay. He was also an English amateur cricketer, mainly active f ...

(later the sponsor of the Harris Federation), Harry Djanogly, Stanley Kalms and Michael Ashcroft. The City Technology Colleges Trust led by Cyril Taylor also sponsored, oversaw and delivered the programme. Taylor was the main supporter of specialist schools, often being regarded as their pioneer. The supporters within the government were

Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life ...

, Tony Kerpel,

Alistair Burt Alistair James Hendrie Burt (born 25 May 1955) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Bedfordshire from 2001 until 2019. He was previously MP for his native Bury North in Greater Manchester from 1983 unt ...

George Walden George Gordon Harvey Walden (born 15 September 1939) is an English journalist, former diplomat and former politician for the Conservative Party, who served as MP for Buckingham from 1983 to 1997 and Minister for Higher Education under Marga ...

, Bob Dunn and Virginia Bottomley. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her chief policy adviser, Brian Griffiths, also offered their guidance and feedback on the programme. Thatcher's main motivation for this was her opposition to the LEAs and her vision to move schools out of their control. Griffiths often compared them to

Soviet republics The Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the Union Republics ( rus, Сою́зные Респу́блики, r=Soyúznye Respúbliki) were national-based administrative units of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( ...

, bringing this comparison to

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...

Thatcher: In July 1991, the new Prime Minister

praised CTCs for "meeting head-on a demand for technical education, which as a country we have neglected for a century past." He also announced plans to "remove the technical and legal obstacles that stand in the way of those voluntary-aided schools that wish to become City Technology Colleges." Major further praised CTCs for their claimed parental accountability, saying they offered "high standards of work, attendance and aspiration." In 1994, following the Education Act 1993, widespread school specialisation was introduced, beginning the specialist schools programme. John Major announced the introduction of specialist Sports Colleges two years later, citing them as a solution to the lack of weekly two hour PE provision in half of schools. By 1997, when Labour entered government, new education secretary David Blunkett and Prime Minister Tony Blair both supported school specialisation. In a July 2000 session of parliament,

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

enquired Blunkett on whether he accepted specialist school statistics, noting that the amount of student A to C grade GCSE results improved by only two thirds of that in non-specialists. Blunkett accepted the negative statistics, using them as a reason why more specialist schools needed to be designated. A year later, the new education secretary Estelle Morris published the education paper ''Schools Achieving Success''. The expansion of the specialist schools programme was one of the primary agendas of the white paper. At around the same time, Tony Blair's spokesman

Alastair Campbell Alastair John Campbell (born 25 May 1957) is a British journalist, author, strategist, broadcaster and activist known for his roles during Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party. Campbell worked as Blair's spokesman and campaign director ...

proclaimed that the "days of the bog-standard comprehensive" were over. Blair wanted the comprehensive system in England to be replaced by a "diversified" specialist school system and it was found in September of that year that specialist schools performed 10% higher than non-specialists in exam results. In 2002, Professor David Jesson began researching specialist schools. His research concluded with an emphasis of achievement brought by specialists and the approval of government policy to expand them. Jesson would be employed by the Specialist Schools Trust in 2003, continuing research and releasing reports on specialist schools annually until 2013. Jesson's reports often concluded that specialist schools resulted in better student outcomes. It was found that non-selective specialist schools achieved significantly higher results at

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

results than non-specialist

comprehensive schools A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 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 re ...

, that they achieved higher "added value" when prior achievement was taken into account, and that the gains had increased with the length of time the school had been specialist. Other studies found that specialist schools performed slightly better at GCSE, particularly benefitting more able pupils and narrowing the gap between boys and girls. In 2004, education secretary

Charles Clarke Charles Rodway Clarke (born 21 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006. Early life T ...

stated that the government wanted all schools to be specialist. He also praised specialist schools as a mass movement raising standards and improving student outcomes. In 2005, education watchdog

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions, incl ...

made their second evaluation of specialist schools, making the following summary: The Chief Inspector of Schools in England, David Bell, praised better teaching, performance and sense of purpose in specialist schools when compared to their unspecialised counterparts. Local schools close to specialists also benefited. Minister for School Standards

Stephen Twigg Stephen Twigg (born 25 December 1966) is a British Labour Co-op politician who was Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate from 1997 to 2005, and for Liverpool West Derby from 2010 to 2019. He came to national prominence in 1997 by winning ...

hailed the evaluation, saying it "underlined the fact that specialist status drives up standards." In 2009, Kenneth Baker (announcer of the CTCs) and Ronald Dearing conceptualised the UTC. They established the

Baker Dearing Educational Trust The Baker Dearing Educational Trust (abbreviated as the Baker Dearing Trust or BDT) is a UK-based registered charity established to support, advocate and develop university technical colleges (UTCs) in England. An official partnership with the Dep ...

for its promotion and development, being granted the right to the UTC trademark and brand. The trademark and brand are licensed by the trust to the UTCs and it has a significant say in the UTC sub-programme of the academies programme. The first UTC was established in September 2010 with a further 58 UTCs following in subsequent years. Studio schools were also introduced in 2010. At first they were supported by the Studio Schools Trust but after the trust closed it was replaced by the Studio Schools Network. These two specialist schools were introduced under David Cameron and

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicep ...

's 2010 coalition government as part of the expansion of the academies programme. Michael Gove, the education secretary who introduced these specialists, praised studio schools as benefitting "both business and young people". In January 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May announced her intention for every British city to have a maths school as part of an attempt to encourage technical education after

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time, GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 Central Eur ...

. A budget of £170 million was allocated for this purpose. She called the King’s College London Mathematics School "brilliant" and a "great example of a free school". In 2019, King's claimed that all of its students received an A or A* grade in A-level mathematics, with 90% of these being A*. Over a quarter of the school's students were said to have successfully applied to

Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of Oxford and Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most famous universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collectively, in contrast to other British universities, and more broadly to de ...

in that year.

Scotland

The

devolved Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...

Scottish Labour-Lib Dem government introduced specialist schools in 2005 through the Schools of Ambition programme. The

Convention of Scottish Local Authorities The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) is the national association of Scottish councils and acts as an employers' association for its 32 member authorities. History Formed in 1975, COSLA exists to promote and protect the intere ...

(COSLA) gave their support for the programme and showed enthusiasm for helping the schools involved. However, COSLA spokesman Ewan Aitken warned that cooperation would only be provided if no "strings" were attached.

Opposition and criticism

England

The CTC programme faced opposition from members of both the Labour and Conservative Parties and also by LEAs and teaching unions. Media coverage for the programme was largely antagonistic, with CTCs being accused of expanding academic selection (despite being non-selective) and privatising education. Increasing opposition meant that only 15 CTCs could be established, despite an original goal of 200. This led to the creation of the Technology College and the specialist schools programme in 1994. Opposition was still rampant, especially in Labour until later that year, when LEA schools were granted the ability to apply to the programme. In 2001, wealth segregation in the education system was researched by Professor Stephen Gorard of

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

. Specialist schools were found to have admitted less people from a poorer background, however Gorard was unable to confirm if the increase of specialist schools linked to greater segregation. It was also found that former

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

and grant-maintained schools with specialist status were more strongly segregated than those that were not. Gorard made his findings by using

free school meals A school meal or school lunch (also known as hot lunch, a school dinner, or school breakfast) is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world ...

as an indicator of poverty. General secretary of teachers union NASUWT, Nigel de Gruchy, welcomed increased school funding but was "deeply disappointed" that it was favouring specialist schools, accusing it of being discriminatory. Doug McAvoy, general secretary of NUT, claimed that specialist schools were creating a two-tier education system and that they did nothing to fix the problems of increasing teacher shortages and low morale. He blamed the better results specialists produced on their extra funding and partial selection. John Dunford, general secretary of the

Secondary Heads Association The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), formerly the Secondary Heads Association (SHA), is a UK professional association for leaders of schools and colleges. History The Association of Head Mistresses (AHM) was founded in 1874. The ...

, warned that unless the extra funding allocated to specialist schools were given to all secondary schools a two-tier education system may very well be created. In 2002, it was reported that many headteachers were finding it difficult to raise the required sponsorship for specialist designation. In 2003, the Commons Education

Select Committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system) A select committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster system o ...

requested that ministers withdraw specialist schools' extra funding if standards remained low in partnered comprehensives schools. It was claimed that this funding, alongside the partial selection entitled to some specialist schools, created inequality between them and their unspecialised counterparts. Specialist schools were claimed to have created a hierarchy of schools and Lib Dem MP Paul Holmes said every headteacher he had spoken to in private had only applied their schools to the programme for "the extra money". Ofsted confirmed that a fifth of schools specialised for this reason. Some specialists were also found illegally admitting their intakes by misinterpreting the 10% aptitude rule in their entitled partial selection. Two years later, NASUWT president Peter McLoughlin warned that specialist schools were limiting choice for parents in a speech where he claimed "Most parents cannot exercise choice in relation to the schools their children attend. The expansion of one school will lead to the closure of a less popular school, many of which are in deprived areas, depriving whole communities. You will have a kind of beauty contest between schools." McLoughlin also warned of the supposed two-tier system being created by specialist schools and academies. In 2007, it was found that specialist schools were performing nearly the same as non-specialists. There was only a small 1.5% increase in GCSE results for specialist schools with an exception of Sports Colleges, which were found to perform 0.5% worse than non-specialists. Furthermore, Chief Inspector of Schools in England Christine Gilbert stated that specialist status was not guaranteed to improve standards in teaching. She requested that the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) discuss the impact of the specialist schools programme since "If teaching had not improved, it's hard to see that learning would." Since 2016, UTCs have largely been considered to be failing. In 2016, one in ten UTCs had closed or converted into non-UTC secondary schools. The amount of pupils attending UTCs have decreased by 40% in those that were established between 2010 and 2013. One in five UTCs have been given an inadequate Ofsted grade and 40% require improvement. Furthermore, over half of the overall students attending UTCs have dropped out and students that are still attending perform worse than those at non-UTC secondary schools. A mere 50% of these students pass GCSE maths and English. The

DfE The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...

have spent £792 million on UTCs. Michael Gove, the education secretary who introduced UTCs, also called them a failure. A similar fate has befallen studio schools. Toby Young, a vocal advocate of free schools, believes that these schools fail because of their comprehensive character, which leads to them being "dumping grounds" for undesirable students who may be underperforming or misbehaved. Young has proposed making UTCs and studio schools selective to solve this issue. In 2022, the government announced plans to establish "elite" specialist sixth form free schools for talented disadvantaged children. Opposition and scepticism has already formed around these sixth forms and people have called for the government to instead increase funds for further education as a whole.

Scotland

Schools of Ambition faced opposition in Scotland from its announcement. The

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from th ...

(SNP),

Scottish Socialist Party The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP; gd, Pàrtaidh Sòisealach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Socialist Pairtie) is a left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an independent socialist Scotland. The party was founded in 1998. It c ...

and

Scottish Conservatives The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...

opposed the plan because of its selective and insufficient nature. SNP education spokesman

Fiona Hyslop Fiona Jane Hyslop (born 1 August 1964) is a Scottish politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture from 2020 to 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been a Member of the Scottish Parliame ...

feared that it would only benefit a few school children and accused the education secretary

Peter Peacock Peter James Peacock (born 27 May 1952) is a Scottish politician who served as Minister for Education and Young People from 2003 to 2006. A member of the Scottish Labour Party, he was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands ...

of playing "

catch-up The idea of convergence in economics (also sometimes known as the catch-up effect) is the hypothesis that poorer economies' per capita incomes will tend to grow at faster rates than richer economies, and in the Solow-Swan growth model, economic g ...

". Meanwhile, the Scottish Conservative education spokesman, James Douglas-Hamilton, believed it was insufficient and did nothing to address the alleged two-tier system in Scottish state education. Then, a year after its implementation,

Scottish Labour Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak of ...

announced plans to expand the Schools of Ambition initiative by creating six new "Science Academies". Science Academies were to be separate from

s, specialising in physics, chemistry and biology for Highers and

Advanced Higher The Advanced Higher is an optional qualification which forms part of the Scottish secondary education system brought in to replace the Certificate of Sixth Year Studies (CSYS). The first certification of Advanced Higher was in 2001. It is normally ...

s. The Scottish Lib Dems opposed the plans despite being in coalition with Labour, with party chairman Iain Smith fearing a "backdoor" introduction of academic selection. Science Academies were also opposed by some in the

Scottish Science Advisory Council The Scottish Science Advisory Council is a government organisation that is Scotland's highest level advisory body for science, engineering and technology. The group of experts provide independent advice to the Scottish Government. Members are ...

. In 2008, a year after the new SNP government was elected, it was announced by Fiona Hyslop (who was now education secretary) that Schools of Ambition would be discontinued in 2010. Scotland continues to have no academies or free schools, therefore meaning that specialist schools continue to be absent from state education.

Wales

In 1999, government in Wales was devolved. As a result, the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...

maintained its own independent education policy. Part of this policy was the strict defence of the "

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...

, comprehensive model". This resulted in fierce opposition to specialist schools and academies and, in 2011, 99.5% of Welsh schools were comprehensive. Minister for Education and Skills Leighton Andrews is claimed to have privately considered Welsh academisation but this never came to fruition.

Notes

References

{{Education in the United Kingdom Specialist schools Secondary education in the United Kingdom School types Education policy in the United Kingdom High schools and secondary schools Public education in the United Kingdom

Definitions

Specialist colleges

Special schools

In the independent sector

Music and Dance scheme

In the state sector

Early years: 1986–1997

City technology colleges and technology schools

Technology colleges and the Education Act 1993

Expansion as the specialist schools programme

Under New Labour: 1997–2010

Developments since 2010

End of the specialist schools programme

Continued specialisation in England under the coalition

Specialist schools in England after the coalition

Types of specialist schools

Specialist schools programme

Academies programme

Music and dance schools

Football schools

STEM, STEAM and STREAM

Common features

Support and praise

England

Scotland

Opposition and criticism

England

Scotland

Wales

See also

Notes

References