Education Act 2002

Part 1 — Provision for new legal frameworks

Chapter 1 — Powers to facilitate innovation

Staffing of community, voluntary controlled, community special and maintained nursery schools

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• (1) The purpose of this Chapter is to facilitate the implementation by qualifying bodies of innovative projects that may—

• (a) in the opinion of the Secretary of State, contribute to the raising of educational standards in England, or

• (b) in the opinion of the National Assembly for Wales, contribute to the raising of educational standards in Wales.

• (2) In forming an opinion as to whether a project may contribute to the raising of educational standards in England or Wales, the Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales shall—

• (a) have regard to the need for the curriculum for any school in England affected by the project to be a balanced and broadly based curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of children and of society, and

• (aa) have regard to the need for the curriculum for pupils of compulsory school age, or below that age, at any maintained school affected by the project that is maintained by a local authority in Wales—

• (i) to enable pupils to develop in the ways described in the four purposes set out in section 2(1) of the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021,

• (ii) to provide for appropriate progression,

• (iii) to be suitable for pupils of differing ages, abilities and aptitudes, and

• (iv) to be broad and balanced,

• (ab) have regard to the need for—

• (i) the curriculum for pupils above compulsory school age at any maintained school affected by the project that is maintained by a local authority in Wales, and

• (ii) the curriculum for pupils of any age at any other school in Wales affected by the project, to be a balanced and broadly based curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of those pupils and of society, and

• (b) consider the likely effect of the project on all the pupils or students who may be affected by it.

• (3) In this Chapter—

• “the Chief Inspector” means—in relation to England, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills , andin relation to Wales, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales;

• “children” means persons under the age of nineteen;

• “education legislation” means—the Education Acts (as defined by section 578 of the Education Act 1996 (c. 56)),the Learning and Skills Act 2000 (c. 21), andany subordinate legislation made under any of those Acts;

• “maintained school” means— a community, foundation or voluntary school,a community or foundation special school, ora maintained nursery school;

• “qualifying body” means— a local authority,an Education Action Forum,a qualifying foundation,the governing body of a maintained school,the head teacher of a maintained school,the proprietor of an Academy, a city technology college or a city college for the technology of the arts,the proprietor of any special school that is not maintained by a local authority but is for the time being approved by the Secretary of State ... under section 342 of the Education Act 1996, orthe governing body of an institution within the further education sector;

• “qualifying foundation” means the foundation, as defined by subsection (3)(a) of section 21 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, of any foundation or foundation special school that for the purposes of that section has a foundation established otherwise than under that Act;

• ...

• “subordinate legislation” has the same meaning as in the Interpretation Act 1978 (c. 30).

Power to suspend statutory requirements etc.

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• (1) On the application of one or more qualifying bodies (“the applicant”), the Secretary of State (in relation to England) or the National Assembly for Wales (in relation to Wales) may for the purpose of this Chapter by order make provision—

• (a) conferring on the applicant exemption from any requirement imposed by education legislation;

• (b) relaxing any such requirement in its application to the applicant;

• (c) enabling the applicant to exercise any function conferred by education legislation on any other qualifying body (either concurrently with or in place of that other body);

• (d) making such modifications of any provision of education legislation, in its application to the applicant or any other qualifying body, as are in the opinion of the Secretary of State or the Assembly consequential on any provision made by virtue of any of paragraphs (a) to (c).

• (1A) Where the applicant is or includes a qualifying foundation, references in paragraphs (a) to (d) of subsection (1) to the applicant (so far as they would otherwise be read as references to the qualifying foundation) are to be read as references to the governing bodies of all or any of the foundation or foundation special schools in respect of which the applicant is the foundation.

• (2) An order under this section shall have effect during a period specified in the order which, subject to section 3(2), must not exceed three years.

• (3) Before making an order under this section, the Secretary of State or the National Assembly shall, if he or it considers it appropriate to do so, consult the Chief Inspector.

• (4) No order under this section which relates to sections 119 to 129 may be made by the National Assembly for Wales without the consent of the Secretary of State.

• (5) The Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales shall refuse an application for an order under this section if it appears to the Secretary of State or the Assembly that the proposed order would be likely to have a detrimental effect on the education of —

• (a) in relation to England, children with special educational needs, or

• (b) in relation to Wales, persons under 25 with special educational needs.

• (6) The Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales may from time to time give guidance as to the matters which the Secretary of State or the Assembly will take into account in determining whether to grant applications for orders under this section.

• (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Variation or revocation of orders under section 2

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• (1) The power conferred on the Secretary of State and the National Assembly for Wales by section 2 includes—

• (a) power by a further order made under that section on an application made for the purposes of that section by one or more qualifying bodies, to amend any order previously made under that section so as to extend—

• (i) the requirements or functions in relation to which the order applies,

• (ii) the qualifying bodies to which it applies, or

• (iii) subject to subsection (2), the period during which it has effect, and

• (b) power by a further order under that section, which may be made without any application from a qualifying body, to revoke any order previously made under that section.

• (2) An order made under section 2 by virtue of subsection (1)(a)(iii) of this section may, on one occasion only, extend the period for which a previous order under that section has effect by a period of not more than three years from the end of the period originally specified in the previous order.

Applications for orders under section 2

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• (1) An application for the purposes of section 2 (“an application for an order”) must be in such form, and contain such information, as may be required by the Secretary of State or, as the case may be, the National Assembly for Wales.

• (1A) No application for an order may be made by the head teacher of a maintained school without the consent of the governing body of the school.

• (2) Before making an application for an order , the qualifying body shall—

• (a) in the case of an Education Action Forum, consult each local authority by whom any participating school, as defined by section 10(6)(b) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 (c. 31), is maintained,

• (aa) in the case of a qualifying foundation, consult the governing body of each foundation or foundation special school to which the application relates and the local authority who maintain the school,

• (b) in the case of the governing body of a maintained school, consult—

• (i) the local authority who maintain the school, and

• (ii) where the school is a foundation school with a qualifying foundation, that foundation, and

• (c) in any case, consult such persons (or other persons) as appear to the qualifying body to be appropriate, having regard to any guidance given from time to time by the Secretary of State or, as the case may be, the National Assembly for Wales.

• (3) The Secretary or State or the National Assembly for Wales may with the consent of the applicant include in an order under section 2 provisions different from those requested in the application.

Annual report

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• (1) Where the Secretary of State has made any order under section 2 in any academic year, he shall—

• (a) prepare a report on all the orders made by him under that section in that academic year, and

• (b) lay a copy of the report before each House of Parliament.

• (2) Where the National Assembly for Wales has made any order under section 2 in any academic year, the Assembly shall prepare and publish a report on all the orders made by the Assembly under that section in that academic year.

• (3) In this section “academic year” means a period beginning with 1st August and ending with the next 31st July.

Chapter 2 — Exemptions related to school performance

Power to require local authority in Wales to obtain advisory services

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• (1) For the purposes of this Chapter a maintained school is a “qualifying school” at any time if it is a school of a prescribed description which satisfies prescribed criteria relating to one or more of the following—

• (a) the performance of the school,

• (b) the quality of the leadership in the school, and

• (c) the quality of the management of the school.

• (2) The criteria prescribed for the purposes of subsection (1) may include criteria referring to the opinion of the Chief Inspector, the Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales.

• (3) For the purposes of this Chapter a school teacher is “employed” at a school if he works at the school under a contract falling within paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of section 122(3).

• (4) In this Chapter—

• “the Chief Inspector” has the meaning given by section 1(3);

• “curriculum provision” means—in relation to a maintained school maintained by a local authority in England, any provision of the National Curriculum for England, andin relation to a maintained school maintained by a local authority in Wales, any provision of the National Curriculum for Wales requirement imposed under or by virtue of Part 2 of the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021;

• “maintained school” means a community, foundation or voluntary school or a community or foundation special school;

• “pay and conditions provision” means any provision of an order under section 122;

• “school teacher” has the same meaning as in section 122.

Allowances in respect of education or training

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• (1) Regulations may for the purposes of this section—

• (a) designate any curriculum provision or pay and conditions provision as attracting exemption as of right,

• (b) designate any curriculum provision or pay and conditions provision as attracting discretionary exemption,

• (c) designate modifications of any curriculum provision or pay and conditions provision as being available as of right, and

• (d) designate modifications of any curriculum provision or pay and conditions provision as being available on a discretionary basis.

• (2) On the application of the governing body of a qualifying school, the Secretary of State (in relation to England) or the National Assembly for Wales (in relation to Wales) may by order—

• (a) provide that any pay and conditions provision which is designated under subsection (1)(a) or (b) and specified in the order is not to apply in relation to school teachers employed at the school,

• (b) provide that any pay and conditions provision which is designated under subsection (1)(c) or (d) is to apply in relation to school teachers employed at the school with modifications which are specified in the order and fall within the modifications designated as being available as of right or available on a discretionary basis,

• (c) provide that any curriculum provision which is designated under subsection (1)(a) or (b) and specified in the order is not to apply in relation to the school,

• (d) provide that any curriculum provision which is designated under subsection (1)(c) or (d) is to apply in relation to the school with modifications which are specified in the order and fall within the modifications designated as being available as of right or available on a discretionary basis, or

• (e) revoke or vary any order previously made under this subsection.

• (3) Where an application under subsection (2) by a qualifying school—

• (a) relates only to exemption from provisions that are designated under subsection (1)(a) as attracting exemption as of right or to modifications that fall within the modifications designated under subsection (1)(c) as being available as of right (or only to such exemption and such modifications), and

• (b) does not relate to the revocation or variation of an order previously made under subsection (2),

the Secretary of State or, as the case may be, the National Assembly for Wales shall make the order requested.

• (4) The Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales may from time to time give guidance as to the matters which the Secretary of State or the Assembly will take into account in determining whether to grant applications under subsection (2) which relate to—

• (a) provisions which are designated under subsection (1)(b) as attracting discretionary exemption, or

• (b) modifications which fall within the modifications designated under subsection (1)(d) as being available on a discretionary basis.

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Appeals relating to children to whom section 87 applies

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• (1) An application for the purposes of section 7(2) must be in such form, and contain such information, as may be required by the Secretary of State or, as the case may be, the National Assembly for Wales.

• (2) Before making such an application, the governing body shall—

• (a) consult the local authority,

• (b) where the application relates to a curriculum provision, consult the parents of registered pupils at the school,

• (c) where the application relates to a pay and conditions provision, consult each school teacher employed at the school, and

• (d) in any case, consult such other persons as appear to them to be appropriate, having regard to any guidance given from time to time by the Secretary of State or, as the case may be, the National Assembly for Wales.

• (3) The Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales may with the consent of the applicant include in an order under section 7(2) provisions different from those requested in the application.

Education Act 1996

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Where—

• (a) the Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales has made an order under subsection (2) of section 7 in relation to a school (“the exemption order”), and

• (b) since the making of the exemption order, the school has ceased to be a qualifying school,

the Secretary of State or the Assembly may, without any application by the governing body, make an order under that subsection which revokes the exemption order or varies the exemption order so as to restrict any exemption conferred by it.

Nursery education, special schools and children with statements

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• (1) Where an order under section 7(2) which relates to a pay and conditions provision is in force in relation to a school—

• (a) the governing body shall determine the remuneration and other conditions of employment of each school teacher employed at the school, to the extent that by virtue of the order the pay and conditions provisions do not apply to him,

• (b) the local authority shall do anything necessary to give effect to the governing body’s determination under paragraph (a), and

• (c) pending a determination under paragraph (a), the terms on which a school teacher is employed at the school shall remain unchanged (irrespective of any new order under section 122 except so far as applying to him despite the effect of the order under section 7(2)).

• (2) The Secretary of State may make regulations about the application of section 122(2) where an order under section 7(2) is revoked or the exemption conferred by it is restricted.

Chapter 3 — Powers to form companies etc

Powers of governing bodies to form or invest in companies to provide services etc.

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• (1) The governing body of a maintained school may form, or participate in forming, companies—

• (a) to provide services or facilities for any schools,

• (b) to exercise relevant local authority functions, or

• (c) to make, or facilitate the making of, arrangements under which facilities or services are provided for any schools by other persons.

• (2) The governing body of a maintained school may, with a view to securing or facilitating—

• (a) the provision by a company of services or facilities for any schools,

• (b) the exercise by a company of relevant local authority functions, or

• (c) the making by any person of arrangements of the kind referred to in subsection (1)(c),