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Guide for people wishing to enter a new school competition
Under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 a local authority must hold a competition:
- where it identifies a need for a brand new school
- where it wishes to rationalise existing provision, close two or more schools and replace them with a new school
- where it wishes to close a failing school and reopen it as a new school.
- The legislation applies to secondary and primary schools.
Exceptions
- A local authority does not have to hold a competition in the following cases:
- where an existing school is to be rebuilt on the same site or set up on a new site
- where the local authority wishes to work with a sponsor to set up an Academy
- where the school is a 16-19 school.
Exceptionally, the Secretary of State may give his consent for a local authority, or a proposer, to set up a new school outside of a competition in the light of local circumstances.
Who this guide is for
This guide is for people — proposers (other than local authorities) — who wish to submit proposals for a new school in response to a local authority competition notice.
The sorts of proposers the Government wants to come forward and set up new schools include:
- parents and community groups
- universities and FE colleges
- education charities and business foundations
- voluntary and religious groups, including church and faith communities
- those offering distinctive educational philosophies
- existing schools or consortia of schools.
What this guide covers
This guide gives details of the steps you will need to follow in preparing your proposals for the new school.
- it explains the local authority's role and what you need to do
- it provides information that will help you decide the type of new school you wish to set up and how it will operate
- it sets out the information the law requires you to provide as part of your new school proposals
- it explains the decision making process and the factors the decision makers take into account in deciding proposals.
Before entering into any commitment, make sure you have a good understanding of the process for setting up a new school, and the role you will be expected to play in it, by reading the remainder of this guide.
Before you begin
If you are proposing to set up a maintained school you must be sure that your school will be able and willing to comply with the conditions attached to all maintained schools. If you cannot commit to the conditions you cannot set up your school. If you are proposing to set up an Academy the conditions your school must meet are more flexible.
What the local authority will do
The local authority will:
- establish demand for the new school and provide a school site
- in most cases, depending on the type of school, provide capital funding
- identify key activities, set target dates and provide a project plan
- consult and publish a competition notice inviting proposers to submit proposals
- hold a seminar for proposers to explain the competition process.
What you need to do
You should attend the seminar for proposers to help you understand the requirement before deciding whether to enter the competition. If you decide to submit proposals you will need to:
- consider a range of factors about how you want your school to operate and decide on the type of school that best meets the community's needs
- consider whether to apply for support from an education specialist
- prepare your proposals.
Finally
When the competition closes the local authority will:
- publish a summary of proposals it has received
- wait for comments/objections.
Proposals will then be considered on the basis of their educational merits and what they have to offer parents and the local community and you will receive a decision. If you are successful and your proposals are approved you must implement your proposals as published. There is no right of appeal for unsuccessful proposers.
Download the guidance [pdf 255kb]
