Understanding more about exactly what type of school your local school is, can be vital for starting a good relationship with it. Check out their website or school prospectus for more information.
In UK history, the churches were instrumental in founding most of the schools prior to the 20th century. Consequently, many schools have a Christian foundation.
Across the whole of the UK, the education system is broadly divided into Nursery (up to 4 years of age), Primary (Infant: 5-7 years of age, and Junior: 7-11 years of age) Secondary (12-16 or, if the school has a sixth form, 12-18 years of age) and Further Education (16 years of age).
Cutting across the age bands are two main sectors: Independent schools and State schools.
Independent schools are usually funded through fees paid by parents and they fall into one of two groups:
The Independent Schools Christian Alliance provides support to Christian teachers working in the older established schools, and The Christian Schools' Trust provides support for those working in the smaller, new Christian schools.
State schools receive their funding from the government using money raised through taxation. This normally reaches schools through their Local Authority. Within the state system there is a wide variety of schools. Church schools make up about 20% of all schools in the UK, including about 25% of primary schools. The Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church are the two largest providers. There are also ecumenical schools and a few church schools provided by other Christian denominations.
These church schools are legitimately called state schools as they receive government funding. Church schools were recently redesignated 'faith' schools, or 'schools with a religious character', since they are now included with a small but growing number of Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh schools. State schools which don't have a religious character are known as community schools in England. The fact that 'faith' schools and community schools both exist as state schools is known as the dual system.
Recently the Government has been encouraging more faith-based schools to be set up within the state sector. Faith-based schools vary enormously in the degree to which the religious dimension permeates the school life:
More details about church VA and VC schools in England and Wales are available from The National Society of the Church of England and the Catholic Education Service.
A significant recent initiative in England is the creation of state schools called Academies. These are semi-independent schools funded directly from central government. They have been built to replace failing or struggling schools in areas of high deprivation in order to improve the education offered to pupils in those areas. Academies have proved to be controversial. They are part-funded by sponsors. The Catholic Church and the Anglican Church have sponsored Academies, as have Christian organisations like Oasis, Emmanuel Schools Foundation and United Learning Trust.
Faith schools in Scotland are known as Denominational schools, and are all Catholic schools. Other local authority schools will have a Church of Scotland or other chaplain linked to them.
Denominational schools in Northern Ireland are also Catholic schools, with the local authority schools often having a strong Protestant ethos. A few recently founded Integrated Schools admit pupils from both communities. Most schools in Northern Ireland have a more distinctively Christian ethos when compared to those in the rest of the UK.
| Pupils' age (years) | 3-5 | 5-7 | 7-11 | 11-14 | 14-16 | 16-18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England & Wales | Foundation | Key Stage 1 | Key Stage 2 | Key Stage 3 | Key Stage 4 | Key Stage 5 |
| Year groups England & Wales |
1-2 | 3-6 | 7-9 | 10-11 | 12-13 | |
| Eire, NI, Scotland | P1-P3 | P4-P7 | S1-S2 | S3-S4 | S5-S6 | |
| USA | Grade 1 Kinder... |
Grades 2-5 Eleme... | Grades 6-8 Middle | Grades 9-10 High | Grades 11-12 High |