Office of Public Sector Information
PART V continued CHAPTER III continued
Subject to section 389, in relation to any maintained school (other than a maintained special school)—
(a) the local education authority and the governing body shall exercise their functions with a view to securing, and
(b) the head teacher shall secure,
that all pupils in attendance at the school take part in the daily collective worship required by section 385.
(1) If the parent of a pupil at a maintained school requests that he may be wholly or partly excused—
(a) from receiving religious education given in the school in accordance with the school’s basic curriculum,
(b) from attendance at religious worship in the school, or
(c) both from receiving such education and from such attendance,
the pupil shall be so excused until the request is withdrawn.
(2) In subsection (1)—
(a) the reference to religious education given in accordance with the school’s basic curriculum is to such education given in accordance with the provision included in the school’s basic curriculum by virtue of section 352(1)(a), and
(b) the reference to religious worship in the school includes religious worship which by virtue of section 385(6) takes place otherwise than on the school premises.
(3) Where in accordance with subsection (1) a pupil has been wholly or partly excused from receiving religious education or from attendance at religious worship and the responsible authority are satisfied—
(a) that the parent of the pupil desires him to receive religious education of a kind which is not provided in the school during the periods of time during which he is so excused,
(b) that the pupil cannot with reasonable convenience be sent to another maintained school where religious education of the kind desired by the parent is provided, and
(c) that arrangements have been made for him to receive religious education of that kind during school hours elsewhere,
the pupil may be withdrawn from the school during such periods of time as are reasonably necessary for the purpose of enabling him to receive religious education in accordance with the arrangements.
(4) A pupil may not be withdrawn from school under subsection (3) unless the responsible authority are satisfied that the arrangements there mentioned are such as will not interfere with the attendance of the pupil at school on any day except at the beginning or end of a school session (or, if there is only one, the school session) on that day.
(5) Where the parent of a pupil who is a boarder at a maintained school requests that the pupil be permitted—
(a) to receive religious education in accordance with the tenets of a particular religion or religious denomination outside school hours, or
(b) to attend worship in accordance with such tenets on Sundays or other days exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which his parent belongs,
the governing body shall make arrangements for giving the pupil reasonable opportunities for doing so.
(6) Arrangements under subsection (5) may provide for making facilities for such education or worship available on the school premises, but the arrangements shall not entail expenditure by the responsible authority.
(7) In this section—
“maintained school” does not include a maintained special school, and
“the responsible authority”, in relation to a county or voluntary school, means the local education authority, and, in relation to a grant-maintained school, means the governing body.
(1) A local education authority shall constitute a standing advisory council on religious education for the purposes mentioned in section 391(1).
(2) The council shall consist of—
(a) such groups of persons appointed by the authority as representative members (“representative groups”) as are required by subsection (4), and
(b) a person appointed as a member by the governing bodies of the grant-maintained schools within the area of the authority in relation to which section 379 or 380 applies.
(3) The council may also include co-opted members (that is, persons co-opted as members of the council by members of the council who have not themselves been so co-opted).
(4) The representative groups required by this subsection are—
(a) a group of persons to represent such Christian denominations and other religions and denominations of such religions as, in the opinion of the authority, will appropriately reflect the principal religious traditions in the area;
(b) except in the case of an area in Wales, a group of persons to represent the Church of England;
(c) a group of persons to represent such associations representing teachers as, in the opinion of the authority, ought to be represented, having regard to the circumstances of the area; and
(d) a group of persons to represent the authority.
(5) Where a representative group is required by subsection (4)(b), the representative group required by subsection (4)(a) shall not include persons appointed to represent the Church of England.
(6) The number of representative members appointed to any representative group under subsection (4)(a) to represent each denomination or religion required to be represented shall, so far as consistent with the efficient discharge of the group’s functions, reflect broadly the proportionate strength of that denomination or religion in the area.
(7) On any question to be decided by the council only the representative groups on the council shall be entitled to vote, and each representative group shall have a single vote.
(1) The purposes referred to in section 390(1) are—
(a) to advise the local education authority upon such matters connected with religious worship in county schools and the religious education to be given in accordance with an agreed syllabus as the authority may refer to the council or as the council may see fit, and
(b) to carry out the functions conferred on them by section 394.
(2) The matters referred to in subsection (1)(a) include, in particular, methods of teaching, the choice of materials and the provision of training for teachers.
(3) The representative groups on the council required by section 390(4), other than the group consisting of persons appointed to represent the authority, may at any time require a review of any agreed syllabus for the time being adopted by the authority.
(4) Each representative group concerned shall have a single vote on the question of whether to require such a review.
(5) Paragraph 3 of Schedule 31 has effect to require the authority, on receiving written notification of any such requirement, to cause a conference constituted in accordance with that Schedule to be convened for the purpose of reconsidering any agreed syllabus to which the requirement relates.
(6) The council shall in each year publish a report as to the exercise of their functions and any action taken by representative groups on the council under subsection (3) during the last preceding year.
(7) The council’s report shall in particular—
(a) specify any matters in respect of which the council have given advice to the authority,
(b) broadly describe the nature of the advice given, and
(c) where any such matter was not referred to the council by the authority, give the council’s reasons for offering advice on that matter.
(8) The council shall send to the head teacher of any grant-maintained school to which section 379 applies and which is in the area of the authority a copy of advice which they give to the authority upon matters connected with religious worship.
(9) The council shall send a copy of advice which they give to the authority on the religious education to be given in accordance with an agreed syllabus to the head teacher of any grant-maintained school which is in the area of the authority and which—
(a) is required, by virtue of section 379 or 381, to provide religious education in accordance with an agreed syllabus, or
(b) was a controlled school immediately before it became grant-maintained.
(10) The council shall send a copy of each report published by them under subsection (6)—
(a) in the case of a council for an area in England, to the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority, and
(b) in the case of a council for an area in Wales, to the Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales.
(1) In this section “the council” means the standing advisory council on religious education constituted by a local education authority under section 390.
(2) Before appointing a person to represent any religion, denomination or associations as a member of the council, the authority shall take all reasonable steps to assure themselves that he is representative of the religion, denomination or associations in question.
(3) A member of the council who was appointed by the authority may be removed from membership by the authority if, in their opinion, he ceases to be representative of the religion, denomination or associations which he was appointed to represent or (as the case may be) he ceases to be representative of the authority.
(4) A member of the council required by section 390(2)(b) may at any time be removed from membership by the governing body or (as the case may be) by the governing bodies of the grant-maintained school or schools concerned.
(5) A person co-opted as a member of the council shall hold office on such terms as may be determined by the members co-opting him.
(6) A member of the council may at any time resign his office.
(7) Subject to section 390(7), the council and, in relation to any question falling to be decided by members of the council of any particular category, the members of that category, may regulate their own proceedings.
(8) The validity of proceedings of the council or of the members of the council of any particular category shall not be affected—
(a) by a vacancy in the office of any member of the council required by section 390(2), or
(b) on the ground that a member of the council appointed to represent any religion, denomination or associations does not at the time of the proceedings represent the religion, denomination or associations in question.
(1) This section has effect in respect of the area of a local education authority if an order under section 27(1)(b) (allocation to funding authority of responsibility for providing school places) applies to the area.
(2) Within six months of the date of the first such order the local education authority shall constitute a new standing advisory council on religious education under section 390.
(3) For the purposes of the constitution required by subsection (2) (and of any subsequent constitution)—
(a) section 390 shall have effect as if—
(i) subsection (2)(b) were omitted, and
(ii) subsection (4) required the appointment of a representative group, in addition to those listed in paragraphs (a) to (d) of that subsection, comprising persons representing relevant grant-maintained schools, and
(b) section 391 shall have effect as if, in subsection (3), for “the group consisting of persons appointed to represent the authority” there were substituted “the groups consisting of persons appointed to represent the authority or relevant grant-maintained schools”.
(4) For this purpose “relevant grant-maintained schools” means the grant-maintained schools within the area of the local education authority in relation to which section 379 or 380 applies.
(5) Before appointing a person to represent relevant grant-maintained schools in accordance with subsection (3) the local education authority shall take all reasonable steps to assure themselves that he is acceptable as such to the governing bodies of the majority of such schools; but the validity of the council’s proceedings shall not be affected because the person was not so acceptable unless it is shown that the local education authority failed to take such steps.
(6) A person appointed to represent relevant grant-maintained schools in accordance with subsection (3) may be removed from membership of the council if in the opinion of the local education authority he ceases to be acceptable as such to the governing bodies of the majority of such schools.
(1) The council constituted by a local education authority under section 390 shall, on an application made by the head teacher of—
(a) any county school maintained by the authority, or
(b) any grant-maintained school which is in the authority’s area and in relation to which section 379 applies,
consider whether it is appropriate for the requirement imposed by section 386(2) to apply in the case of the school or in the case of any class or description of pupils at the school.
(2) In determining whether it is appropriate for that requirement to apply as mentioned in subsection (1), the council shall have regard to any circumstances relating to the family backgrounds of the pupils at the school, or of the pupils of the particular class or description in question, which are relevant for determining the character of the collective worship appropriate in their case.
(3) The council shall give the head teacher written notification of their decision on the application.
(4) Where the council determine that it is not appropriate for the requirement to apply as mentioned in subsection (1), the determination shall take effect for the purposes of section 387 on such date as may be specified in the notification of the council’s decision under subsection (3).
(5) Before making an application under subsection (1), the head teacher of a school shall consult the governing body.
(6) On being consulted by the head teacher, the governing body may if they think fit take such steps as they consider appropriate for consulting all persons appearing to them to be parents of registered pupils at the school.
(7) An application under subsection (1) shall be made in such manner and form as the council may require.
(8) Where an application is made under subsection (1)(a) in respect of a school which becomes a grant-maintained school before the application is determined, it shall, unless withdrawn by the head teacher, continue as if made under subsection (1)(b).
(1) Any determination by a council under section 394 by virtue of which the requirement imposed by section 386(2) does not for the time being apply in the case of a school or a class or description of pupils at a school shall be reviewed by the council—
(a) at any time on an application made by the head teacher, and
(b) in any event not later than the end of the period of five years beginning with the date on which the determination first took effect or (where it has since been reviewed under this section) with the effective date of the decision on the last review.
(2) On any review under subsection (1)(b) the council shall give the head teacher an opportunity of making representations as to the determination under review.
(3) On a review under this section, the council may—
(a) confirm the determination, with or without variation, or
(b) revoke it (without prejudice to any further determination under section 394).
(4) The council shall give the head teacher written notification of their decision, specifying the effective date of that decision for the purposes of subsection (1)(b).
(5) Any determination which is required to be reviewed under subsection (1)(b) shall cease to have effect, if not confirmed on such a review, at the end of the period there mentioned.
(6) The head teacher of a school shall consult the governing body before making an application under subsection (1)(a) or any representations under subsection (2).
(7) On being consulted by the head teacher, the governing body may if they think fit take such steps as they consider appropriate for consulting all persons appearing to them to be parents of registered pupils at the school.
(8) An application under subsection (1)(a) shall be made in such manner and form as the council may require.
(1) Where the Secretary of State is satisfied, either on complaint by any person or otherwise, that any standing advisory council on religious education constituted by a local education authority under section 390—
(a) have acted, or are proposing to act, unreasonably in determining for the purposes of section 394 or 395 whether it is appropriate for the requirement imposed by section 386(2) to apply in the case of any school or any class or description of pupils at a school, or
(b) have failed to discharge any duty imposed under section 394 or 395,
he may give the council such directions as to the revocation of the determination, or the withdrawal of the proposed determination or (as the case may be) the discharge of the duty as appear to him to be expedient; and the council shall comply with the directions.
(2) Directions under subsection (1) may provide for the making by the council of a new determination to take effect in place of the determination or proposed determination to be revoked or withdrawn by them.
(1) This section applies to—
(a) any conference convened under any of paragraphs 1 to 3 of Schedule 31, and
(b) any standing advisory council on religious education constituted under section 390.
(2) Regulations may make provision—
(a) for meetings of conferences or councils to be, subject to prescribed exceptions, open to members of the public,
(b) requiring conferences or councils to give notice, in such manner as may be prescribed, of the time and place of such meetings, and
(c) requiring conferences or councils, at such time or times as may be prescribed—
(i) to make available for inspection, or
(ii) to provide on payment of such fee as they think fit (not exceeding the cost of supply),
copies of the agendas and reports for such meetings to members of the public.
(3) Regulations made under subsection (2) may apply to—
(a) committees appointed by local education authorities under paragraph 4 of Schedule 31,
(b) sub-committees appointed by conferences under that Schedule, and
(c) representative groups on councils appointed under section 390(4),
as they apply to conferences and councils.
It shall not be required, as a condition of—
(a) a pupil attending a maintained school, or
(b) a person attending such a school to receive further education or teacher training,
that he must attend or abstain from attending a Sunday school or a place of religious worship.
Where any trust deed relating to a voluntary or grant-maintained school makes provision whereby a bishop or any other ecclesiastical or denominational authority has power to decide whether the religious education given in the school which purports to be in accordance with the provisions of the trust deed does or does not accord with those provisions, that question shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the trust deed.
(1) No course of study leading to a qualification authenticated by an outside person shall be provided for pupils of compulsory school age by or on behalf of a maintained school unless—
(a) the qualification is for the time being approved by the Secretary of State or by a designated body, and
(b) subsection (2) is satisfied.
(2) This subsection is satisfied if either—
(a) a syllabus provided by the outside person for the purposes of the course is for the time being approved by a designated body, or
(b) criteria provided by the outside person for determining a syllabus for the purposes of the course are for the time being so approved.
(3) An approval under this section may be given either generally or in relation to particular cases.
(4) In relation to any maintained school—
(a) the local education authority and the governing body shall exercise their functions with a view to securing, and
(b) the head teacher shall secure,
that subsection (1) is not contravened.
(5) In this section—
“designated” means designated by the Secretary of State, and
“outside person”, in relation to a school, means a person other than a member of staff of the school.
(1) The Secretary of State may by order direct that the provisions of section 400 shall have effect as if—
(a) any reference to pupils of compulsory school age included a reference to—
(i) senior pupils who are of or over that age, and
(ii) persons in full-time further education who are of or over that age but have not attained the age of 19 (referred to in this section as “FE students”);
(b) any reference to a maintained school (except in relation to a local education authority) included a reference to—
(i) any institution (other than a university or an institution within the higher education sector) which provides further education and is a grant-aided institution, and
(ii) any institution within the further education sector; and
(c) any reference to the head teacher of such a school included a reference to the principal or other head of such an institution.
(2) An order under this section may make such consequential modifications of section 359(1) as appear to the Secretary of State to be necessary or expedient.
(3) In relation to FE students in relation to whom section 400 has effect by virtue of an order under this section, section 408 shall have effect—
(a) with the modifications mentioned in subsection (1)(b) and (c) above;
(b) as if the information referred to in subsection (1)(a) of that section were information with respect to the following matters—
(i) the qualifications authenticated by outside persons (within the meaning of section 400) for which courses of study are to be provided by or on behalf of the institution concerned for such students;
(ii) the courses of study leading to such qualifications which are to be so provided;
(iii) the syllabuses which have been provided or determined for the purposes of those courses, and
(iv) the results of the assessments of such students for the purposes of those qualifications;
(c) as if in subsection (6)—
(i) the reference to the results of an individual pupil’s assessment (whether under this Part or otherwise) included a reference to the results of an individual student’s assessment for the purposes of any such qualification, and
(ii) any reference to the pupil concerned included a reference to the student concerned; and
(d) with the omission of subsections (1)(b), (2) and (3).
(4) Before making an order under this section the Secretary of State shall consult any persons with whom consultation appears to him to be desirable.
(5) For the purposes of this section an institution is at any time a grant-aided institution if it is maintained by persons who have received any grants under regulations made under section 485 in respect of expenditure incurred or to be incurred for the academic year of the institution current at that time.
(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the governing body of a maintained school shall secure that each registered pupil at the school is entered, at such time as they consider appropriate, for each prescribed public examination for which he is being prepared at the school at the time in question in each syllabus for that examination for which he is being so prepared.
(2) The governing body are not required to secure that a pupil is entered for any examination, or for an examination in any syllabus for that examination, if either—
(a) they consider that there are educational reasons in the case of that particular pupil for not entering him for that examination or (as the case may be) for not entering him for that examination in that syllabus, or
(b) the parent of the pupil requests in writing that the pupil should not be entered for that examination or (as the case may be) for that examination in that syllabus;
but this subsection does not apply to an examination which is part of the assessment arrangements for the fourth key stage and applies in the case of that pupil.
(3) The governing body are not required to secure that a pupil is entered for any examination in any syllabus for that examination if they have secured his entry for another prescribed public examination in a corresponding syllabus.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) a syllabus for a prescribed public examination shall be regarded as corresponding to a syllabus for another prescribed public examination if the same course of study is provided at the school in preparation for both syllabuses.
(5) As soon as practicable after determining whether or not to secure the entry of any pupil for a prescribed public examination in any syllabus for which he is being prepared at the school, the governing body shall notify the pupil’s parent in writing of their determination in relation to each such syllabus.
(6) In this section—
(a) “maintained school” includes a maintained special school established in a hospital; and
(b) references to a prescribed public examination shall be construed in accordance with section 462.
(1) The local education authority, governing body and head teacher shall take such steps as are reasonably practicable to secure that where sex education is given to any registered pupils at a maintained school, it is given in such a manner as to encourage those pupils to have due regard to moral considerations and the value of family life.
(2) In subsection (1) “maintained school” includes a maintained special school established in a hospital.
(1) The governing body of a maintained school shall—
(a) make, and keep up to date, a separate written statement of their policy with regard to the provision of sex education, and
(b) make copies of the statement available for inspection (at all reasonable times) by parents of registered pupils at the school and provide a copy of the statement free of charge to any such parent who asks for one.
(2) In subsection (1) “maintained school” includes, in relation to pupils who are provided with secondary education, a maintained special school established in a hospital.
(3) In relation to—
(a) a county, or controlled, secondary school, and
(b) pupils who are provided with secondary education in a maintained special school,
section 371 shall have effect with the omission of subsection (3) of that section and of the references to the matters mentioned in that subsection, and section 372 shall have effect with the omission of subsection (4)(a) of that section.
If the parent of any pupil in attendance at a maintained school requests that he may be wholly or partly excused from receiving sex education at the school, the pupil shall, except so far as such education is comprised in the National Curriculum, be so excused accordingly until the request is withdrawn.
(1) The local education authority, governing body and head teacher shall forbid—
(a) the pursuit of partisan political activities by any of those registered pupils at a maintained school who are junior pupils, and
(b) the promotion of partisan political views in the teaching of any subject in the school.
(2) In the case of activities which take place otherwise than on the school premises, subsection (1)(a) applies only where arrangements for junior pupils to take part in the activities are made by—
(a) any member of the school’s staff (in his capacity as such), or
(b) anyone acting on behalf of the school or of a member of the school’s staff (in his capacity as such).
(3) In this section “maintained school” includes a maintained special school established in a hospital.
(1) The local education authority, governing body and head teacher shall take such steps as are reasonably practicable to secure that where political issues are brought to the attention of pupils while they are—
(a) in attendance at a maintained school, or
(b) taking part in extra-curricular activities which are provided or organised for registered pupils at the school by or on behalf of the school,
they are offered a balanced presentation of opposing views.
(2) In this section “maintained school” includes a maintained special school established in a hospital.
(1) Regulations may require, in relation to every maintained school, the local education authority, the governing body or the head teacher to make available either generally or to prescribed persons, in such form and manner and at such times as may be prescribed—
(a) such information (including information as to the matters mentioned in subsection (2)) relevant for the purposes of any of the relevant provisions of this Part, and
(b) such copies of the documents mentioned in subsection (3),
as may be prescribed.
Education Act 1996