Grant-maintained school

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In England and Wales, a grant-maintained school is a state school that opted out under local control as allowed for by the provisions of the Education Reform Act 1988.

Grant-maintained schools (usually known as GM schools) received their funding direct from central government in the form of a grant, and were managed by their own boards of governors. The legislative conditions that created grant-maintained schools lasted from 1988 until 1998. Skegness Grammar School was the first school to apply for, and to receive, grant-maintained status.

In 1996 there were 1,090 grant-maintained schools, of which 60% were secondary schools. The popularity of GM schools in some areas was attributed to the poor financial support offered by local education authorities. GM schools were entitled to apply to central government for capital grants for essential building works.

Grant-maintained schools were developed to allow more parental choice within the state-maintained sector. However, this created a lot of friction with Local Education Authorities.

Grant-maintained schools were controversial, in part because of the additional funding and also because GM schools were allowed to set their own admissions criteria, which were sometimes at variance with those applied by the local authority.

Grant-maintained schools were abolished under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. GM schools could chose to become foundation schools, or to rejoin the local education authority as maintained community schools.