A Trust school is a state funded foundation school supported by a charitable trust. It is made up of the school and partners working together for the benefit of the school. They are established under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and are subject to regulations.

Through the Trust, Trust schools are able to:

• manage their own assets;
• employ their own staff, and
• set their own admissions arrangements

However, despite some apparent similarities, Trusts schools are not:

• academies, or
• grant maintained schools.

Nor are they:

• exempt from the requirements of the admissions code;
• funded differently from community schools;
• run by businesses;
• separated from the local authority;
• able to avoid local authority reorganisation plans.

Any maintained secondary, primary or special school can become a Trust school. Independent schools can also become Trust schools but to do so they must first give up their status as independent by entering into the maintained sector. They may still work with Trust schools by acting as a partner.

There are a number of benefits to schools which acquire Trust status. One reason for schools choosing a Trust is to ensure that the good practice and positive links with its partners which may, for example, be other schools, universities or businesses, continues after the involvement of those who initiated them have ended. Trusts can, therefore, help to ensure longevity of existing relationships.

Trusts can also strengthen existing relationships by placing them on a more formal footing. The agreement underpinning a Trust arrangement can help to clarify roles and responsibilities, whilst also providing a tangible demonstration of long term commitment to the school(s) supported by the Trust. Various Trust partners may also enjoy enhanced PR from this high profile way of investing in the community.

To find out more about how schools might benefit from a Trust, or just more about Trust schools in general, please visit the Trust and Foundation Schools Partnership (TFSP) website at http://www.trustandfoundationschools.org.uk/