Voluntary controlled school

Voluntary controlled schools are a kind of "maintained school", meaning that they are funded by central government via the local authority, and do not charge fees to students. The majority are also faith schools. The land and buildings are typically owned by a charitable foundation, which also appoints about a quarter of the school governors. However, the local authority employs the school's staff and has primary responsibility for the school's admission arrangements. Specific exemptions from Section 85 of the Equality Act 2010 enables VC faith schools to use faith criteria in prioritising pupils for admission to the schools. Pupils at voluntary controlled schools follow the National Curriculum. == History ==

The state began to provide elementary education in 1870 and secondary education in 1902, but also continued to increase funding to the schools run by other organisations (usually the churches), now known as voluntary schools. The Voluntary Schools Act 1897 refers to school income 'derived from voluntary contributions, rates, school fees, endowments, or any source whatever other than the Parliamentary grant' and specifically defines a voluntary school as a public elementary day school not provided by a school board'. Following the aforementioned Act these schools were increasingly influenced by the state, and were subject to jointly administered inspections. By 2008, in England, approximately 15% of primary schools were voluntary controlled, almost all of them associated with the Church of England. Only 3% of secondary schools were voluntary controlled, of which about half were Church of England schools. In 2012, the Fair Admissions Campaign began to encourage local authorities to stop using faith criteria in admissions policies for VC schools. ==See also==