In a maintained school the governing body decides how long a chair or vice-chair of governors serves as there are no restrictions in law.
The governing body must set the term of office before the election, but that term can be of any length.
“Prior to the election of the chair and vice-chair, the governing body must determine the date on which the term of office of the chair and vice-chair will end.”
The most common term of office for chairs and vice-chairs is one year. A term of office that lasts many years may be daunting to potential candidates and discourage them from volunteering. A term that is too short will not give the chair long enough to make any impact and learn their role.
Before the current Roles, Procedures and Allowances Regulations were introduced in 2013 the law said that the chair’s term of office must be between one and four years, so it would be reasonable to use four years as the absolute maximum length of time that a chair should serve before a new election is held.
In an academy the current model articles of association (June 2021) say that trustees shall elect a chair and vice-chair “each school year”, so the term of office is limited to one year.
Do check your own articles though to see what the rules are at your academy trust.
“The trustees shall each school year elect a chair and a vice-chair from among their number.”
Yes. There is no restriction on the number of times a chair can be re-elected in either maintained school law or academy model articles (June 2021), so in theory a chair of governors/trustees could be in post at the same school for decades.
However, the DfE warns against remaining in the post for too long in its advice that accompanies the law for maintained schools.
“Although the regulations do not place any restrictions on this, boards should consider carefully how many times they re-elect their chair to a new term of office.
“In some circumstances, a change of chair may be necessary for the board to remain invigorated and forward looking.”
The DfE suggest that two terms of office as a governor might be a reasonable length of time to serve as chair. Governor terms of office are usually four years so the chair would be in post for eight years in total.
“To share expertise, an experienced chair may wish to consider stepping down or moving on to another school or academy trust after a reasonable time, for example after two terms of office (eight years) as a governor.”
The NGA explain that this policy forces schools to develop new leaders, provides a “painless” way for chairs who are struggling or ineffective to stand down and leads to healthier governing bodies with a flow of new energy and new ideas.
It will be up to governors at your own school to decide whether they agree with these views.
Must we elect the chair again if their term of office as a governor expires?
Both the law for maintained schools and model articles for academies say the chair or vice-chair loses his role if he “ceases to be” a governor or trustee. This is common sense because the chair must be a member of their own board!
However, if their term of office as a governor is coming to an end and they are reappointed or re-elected as a governor there is no need to run the chair’s election again as long as you plan ahead and ensure they are reappointed/re-elected before their term of office ends.
For example, if the chair is a co-opted governor whose term as a governor expires in June, the vote to reappoint them can be held in May and their term of office will be continuous. If they are an elected governor you will need to ensure the election can be held before their term expires.
How long is a committee chair term of office?
In maintained schools the law limits the term of office for committee chairs to one year only. Committee chairs in maintained schools must be appointed “annually” by either the full governing body or by that committee.
“A chair must be appointed annually to each committee by the governing body or elected by the committee, as determined by the governing body.”
In academies the rules for committees (including local governing bodies) are set by each academy trust, so you would need to check your committee terms of reference.
Yes, if you are a governor in a maintained school.
Maintained school governors are legally entitled to time off work unless their job is on a short list of excluded professions. There is no legal requirement to pay you while you are absent.
Academy trustees do not have an equivalent legal right to time off.
Under the Employment Rights Act 1996 you have the right to time off work under section 50, Right to Time Off for Public Duties.
This includes serving as a member of a “relevant education body” and this is defined as “a managing or governing body of an educational establishment maintained by a local authority”.
This definition covers a maintained school but not an academy, because academies are independent from the local authority.
It explains that you can’t ask for time off work to be a governor (or to carry out any other public duty except jury service) if you work:
for an agency
in the police or armed forces
on a fishing boat, or a gas or oil rig at sea
as a merchant seamen
as a civil servant if the public duty you wish to undertake is connected to political activities restricted under the terms of your employment (being a school governor would not apply in this instance).
How much time off can I take?
The law refers to “an amount of time” that is “reasonable in all the circumstances” which is rather vague. It does say that you should consider:
how much time off is required for the public duty involved, and how much time off is required for the performance of that particular duty
how much time off the employee has been granted so far
the circumstances of the employer’s business and how the business will be affected by the missing staff member.
Many schools hold their governor meetings either in the late afternoon or evening so you may be able to arrive straight after work or only miss one or two hours at the end of the working day.
Bear in mind that governors will also be asked to visit their school during the day and may also need to attend training sessions and other responsibilities (such as meeting OFSTED inspectors) during the school day.
What if my employer refuses to give me time off?
You could try persuading your employer by listing the skills that governors must develop which you can use in your job: analysing data, taking responsibility for high-level planning and results, strategic thinking, interpersonal skills, respecting confidentiality and holding leaders to account.
If your boss still refuses you could raise a grievance at work by following your employer’s written grievance procedure.
If they still disagree you can contact the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) which will work with both sides to try to find a solution. Ultimately you could take your complaint to an employment tribunal.
Yes. There is no reason why you cannot volunteer for both the school’s governing body and the parent teacher association (PTA).
The National Governance Association (NGA) have remarked on this in the PTA+ magazine and confirmed that being a governor and a PTA member is perfectly fine.
“Having someone on the board who is also part of the PTA can be a good opportunity for the governors to engage with parents and bring in that parent’s perspective, but they aren’t there as a representative of the PTA.”
The only problem that might arise would be a conflict of interest. This is where the interests of a particular person may conflict with the interests of the governing body as a whole. This happens when someone could stand to benefit from their position as a governor, for example by receiving money.
A separate article looks at conflicts of interest in detail, but being a member of the PTA is unlikely to lead to a conflict because both the PTA and the governing body are working to benefit the school and decisions on how to spend PTA money are not made by governors. The PTA is a charity in its own right and is run by its own trustees.
Governors do make decisions about how the school budget is spent but any money raised by the PTA is not included in that budget. Parentkind gives advice on running PTAs and they confirm that it is PTA members, not the headteacher or governors, who decide how PTA money is spent.
“As PTA funds belong to the PTA (and not to the school) it’s the PTA elected committee members’ decision on how they are spent.”
There is also a rule that says governors must not take part in discussions if a “fair hearing” is required and they may not be impartial.
Again, this is unlikely to occur just because of your PTA membership, unless perhaps a serious complaint had been made about the PTA or one of its members. (Minor complaints would not be heard by governors.) If a serious complaint occurred you should not be involved in the investigation or decision-making.
If there is any dispute at a meeting as to whether a conflict of interest exists or not governors can vote on the issue and decide this among themselves.
What the law says about conflicts of interest
The following quote explains the conflict of interest laws which apply to all maintained schools. This law does not apply to academies but they will have similar wording in their articles of association that restrict how they can govern.
“Where in relation to any matter—
(i) there may be a conflict between the interests of a relevant person and the interests of the governing body,
(ii) a fair hearing is required and there is any reasonable doubt about a relevant person’s ability to act impartially, or
(iii) a relevant person has a pecuniary interest,
that person, if present at a meeting of the school at which the matter is the subject of consideration, must disclose his or her interest, withdraw from the meeting and not vote on the matter in question.”
The DfE does not define what it means by exceptional circumstances, but it might apply to a school that is struggling with its OFSTED rating and is in need of experienced governors, for example.
If you do decide to join the governing body of more than one school the details of all your governor roles must be published on the website of all your schools.
Can you be the chair of governors at two schools?
Yes. There are no rules that prevent someone from being the chair of governors at two different schools, or even at three or four (although as mentioned above the DfE does not advise governing in more than two schools in most cases).
The only concern might be whether the chair had sufficient time and energy to devote to multiple schools, but that would depend on their own circumstances.
Can a teacher be a governor at a different school?
Yes. Teachers, headteachers and other school employees are free to become governors at another school.
In fact, this is actively encouraged by the National Governance Association who run an Educators on Board scheme to persuade school employees to govern elsewhere.
The school governing body gets the benefit of the governor’s experience in education and the governor receives useful continuing professional development (CPD) from seeing how another school board works.
It is possible that a conflict of interest could arise, but any governor can experience a conflict and in most cases these can be easily managed by removing a specific governor from the decision-making for that issue.
For example, say a headteacher was a governor at another school. If governors were forming an interview panel to hire a deputy headteacher and a teacher from the head’s own school applied, the headteacher would not be allowed to sit on the interview panel.
For the bulk of the work governors do, however, it would not matter that a governor worked for another school.
The instrument of government sets out the constitution of a maintained school’s governing body. This means how many governors of each type sit on the governing body and the length of their terms of office if they are not the default four-year term.
It’s sometimes referred to as the instrument of governance, probably just because that sounds like a more natural name, but its correct title is the instrument of government. It’s also called the IoG for short.
Here’s an example of an instrument of government from a community school.
The information that the instrument must contain is set out in section 28 of the Constitution Regulations 2012. All instruments of government must contain the following information:
the name and category of school, eg: Malory Towers, community school or Malory Towers, foundation school
whether the school has a foundation and whether the school is a “qualifying” foundation school
the name of the governing body, usually just “the governing body of Malory Towers Primary School”
the number of governors of each type: parent, local authority, staff, headteacher, co-opted, foundation or partnership
the total number of governors. There is no maximum number of governors, but the minimum number is seven
the term of office of any category of governor, if less than four years. The minimum term of office for any governor is one year
whether the term of office for any governor of a particular category may be determined by those appointing that governor
for foundation schools, the name of anyone who can appoint governors (and the basis on which appointments are made if more than person can appoint)
for foundation schools, details of any ex officio governors (governors whose role comes with their office, such as parish priest) and who can remove these governors
for foundation and voluntary schools with a religious character, a description of the religious ethos of the school
for federated schools, the names and categories of each federated school and for faith schools in a federation “a single description of the religious ethos of each such school”
the date the instrument of government takes effect.
Headteachers can choose not to take up their place on the governing body (officially they would need to resign as a governor) but they can also choose to withdraw their resignation at any time, so a place must always be available for them.
All maintained schools must have places for the headteacher, one staff governor only, one local authority governor only and as many co-opted governors as are considered “necessary”. A separate article explains more about the different types of governor.
Schools that are not joined together in a federation, ie: all single schools, must also have at least two parent governors.
All federated schools must have places for each headteacher from the federation and only two parent governors. (The requirement for two parent governors comes from a 2016 amendment; note that the original 2012 law required one parent from each federated school.)
Foundation and voluntary-aided schools must also comply with additional laws which depend on your specific type of school. They are set out in section 14 of the Constitution Regulations 2012 (or section 22 of the Federation Regulations 2012 if your school is part of a federation).
A copy of the instrument must be given to every governor and the headteacher, whether or not the head is a governor.
Are associate members listed in the instrument?
No, associate members do not appear in the instrument of government. There is no limit to the number of associate members a board can appoint and you can increase or reduce the number of associate members without changing the instrument.
Where can I find the instrument of government?
The clerk to governors should have a copy. If the clerk can’t find one the chair, vice-chair or headteacher may have a copy. If no-one at the school can locate a copy the governor services department of the local authority will be able to provide one.
Does the instrument of government need to be reviewed annually?
No, there’s no need for governors to review or approve the instrument annually. However, it is sensible to review it occasionally, perhaps every few years, to consider whether you have the ideal number of governors of each type for your current circumstances.
Must the instrument of government be on the school website?
No, there’s no requirement to publish the actual instrument itself, but you do need to publish information about governance including the names of all governors and who appointed them. A separate article covers what needs to be published online.
How do we amend the instrument of government?
The instrument of government can be amended at any time to add or remove governors or change the number of governors in a category. Because this means changing the constitution of the board this process is known as reconstitution.
If you wish to reconstitute governors should give their approval to change the instrument of government at a full governing body meeting. Schools with foundation governors will also need the approval of those governors, trustees of any foundation and their local diocese or other linked religious body.
“In the case of a school with foundation governors, the governing body must not submit a revised draft unless it has been approved by the foundation governors; the trustees of any foundation relating to the school; the appropriate diocesan authority; and in the case of any other school designated as having a religious character, the appropriate religious body.”
If two or more schools are forming a federation, where one governing body oversees multiple schools, the governing bodies that are merging prepare a draft instrument jointly.
The clerk should then submit the new draft instrument to the local authority, together with the minutes of the meeting when the amendments were approved. The LA will approve the changes if they conform with the law.
One tip is to choose an even number of governor positions in your constitution because this makes it slightly easier to be quorate, for which you need 50% of governors (excluding vacancies).
For example, if you have ten governors on the board the quorum is five, but if you have nine governors the quorum is still five because figures must be rounded up.
Remember that in many cases applicants will qualify for more than one governor type, so if you have no parent governor vacancies and an eager parent wishes to join the board they can fill a co-opted vacancy, for example.
A casting vote is used to break the deadlock if a vote is tied, giving one governor or trustee the right to vote twice.
In maintained schools the governor who is chairing the meeting has a casting vote, whether they are the actual chair of governors or acting as chair for one meeting only.
The rule on casting votes at full governing body meetings comes from section 14 of the Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013, quoted below.
“Where there is an equal division of votes the chair, or as the case may be, the person who is acting as chair for the purposes of the meeting (provided that such person is a governor), will have a second or casting vote.”
Section 26 of the same law confirms that casting votes are also available at committees to “the person acting as chair for the purposes of the meeting, provided that such person is a governor”.
Maintained schools should note that governor panels that consider some staffing matters have no casting vote for chair and these are explained below. Casting votes in maintained schools can also only be used by governors, not associate members.
In academies the trustee chairing a meeting of trustees has a casting vote, whether they are the actual chair of trustees or acting as chair for one meeting.
“Where there is an equal division of votes, the chair of the meeting shall have a casting vote.”
Maintained schools should be aware that when they set up panels to consider a number of staffing functions the chair of that panel has no casting vote.
A casting vote is not available at any panel that is considering:
the appointment of school staff
grievances
the conduct and discipline of staff
capability of staff
the suspension or dismissal of staff.
(I have called these groups “panels” rather than committees because schools tend to refer to groups of governors involved in these staffing functions as panels.)
“This part does not apply to any committee established by the governing body to exercise functions relating to the appointment, grievance, conduct and discipline, capability, suspension or dismissal of individual members of the school staff.”
In practice chairs may wish to avoid using their casting vote. Many decisions of governing bodies are taken unanimously or with a clear majority and a decision that splits the board down the middle may need further discussion and exploration.
North Yorkshire Governor Services advise that the chair should try to avoid changing the status quo with a casting vote because it would mean the change did not have the support of enough governors.
“Legally this vote can be cast at the total discretion of the chair but there are conventions that if a board is equally divided, the chair should not change the existing position. This is because there are insufficient members who positively want change.
“To carry through changes requires a united front with a commitment to the change and its implementation. The proposal may then be debated again when there is a fuller attendance or after members have had time to consider the matter further.
“This view has much to commend it. A half supported and perhaps hasty change could lead to divisions and recriminations if the matter subsequently goes awry.”
No. The law for maintained schools only allows governors to use a casting vote. Associate members are not governors and are not listed on a school’s instrument of government.
Associate members can never vote at meetings of the full governing body but they can be granted votes on committees and are also allowed to chair committees.
“Where there is an equal division of votes the chair, or as the case may be, the person who is acting as chair for the purposes of the meeting (provided that such person is a governor), will have a second or casting vote.”
If a vote was tied at a committee meeting and the chair was an associate member you would need to either continue the discussion until a committee member changed their vote or postpone the decision to the next committee meeting. You could also refer the decision to a full governing body meeting instead.
Some academies may also use the term “associate member” for someone who is a committee member but not a trustee. The rights of these people will be dictated by your own articles of association.
Does the chair of an academy members’ meeting have a casting vote?
No. The model articles of association (June 2021) do not give the chair of a members’ meeting a casting vote, only the chair of a trustees’ meeting.
(Academy members should not be confused with associate members. Academy members are the small group of people who are equivalent to company shareholders and attend the annual general meeting but do not take part in most governance duties.)
Does the chair of a local governing body have a casting vote?
The rules for each local governing body in a multi-academy trust are set by the trust itself, so check the terms of reference for that LGB to see whether a casting vote is available.
Statutory guidance for all schools states that schools should have link governors for a) safeguarding, including the Prevent duty and b) special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Statutory guidance for secondary schools says secondaries should have a governor with responsibility for careerseducation and guidance.
This page explains how link governors work in practice and includes role descriptions for some common link areas.
What do link governors do?
The term “link governor” is not used in law, but schools use it to mean a governor who takes a particular interest in an area of school life and may take on related responsibilities. They are sometimes referred to as governor “portfolios” or lead governors.
For example, a link governor for safeguarding could meet the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) to discuss policies and an SEND governor could keep an eye on the progress of SEND children compared to their peers.
As well as assigning link governors to areas likes safeguarding, the pupil premium or health and safety you can also consider assigning governors to subject areas such as maths or English. These governors can liaise with subject leaders, monitor progress and report any concerns back to the governing body.
How are link governors appointed?
There is no formal process you need to follow when appointing link governors. The usual practice would be for appointments to be agreed at a meeting of the full governing body.
Can a staff governor be a link governor?
Yes. There are no formal restrictions on which governors can fulfil which link role. Staff governors can be link governors, as can parent governors and any other type of governor. Roles should be assigned according to the skills of each person.
However, when appointing school employees as link governors the board needs to consider whether the role will clash with their day job. For example, if the employee is the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) they cannot reasonably be the safeguarding link governor because they would be monitoring their own work.
Link Governor Report Template
A template that link governors can fill in to report back to the board is available on my templates and letters page.
Governors will often visit the school to meet with a specific member of staff or focus on one aspect of the school, eg: health and safety. They would then write up their findings, highlighting any questions or concerns arising from the visit and any actions that staff or governors need to take as a result.
Safeguarding Link Governors
Schools should have a governor who is responsible for safeguarding/child protection. This recommendation is set out in the statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education which applies to both maintained schools and academies.
“Governing bodies and proprietors should have a senior board level (or equivalent) lead to take leadership responsibility for their school’s or college’s safeguarding arrangements.”
The DfE explain at the start of Keeping Children Safe in Education that “We use the term ‘must’ when the person in question is legally required to do something and ‘should’ when the advice set out should be followed unless there is good reason not to.”
This means that although there is no legal requirement to have a safeguarding link governor, schools may be challenged if they do not have one in place.
What questions should a safeguarding governor ask?
For example, the safeguarding governor should monitor whether safer recruitment processes are effective, whether pupils feel safe at school and whether online safety is considered.
Should the safeguarding governor check the single central record?
There is no need for governors to personally check the SCR. This was confirmed by OFSTED’s Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman in 2019 who suggested that governors should take more of an overview of safeguarding rather than drilling down into the fine detail.
“As governors and trustees, you are responsible for making sure that safeguarding procedures are properly followed in schools. But that doesn’t mean you have to go through your school’s central record yourself.
“You need to make sure the overarching culture is right. What is your school doing to identify children that may be at risk of harm? How is your school helping those children and fulfilling its duties? This, too, is when it’s more helpful to look up at the big picture, rather than down into the detail.”
This was also confirmed by OFSTED’s Deputy Director for schools in the following video.
So governors should be asking questions to make sure the SCR is in place, up-to-date and that it is being checked and monitored, but they do not need to do the checks themselves.
SEND Link Governor
The DfE Code of Practice on SEND states that there should be an SEND governor or committee. The Code is statutory guidance that applies equally to both maintained schools and academies.
“There should be a member of the governing body or a sub-committee with specific oversight of the school’s arrangements for SEN and disability.
“School leaders should regularly review how expertise and resources used to address SEN can be used to build the quality of whole-school provision as part of their approach to school improvement.”
Statutory guidance on careers says that secondary school boards should have a link governor who is responsible for “careers education and guidance” and who “encourages employer engagement”. The guidance applies to both maintained schools and academies.
“Every school and college should have a member of their governing body who takes a strategic interest in careers education and guidance and encourages employer engagement.”
Is a link governor solely responsible for their area?
No. The link governor takes a special interest in an area but the governing body retains overall responsibility. If for example the school is failing to safeguard children properly that may be partly the fault of the safeguarding link governor, but it is the governing body itself that is ultimately to blame as they have collective responsibility.
The board should agree the link governor’s remit in advance. They should also ask each link governor to regularly report back to the board on their work so that it can be monitored.
Do link roles need to be published online?
No. Requirements for what schools must publish online do not say that link roles of individual governors must be published on the school website, but a school may wish to publish them anyway.
Do special schools need an SEND link governor?
The requirement to have an SEND link governor comes from chapter 6 of the SEND Code of Practice, a chapter “aimed mostly at mainstream schools”, so I believe this requirement does not apply to special schools.
This question came up in an online clerking forum I belong to and the majority of special school clerks said they do not have an SEND link governor because all their governors are focused on SEND.
This seems logical and mirrors the fact that only mainstream schools need special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs), because of course all staff in a special school are focused on children with special needs.
“Governing bodies of maintained mainstream schools and the proprietors of mainstream academy schools (including free schools) must ensure that there is a qualified teacher designated as SENCO for the school.”
From Birmingham LA. Duties of the safeguarding governor include:
ensuring that all staff are briefed on and follow the school’s safeguarding and child protection policy
ensuring that temporary staff and volunteers are made aware of the school’s arrangements for safeguarding and child protection and their responsibilities
ensuring there is a whole school approach to online safety that is set out in the school’s policy
ensuring that the section 175 Safeguarding Self-Assessment Tool is completed annually.
ensuring the school has given thorough thought to how mental health and wellbeing can be embedded in the curriculum and other school activities
working with the school to complete an audit of their current provision to understand other areas it could be incorporated
acting as the point of contact on the governing board for the staff member(s) tasked with overseeing mental health and wellbeing provisions within the school
ensuring mental health and wellbeing is discussed in committee meetings and as an agenda item in full governing board meetings.
For maintained school governors the default term of office is four years, but the school can choose to use any term between one and four years.
For academies the model articles of association (June 2021) contain a default four-year term of office for trustees, but they allow academies to choose a shorter term of office for any trustee except parent trustees.
Governors whose role comes with their job (known as “ex officio” governors, which means “by virtue of the office”), such as the headteacher and some foundation governors, lose their place on the governing body automatically when they leave their job. Ex officio foundation governors can also be removed by the body that appointed them.
Governors are volunteers and can resign before their term of office ends. They can also volunteer for another term of office after their current term ends, but they must be either re-elected or reappointed (depending on their governor type).
The Law For Maintained Schools
The law explains that the default term of office is four years, but different types of governor or even individual governors can be assigned shorter terms if you wish (with a minimum one-year term).
“A governor holds office for a fixed period of four years from the date of that governor’s election or appointment.
“The instrument of government may, in relation to a particular category of governor specify a term of office not being a period of less than one year or more than four years.”
The 2012 constitution regulations were amended in 2015 to say that a shorter term of office could now be applied not only to a specific category of governor (eg: all co-opted governors) but also to any individual governor within that category (eg: Bob the co-opted governor).
“The instrument of government may, in relation to a particular category of governor—
(a) specify a term of office not being a period of less than one year or more than four years; or
(b) set out that the term of office for any governor within that category may be determined by those appointing the governor, not being a period of less than one year or more than four years.”
For example, you could set a term of office of two years for parent governors and three years for co-opted governors, or a term of one year for Miss Alicia Johns the parent governor.
To change the length of a term of office a maintained school must edit its instrument of government, have it approved at a full governing body meeting and then signed off by the local authority. (In some schools it will also need approving by a body such as the diocese or foundation.)
In practice there may be little benefit in setting terms shorter than four years. If you are having problems with a particular governor/trustee they can be removed either by the governing body itself, the local authority or the body that appointed them, depending on the category of governor that they fall into.
If someone is simply not turning up to meetings they can be disqualified after six months.
What is the term of office for associate members?
Associate members in maintained schools serve the same default term of four years, with the option of any term between one and four years.
“An associate member may hold office for a period of four years, or such shorter period (not being less than one year) as may be determined by the governing body at the date of the appointment.”
Check your own articles of association, but the current model articles (June 2021) include a four-year term of office for academy trustees.
However, the model articles allow a shorter term of office for any trustee except parent trustees. The trustee themselves can shorten terms of office for co-opted trustees.
Articles also explain that terms of office do not apply to ex officio trustees, where the role of trustee comes with a person’s job.
“The term of office for any trustee shall be four years, save that this time limit shall not apply to any post which is held ex officio.
“The term of office may be shorter than four years for any trustee except for parent trustees, if the members (or in the case of a co-opted trustee, the trustees) determine this at the time of appointment of such trustee.”
Terms of office for anyone who sits on an academy committee, including local governors in a multi-academy trust, are set by each trust and can be found in the terms of reference for that committee.
What is the term of office for academy members?
Academy members do not have fixed terms of office. They have an appointment date but no “expiry” date, so they carry on until they resign or are removed by the other members.
Start Dates For Terms Of Office
The start date for a governor or trustee’s term of office will be either the date they were appointed (the date of the meeting when governors voted in favour of the appointment) or the date of election (the final day that votes could be cast).
If no election was needed because there was only one candidate and the governor is elected unopposed, the start date will be the deadline for volunteers to express an interest.
What if a governor changes category?
If a governor moves from one category to another, for example a parent governor becomes a co-opted governor, they start a new term of office.
This was clear in statutory guidance for maintained schools published in 2015 in a section that covered how to reconstitute your board (change the number of governors in each category). Maintained schools had to reconstitute by 1 September 2015 so that all their governing boards complied with the latest governance law.
“Governors remaining within the new structure in their current category will continue to serve out their term of office. For those newly appointed or re-appointed to a different category, a new term of office will start.”
Old Version (2015) of Constitution of Governing Bodies of Maintained Schools: Statutory Guidance
Unfortunately the DfE do not include this useful advice in the current version of their constitution guidance, but I guess it is just common sense. Although all governors have the same aims they are elected or appointed to the board in different ways and their terms of office should be linked only to their current governor role.
Model articles for academies do not say what should happen if a trustee or local governor changes role but it would be reasonable to restart their term of office.
What happens at the end of a term of office?
Governors and trustees can volunteer for a further term of office if they wish but cannot automatically continue in their role; they need to be either re-elected or reappointed.
It is good practice to vote to reappoint governors in advance, before their term of office expires, so that there is no break in their term. For elected governors you can plan the election in advance so that any new governor can immediately replace the old one.
Rules For Maintained Schools
In a maintained school co-opted governors will need the board to vote in favour of reappointing them for another term, as will associate members.
Local authority governors will need to be nominated again by the LA and then voted onto the board by governors. Foundation and partnership governors can be re-appointed by the body who appointed them the first time (for example, the local diocese).
When parent governors finish their term of office all parents must be made aware of the vacancy and given the opportunity to stand in an election, voted on by fellow parents. If there is only one volunteer they are elected unopposed. If there are no volunteers then maintained schools can appoint a parent of a former registered pupil or a parent of any child of compulsory school age or below, in that order of preference.
Staff governors are dealt with in the same way as parent governors – all staff are made aware of the vacancy and then a vote is held so employees can elect their preferred candidate.
Community or foundation special schools can appoint the parent of a former pupil, a parent of a compulsory school-age (or below) child with special needs of the type that the school caters for, or a parent of an SEN child who is over compulsory school age, in that order of preference.
Rules For Academies
In an academy the model articles say co-opted trustees are reappointed by a vote from the current trustees who are not co-opted trustees themselves. Any trustees appointed by the foundation or sponsor body of the academy can be reappointed by that body.
Parent trustees are elected by parents, but the model articles give trustees the power to appoint parent trustees if there are no candidates for election. The trustees also appoint most committee members, including local governors, although local governing boards in multi-academy trusts may have elected parent roles too.
Some academies may have local authority governors that are appointed by the LA; check your academy’s articles of association to be sure.
Is there an overall limit on how many years a governor can serve?
No. There are no limits on how many terms of office a governor can have, as long as they are correctly re-elected or reappointed each time (or they are ex officio governors with no term of office at all). Governors could in theory serve on the same governing body for decades.
However, the National Governance Association recommends that governors do not stay at the same school for more than eight years in total.
This is to ensure that there are new ideas and skills being brought to the school and that no individual builds up too much power or influence just because they have been a fixture at the school for many years.
“Governing on the same school’s board should be limited to eight years.”
Does being elected as chair extend a governor’s term of office?
No. A term of office as chair or vice-chair is separate to a governor’s term of office as a particular type of governor.
For example, if Bob was elected as a parent governor in January 2020 for a four-term of office and is then elected chair of governors for one year from September 2020, his term of office as parent governor still runs to January 2024. His term of office as chair runs out in September 2021.
You do need to remember that a governor cannot, of course, be chair or vice-chair if their term of office as a governor expires and they are no longer on your governing body. So if Bob was elected chair one month before his term of office as a parent governor expired and he then lost the parent governor election to another candidate, the board needs to elect a new chair.
Can terms of office be backdated?
No. If a term of office expires and no-one notices you cannot simply reappoint the governor at your next meeting and backdate their term. Any decision made at a meeting requires a quorum and if someone is not a member of the governing body at the time of the vote they cannot count towards the quorum.
If you have accidentally let a term of office expire the clerk should check that any recent meetings were still quorate without counting that governor. If meetings were not quorate any decisions made are not valid and should be voted on again.
Similarly, if the term of office for the chair has expired the clerk should check that the chair has not used their powers (specifically chair’s action and use of a casting vote) as these decisions will not be valid.
Remember though that the chair’s term of office is separate from their term of office as a governor, so unless their governor term has run out too they will still form part of the quorum.
If a school joins an academy trust do terms of office restart?
This is decided by each trust. The trust may wish to reset terms of office so they start from the day the school converted to an academy, or they may wish to keep existing terms of office.
The disadvantage of resetting terms of office is that it means all terms will run out on the same date, but it is up to the trust to decide. They may wish to keep terms of office for elected parents and staff but reset them for appointed roles, for example.
The short answer is that if you are age 18 or over, have no criminal convictions, have not been disqualified from being a company director or charity trustee and have not received specific sanctions relating to debt then you are eligible to be a school governor.
If you have a criminal conviction you may still be eligible, depending on the nature of the crime. There are no set qualifications needed in terms of GCSEs, A-levels or formal education and you do not need to have children unless you wish to be a parent governor.
From my experience of governor meetings I would say that you may struggle if your English skills are not great or you have trouble reading lots of long documents. You should also be fairly confident as your role will include asking some tough questions of school leaders.
The long answer is that there are a long list of circumstances which make you ineligible, with most relating to criminal convictions; see the base of this page for the complete list.
If you do have a conviction bear in mind that all potential governors must have an enhanced disclosure and barring service (DBS) check so these convictions will be seen by any school that appoints or elects you to its governing body. If you refuse the request for a DBS check you will be automatically disqualified and cannot become a governor or academy trustee.
As well as running a DBS check on you, schools will usually ask you to sign an application form stating that you do not meet any of the disqualification criteria below.
Once you become a governor or trustee you will also be disqualified if at any point you fail to attend meetings for a period of six months, unless the governing body has given you special permission to miss that many meetings.
This page relates to the disqualification criteria for joining the governing body as a whole, but you will also need to meet the criteria for the type of governor role you are interested in.
For example, if you wish to be a parent governor in a maintained school you cannot work at the school for more than 500 hours per year and you cannot be an elected member of the local council. A table below shows who is eligible for each governor category in a maintained school.
There used to be a provision in the law, listed under the rather insensitive title of Mental Disorder, that anyone detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 (known as “being sectioned”) was also disqualified.
However, that rule no longer applies under the current constitution regulations which came into force in 2012. Model articles of association for academies (June 2021) still disqualify trustees who are incapable of “administering their own affairs” through illness or injury.
Do school governors need references?
You may be asked to provide references, but to be honest this probably depends on how difficult the school finds it to get volunteers. If they have many applicants they may request references; if you are the only person interested they may not.
Eligibility for Different Maintained School Governor Categories
The table below lists the different types of maintained school governor and shows who is eligible in law to become a governor in each category. (Rules are not so clear-cut for academies and will differ from trust to trust.)
All volunteers must also be checked against the disqualification criteria list in the next section.
The table shows that, for example, a parent of a current pupil can be the staff governor if they are also a school employee, but they can never be a partnership governor.
Note that anyone can legally be a foundation governor, but as these roles are commonly found in faith schools there will usually be requirements set by the linked religious body, eg: volunteers must be practising catholics.
(I’ve referred to a volunteer who meets the “500-hour rule” in the table to save space – this means that to qualify for that role the volunteer cannot work for the school for more than 500 hours per year.)
Parent of Current Pupil
School Employee
General Public
Staff Governor
Yes, if they are also a school employee
Yes
No
Elected Parent Governor
Yes, if not elected LA member and meet 500-hour rule
Yes, if child attends the school, not elected LA member and meet 500-hour rule
No
Appointed Parent Governor
Yes, if not elected LA member and meet 500-hour rule
Yes, if not elected LA member, meet 500-hour rule and parent of current or former pupil, or child of compulsory school age or below
Yes, if not elected LA member and parent of current or former pupil, or child of compulsory school age or below
LA Governor
Yes
No
Yes
Co-opted Governor
Yes
Yes, if staff gov + head + co-opted govs who are school employees are not more than third of whole board
Yes
Partnership Governor
No
No
Yes, unless elected LA member or employed by LA in education (but can work in another school)
Foundation Governor
Yes
Yes
Yes
Eligibility Requirements for Different Types of Maintained School Governor
Two rules relate to governors only, not associate members. Associate members can be under 18 and can be registered pupils at the school. All governors must be 18 or over and must not be registered pupils of the school.
All other rules cover both governors and associate members. A person is banned from being a governor or associate member in a maintained school if he or she:
is subject to a bankruptcy restrictions order, an interim bankruptcy restrictions order, a debt relief restrictions order or an interim debt relief restrictions order
has had their estate sequestrated and the sequestration order has not been discharged, annulled or reduced
iv) an order made under section 429(2)(b) of the Insolvency Act 1986 (failure to pay under a county court administration order)
has been removed from the office of charity trustee or trustee for a charity by the Charity Commission or Commissioners or the High Court on the grounds of any misconduct or mismanagement, or under Section 34 of the Charities and Trustees Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 from participating in the management or control of any body
has been removed from office under this law as an elected parent or staff governor within the last five years
is included in the list of people considered by the Secretary of State as unsuitable to work with children or young people under section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1999
is disqualified from registration under Part 3 of the Childcare Act 2006
is disqualified from being an independent school proprietor, teacher or employee by the Secretary of State
has received a sentence of imprisonment (whether suspended or not) for a period of not less than three months (without the option of a fine) in the five years before becoming a governor or since becoming a governor
has received a prison sentence of two and a half years or more in the 20 years before becoming a governor
has at any time received a prison sentence of five years or more
has been fined for causing a nuisance or disturbance on school premises or on educational premises during the five years prior to or since appointment or election as a governor
refuses to allow an application to the Disclosure and Barring Service to be made by the clerk for a criminal records certificate (DBS check).
Disqualification of Academy Trustees
Criteria for academy schools are set out in the model articles of association (June 2021) and are shown below. They apply to both trustees and any member of a committee who is not a trustee such as a local governor. Check your own academy’s articles to see if they differ from the model articles.
A trustee shall cease to hold office if they become incapable by reason of illness or injury of managing or administering their own affairs.
A person shall be disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a trustee if-
– they have been declared bankrupt and/or their estate has been seized from their possession for the benefit of their creditors and the declaration or seizure has not been discharged, annulled or reduced; or
– they are the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order or an interim order.
A person shall be disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a trustee at any time they are subject to a disqualification order or a disqualification undertaking under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 or to an order made under section 429(2)(b) of the Insolvency Act 1986 (failure to pay under county court administration order).
A trustee shall cease to hold office if they cease to be a trustee by virtue of any provision in the Companies Act 2006, or are disqualified from acting as a trustee by virtue of section 178 of the Charities Act 2011 (or any statutory re-enactment or modification of that provision).
A person shall be disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a trustee if they have been removed from the office of charity trustee or trustee for a charity by an order made by the Charity Commission or the High Court on the grounds of any misconduct or mismanagement in the administration of the charity for which they were responsible or to which they were privy, or which their conduct contributed to or facilitated.
A person shall be disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a trustee where they have, at any time, been convicted of a serious criminal offence.
A person shall be disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a trustee if that person does not provide the chair with a criminal records certificate at an enhanced disclosure level under section 113B of the Police Act 1997 or if such a certificate discloses information which the chair considers would make that person unsuitable for their role.
If a dispute arises as to whether a person shall be disqualified, a referral shall be made to the Secretary of State to determine the matter. The determination of the Secretary of State shall be final.
A person (including the chair) shall be disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a trustee if that person:
a. refuses to consent to any checks required by the Secretary of State under the provisions of the funding agreement, the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 or otherwise; or
b. is found to be unsuitable to be a trustee by the Secretary of State under the provisions of the funding agreement or the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.
Here are some ways to tackle governor or trustee recruitment and fill the vacancies on your governing body.
Register for Governors for Schools (who used to be called the School Governors’ One-Stop Shop, SGOSS). This free service matches volunteers with appropriate schools. It is a registered charity.
Register with Inspiring Governance. They offer a very similar service to Governors for Schools, matching volunteers with vacancies. They are a charity funded by the Department for Education and run by the National Governance Association alongside Education and Employers.
You can use the map tool from Inspiring Governance to see local vacancies. If someone applies through their website they will also receive access to expert guidance from the National Governance Association, including advice over the phone and email and a copy of their induction book, plus the chance to use their e-learning modules.
Contact Academy Ambassadors if you are a multi-academy trust. They help to find professionals with experience at a senior level in business, charity, a professional career or public work to service on trust boards.
If you are looking for someone with financial skills the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) allows you to list the vacancy and help you find a governor with accounting, finance or related experience.
Get in touch with your local council’s governor services department to ask if they know of any willing volunteers. They should have contact details on their website and will be listed under “governor services” or “governor support”.
