Author: Sophie Lee (Clerk to Governors)

What are the different types of school governor?

There are a range of governor types or categories and each school has a mixture of them. The exact make-up of the governing body will depend on what type of school or academy is involved.

This page explains how school governing bodies are formed.

Constitution of Maintained School Governing Bodies

A single maintained school (in other words, a school that is not legally joined to other schools in a federation) must have a minimum of seven governors, with no maximum number. These requirements come from the Constitution (England) Regulations 2012.

A single maintained school governing body must include:

  • the headteacher governor (if the head chooses to be a governor)
  • at least two parent governors
  • only one staff governor
  • only one local authority (LA) governor
  • any number of co-opted governors.

Some schools also have either foundation or partnership governors, depending on the type of school – foundation governors are often found in faith schools, for example. There are some very specific rules on how many foundation and partnership governors a school can have in section 14 of the 2012 constitution regulations.

A federated maintained school must also have a minimum of seven governors and no maximum, but the types of governor on the board are slightly different.

The requirements for federated schools are from the Federations (England) 2012 law, as amended by the Constitution and Federations (England) 2016 law.

Note that the requirement to have only two parent governors comes from the 2016 amendment, as the 2012 law said there should be one parent governor from each school in the federation.

A federated school governing body must include:

  • the headteacher of each school in the federation (if the heads choose to be governors)
  • only two parent governors
  • only one staff governor
  • only one LA governor
  • any number of co-opted governors (bearing in mind that some federations that include foundation and voluntary schools must have a majority of foundation governors)
  • foundation or partnership governors if they are a particular type of school (eg: church school).

The different types of governor are all explained below. To check what the composition of a maintained school board is you will need to see the school’s instrument of government which lists the number of governors from each category.

Constitution of Academy Governing Bodies

Current model articles of association (2021) for academies place few restrictions on the make-up of academy trust boards, but say that boards must include:

  • the principal (headteacher) if they choose to be a trustee and the members have decided to appoint them as one
  • at least two elected parent trustees (multi-academy trusts can have two elected parents on each local governing body). Parent trustees can be appointed if not enough volunteers stand for election
  • any number of co-opted trustees, as long as no more than one-third of the board is employed by the trust.

You will need to check the articles of association for a specific academy to see exactly how many trustees of each type are on the board. Each academy trust can choose to modify the model articles and the government have published several versions over the years.

Depending on their type trustees might be elected (parent trustees), appointed by a foundation, sponsor or religious body (foundation or sponsor trustees), appointed by trustees (co-opted trustees) or appointed by members.

If a multi-academy trust has local governing bodies these local governors will either be elected by parents or staff, appointed by trustees or appointed by the local governors themselves. Check terms of reference for the specific local governing body to find the rules for each academy.

All Types of Governor Have the Same Role

It is important to remember that governors are not on the governing body to serve as a delegate for a particular group of stakeholders.

It is therefore not the job of the parent governor to argue in favour of whatever the parents want, or the staff governor to argue for whatever the staff want. These governors are not on the board to speak and vote on behalf of the parents or staff.

It is the job of every governor to argue for whatever is best for the children at the school. This is made clear in statutory guidance to the law for maintained schools.

“The governing body must operate, collectively, in the best interest of pupils, not as a collection of individuals lobbying for the interests of the constituency from which they were elected or appointed.”

Constitution of Governing Bodies of Maintained Schools: Statutory Guidance

It is also confirmed in the governors’ code of conduct from the National Governance Association, the national support organisation for school governors, which asks new members of any governing body to sign up to the following statement.

“We will act in the best interests of the school as a whole and not as a representative of any group, even if elected to the governing board.”

National Governance Association Code of Conduct

I’ve sometimes seen this “explained” to potential governors with the phrase: “Parent governors are not parents’ representatives – they are representative parents” which is as clear as mud in my opinion.

It’s supposed to convey that parents are stakeholders in the school and therefore should be part of its governing body without being the parents’ mouthpiece, but I’m sure it just causes confusion.

A better way to think about it is that the type of governor you are reflects the way you gained your place on the governing body – parent governors are (most often) elected by other parents, staff governors are elected by staff and so on.

However, once you are on the governing body your aims are the same as every other governor around the table.

The only exception to this rule is that foundation (and some partnership) governors have an additional responsibility to safeguard the particular character of a school, which is usually a religious character in a faith school, so they do have a slightly different role to other governors (although they also have all the usual responsibilities of a governor as well).

What are the voting rights of each governor?

Every governor has one vote. This applies whether they are a parent, staff governor, co-opted, headteacher or any other kind of governor and whether they are in a maintained school or academy.

It’s that simple because every governor has equal status (with limited special powers for the chair of governors in maintained schools). The only exception is that when a vote is tied the chair of the meeting has a casting vote. (Another article covers voting procedures.)

Associate members cannot vote at full governing body meetings in maintained schools, but can vote on committees if governors have given them the power to do so. The rules for voting at academy committees, including local governing bodies, are set by each academy trust.

All governors and associate members must leave the room and not vote if they have a conflict of interest which means they cannot be objective. For example, if the governor runs a building firm and the school is considering taking out a contract with that firm, the governor must withdraw from the meeting.

Types of Maintained School Governor

All of the appointed (as opposed to elected) governor types below can only be appointed if they have “the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school”.

It is a legal requirement that appointed parents, LA governors, partnership governors, foundation governors and co-opted governors are all appointed based on skills. This rule is from the Constitution 2012 Regulations (as amended in 2014).

Parent governor – anyone whose child is attending the school can stand for election as a parent governor. They are elected by other parents (or elected unopposed if there is only one volunteer). You cannot be a parent governor if you work for the school for more than 500 hours “in any 12 consecutive months” or you are an elected member of the local authority.

There must be at least two parent governors in a single maintained school but federated schools can have only two. A separate article gives more details on who is eligible to be a parent governor in terms of step-parents, grandparents and other carers.

If there are no volunteers from parents of registered pupils then parent governors can be appointed by the governing body rather than elected, because at this stage any parent of a former registered pupil or a parent of any child of compulsory school age or below becomes eligible for the role. (Community and foundation special schools must appoint parents with experience of SEN children.)

Headteacher governor – the headteacher automatically qualifies for a place on the governing body. Because their role comes with the job they are known as “ex officio” governors, which means someone who is on the board “by virtue of their office”. They can choose not to be a governor if they wish and lose their governor role when they leave their job.

Staff governor – anyone who is employed by the school can be a staff governor. They do not have to be a teacher (but often are) and are elected by other members of staff. A separate article gives more details on who is eligible to be the staff governor.

There is only ever one staff governor in a maintained school, although school employees can also serve as co-opted, parent and foundation governors, with some restrictions.

If a co-opted governor is a school employee, when counted with the headteacher and staff governor the total number of school employees on the board must not equal more than a third of the governors in post. Parent governors cannot work for the school for more than 500 hours per year.

Local authority governor – a person who is nominated by the local authority (LA) but appointed by the governing body in a vote.

The governing body has a right to set additional eligibility criteria for this role if they wish, with the only restriction in law being that the LA governor cannot be a school employee. They can only be removed by the local authority, not governors themselves. There is only one LA governor.

LA governors are not political appointments and are not on the board to take the side of the local authority.

Co-opted governors – this is a general category for any volunteer. They used to be called community governors, ie: anyone from the local community. They are appointed by existing governors in a vote.

A school can have an unlimited number of co-opted governors unless they are a foundation or voluntary school, when they may be required to have a majority of foundation governors on the board.

Although there is no limit on the number of co-opted governors, be aware that if a co-opted governor is employed by the school you must ensure that when counted with the headteacher and the staff governor, the total number of school employees on the board does not equal more than a third of the governors in post.

For example, if you had nine governors in total you could only appoint one co-opted governor who worked for the school, because the headteacher plus the staff governor plus one co-opted governor equals one third of the governing body (three out of nine).

Partnership governor – appointed in faith schools to ensure that the religious character of the school is preserved and developed, but can also be found in some non-religious schools.

Foundation governor – appointed by any body other than the local authority, for example the founding body of the school or a church. There are also “ex officio” foundation governors because the governor role is attached to their job (often the parish priest).

Associate members – someone who is not a governor and cannot vote at meetings of the full governing body, but can attend any meeting of the governing body and serve and vote on committees.

Associate members can be pupils in secondary schools but they can only vote if they are over 18. There is no lower age limit so technically primary school pupils could be associate members as well, but this would be impractical.

School employees are also eligible to be associate members and there is no limit to the total number of associates permitted.

Associate members can be excluded from meetings when governors are talking about a named staff member or pupil. The extent of their voting rights on any committee are decided by the governing body.

Observers – this term is not used in law but some schools use it to mean a person who has a standing invitation to attend full meetings and take part in discussions but not vote.

For example, if you do not wish the deputy headteacher to be an associate member but you do want her to attend meetings you could classify her as an observer.

Can a school governor be the data protection officer (DNO)?

It does seem to be technically possible for a governor to be the DPO, but it may not be best practice. Schools must have a DPO as they are public bodies, but they need to ensure the DPO has the appropriate expertise, can avoid conflicts of interest and can report to senior managers.

The DfE state in their Data Protection Toolkit for Schools that it might be possible to “seek volunteers from experts that may exist in the wider school community” so the job does not have to be done by an employee.

However, they go on to say that as a volunteer “their statutory responsibilities remain at the same expectation as a paid DPO. It would be a reasonably big commitment for that volunteer, and they would need to be able to clearly convey risks and views to senior managers.”

The private company GDPR in Schools has produced a guide to who can be the DPO. They advise that governors can be the DPO but only if there is no conflict of interest, they have sufficient time, they can understand the school’s use of data and have input from school staff to help them.

Expert Knowledge of Data Protection Law

It may be unreasonable to expect a volunteer governor to be an expert on the data protection law in addition to all their other duties.

“You should appoint a DPO on the basis of their professional qualities, and in particular, experience and expert knowledge of data protection law.”

Guide to the GDPR, Information Commissioner’s Office

“When designating a data protection officer, the controller must have regard to the professional qualities of the proposed officer, in particular the proposed officer’s expert knowledge of data protection law and practice.”

Section 69 of the Data Protection Act 2018

DPOs Must Report to High Level Management

Governors are, of course, high level management themselves – who would they report to if they are not reporting to the school’s governing body?

“DPOs assist you to monitor internal compliance, inform and advise on your data protection obligations, provide advice regarding Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) and act as a contact point for data subjects and the supervisory authority.

“The DPO must be independent, an expert in data protection, adequately resourced, and report to the highest management level.

“A DPO can be an existing employee or externally appointed. You must ensure that the DPO reports to the highest relevant management level of your organisation – ie: board level.”

Information Commissioner’s Office

Conflicts of Interest

A governor may find it difficult to avoid conflicts of interest. For example, they may hold confidential data themselves and have access to information in minutes that others do not.

“As long as the professional duties of the employee are compatible with the duties of the DPO and do not lead to a conflict of interests, you can appoint an existing employee as your DPO, rather than you having to create a new post.”

Guide to the GDPR, Information Commissioner’s Office

“Think through what is best for your school. As yet, there does not appear to be a common approach, but it appears a ‘many schools to one DPO’ model is emerging as the most common, whether that is provided by the local authority, or multi-academy trust.”

DfE Data Protection Toolkit for Schools

“As a rule of thumb, conflicting positions within the organisation may include senior management positions.”

European Commission Guidelines on Data Protection Officers

How long should a chair of governors serve?

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.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013

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.”

Model Articles of Association (June 2021)

Can the chair of governors be re-elected?

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.”

DfE Departmental Advice on Roles, Procedures and Allowances Regulations

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.”

DfE Maintained Schools Governance Guide

Interestingly, the National Governance Association (NGA) recommends a total term for the chair of just six years.

“NGA has a policy that serving as chair of the same governing board for more than six years should be the exception, not the rule.”

National Governance Association

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.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) 2013

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.

Am I entitled to time off work to be a school governor?

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.

Who cannot ask for time off?

Guidance from the DfE sets out when you can take time off work for public duties.

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.

Can a school governor be on the PTA?

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.”

PTA+ Magazine, Spring 2023

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.”

Parentkind

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.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013

Can you be a governor at two schools?

Yes. There are no rules to stop individuals from being a governor or trustee at two or more schools or academies.

However, the DfE recommend that someone only serves on more than two school governing bodies in “exceptional circumstances“.

“Governors are recommended to serve on no more than two governing boards unless in exceptional circumstances.”

DfE Maintained Schools Governance Guide

“DfE recommends that trustees serve on no more than two trust boards or governing bodies except in exceptional circumstances.”

DfE Academy Trust Governance Guide

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.

What is the instrument of government?

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.”

Constitution of Governing Bodies of Maintained Schools: Statutory Guidance

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.

Model Instrument of Government

A model instrument, which can be adapted to fit any kind of maintained school, can be found in annex C of the DfE’s statutory guidance to the constitution regulations.

Does the chair of governors have a casting vote?

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.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) 2013

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.”

Model Articles of Association (June 2021)

Exceptions For Some Panels

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.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) 2013

Best Practice For Casting Votes

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.”

North Yorkshire Governor Services

Can associate members have a casting vote?

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.”

Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) 2013

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.

Do schools need link governors?

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 careers education 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.”

Keeping Children Safe in Education

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?

A separate article lists questions a safeguarding link governor could ask and explains how the link governor can fulfil their role effectively.

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.”

Amanda Spielman speech to the National Governance Association, 8 June 2019

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.”

Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 Years

Careers Link Governor

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.”

Careers Guidance and Access For Education and Training Providers

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.”

SEND Code of Practice

Link Governor Role Descriptions

Safeguarding Link Governor Role Description (.pdf)

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.

SEND Link Governor Role Description (.pdf)

From Luton LA. Duties of the SEND link governor include:

  • making every effort to see that the necessary special arrangements are made for pupils with SEN
  • asking questions and liaising with the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) about the current policy and practice in SEN
  • monitoring the progress and effectiveness of the governing body’s policy on SEN
  • monitoring the deployment of resources allocated to SEN
  • monitoring the effectiveness of communication with parents.

Wellbeing and Mental Health Link Governor Role Description (.pdf)

From Governors For Schools. Duties of the wellbeing link governor include:

  • 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.

Training Link Governor Role Description (.pdf)

From Luton LA. Duties of the training link governor include:

  • assessing the training needs of individual governors, new governors, governors taking on new roles and governors needing ‘refresher’ update courses
  • encouraging governors to attend courses
  • reviewing the balance between personal development and benefit for the whole governing body, eg: how is information from courses shared?
  • monitoring courses attended
  • checking that there is a good spread of courses and all governors are receiving appropriate training.

How long are school governor terms of office?

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.”

Constitution (England) Regulations 2012

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.”

Miscellaneous Amendments (England) Regulations 2015

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.”

Constitution (England) Regulations 2012

The Rules For Academies

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.”

Model Articles of Association (June 2021)

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.”

National Governance Association

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.