Sophie Lee (Clerk to Governors) – Page 5

How do we hold a staff governor election?

This is a guide to running staff governor elections in maintained schools, explaining who can stand for election and the procedures that should be followed when arranging a ballot.

Academies with elected staff trustees or staff local governors will need to check their articles and local terms of reference to see the rules, although procedures will often be very similar to those described here.

The Law On Staff Governor Elections

The relevant law for maintained schools is found in Schedule 2 of the Constitution Regulations (England) 2012. This very short Schedule only sets the following rules:

the “appropriate authority” must run the election
when the LA are the “appropriate authority” they can delegate this duty to the headteacher
there cannot be a minimum number of votes cast for a governor to be elected (so a staff member could be elected with just one vote)
all elections with more than one candidate must be held by ballot.

“Where a local authority are the appropriate authority in relation to a school, they may delegate to the head teacher of the school any of their functions under this Schedule.

“The appropriate authority must make all the necessary arrangements for the election of staff governors.

“The power conferred by paragraph 3 does not include power to impose any requirements as to the minimum number of votes required to be cast for a candidate to be elected.

“Any election which is contested must be held by ballot.”
Constitution Regulations (England) 2012

Who is the appropriate authority?

The “appropriate authority” for staff elections – the organisation that must run the election – is the same authority as for parent elections. This means that in community, nursery and voluntary-controlled schools it is the LA. For voluntary-aided and foundation schools it is the governing body.

However, in community, nursery and VC schools it is common practice for LAs to delegate responsibility for the election to the headteacher. It is also usual for the governing body in VA and foundation schools to delegate responsibility to the head.

Therefore it is usually the headteacher who runs the election, with the help of the clerk and support staff.

Who can stand for election?

A separate article looks at who can be a staff governor in detail, but the short answer is that the person must be employed by either the governing body or the LA under a contract on the date of the election. Any member of staff who fits that description is eligible, not just teachers.

“In these Regulations “staff governor” means a person who—

(a) is elected in accordance with Schedule 2 as a governor by persons who are employed by either the governing body or the local authority under a contract of employment providing for those persons to work at the school, and

(b) is so employed at the time of election.”
Constitution Regulations (England) 2012

Can candidates vote for themselves? Who else can vote?

Candidates can vote for themselves and they can nominate themselves too. All school staff employed by the LA or governing body under a contract are eligible to vote.

Can the headteacher vote?

Yes and so can any other governors who are employed by the school or LA, for example co-opted governors.

What happens if only one candidate stands?

They are elected unopposed. The law says a ballot is only needed for a contested election. In an uncontested election no ballot is required.

What happens if no-one stands for staff governor?

The post remains vacant until a volunteer is found. Unlike the rules for parent governors, boards cannot appoint someone to the role of staff governor themselves if a volunteer cannot be found via election.

The school should keep reminding staff of the vacancy and make sure any new staff are aware of it too.

Can the ballot be held electronically?

The law does not explicitly say that staff elections can be electronic (although it does say that for parent governor elections). The “appropriate authority” (usually the head) will need to decide whether to approve virtual voting. The easiest voting method is probably to put a ballot box in the staffroom.

Sample Letters and Ballot Paper

Example letters and a ballot paper are available on my templates and letters page. This includes a letter to advertise the vacancy, a letter to thank volunteers for applying and a letter to inform staff of the result.

If the board is lacking expertise in a particular area their advert can mention “any specific skills or experience that would be desirable in a new governor”, according to statutory guidance to the Constitution Regulations 2012. However, they cannot set additional eligibility criteria.

Boards should clearly explain the role of governor and the duties in terms of number of meetings held each term, link governor roles and so on, but they must not imply someone without a particular skillset is not welcome to stand for election.

“The purpose of governing bodies providing and publishing information about the role of a governor and the skills they ideally require is not to create additional eligibility criteria for potential candidates – which they do not have the power to do.

“It is for the electorate to elect their choice of candidate(s). The purpose of publishing the information is to simply inform the electorate of the governing bodies’ expectations, circumstances and ideal requirements.”
The Constitution of Governing Bodies of Maintained Schools: Statutory Guidance

Election Procedure

The following is the procedure recommended by most LAs.

Email the advert and your LA governor application form to all staff and place an advert in the staffroom.
In the email ask candidates to provide a short personal statement (perhaps 200-250 words) saying why they wish to be a governor.
If you receive more than one application send a second email that includes the candidate’s personal statements and an attached ballot paper.
Place a ballot box in the staff room with a supply of envelopes and use the “double envelope” system. Each voter ticks a box on the ballot paper and places their ballot in a blank envelope which they seal. This is placed inside a second envelope, on which they write their name.
Each staff member can vote for one candidate only.
The returning officer (usually the headteacher or the clerk) checks the names against a list to ensure each person is an eligible voter, throws the outside envelope away and the vote is then anonymous.
The returning officer counts the votes. Candidates should be invited to attend the count.
Ballot papers and other documents should be kept for a minimum of six months.

What is the timescale?

If your LA does not set a timescale for staff elections (my own does not) then whoever is running the election needs to set it. It might be reasonable to give staff say 10 to 14 working days to volunteer as a candidate and then another 10 to 14 working days for staff to vote.

Set deadlines with both a day and time specified, eg: “Votes must be cast by 3pm on 30 June 2021.” Late votes should not be accepted.

What happens if the vote is tied?

Recount the votes to check the number. If there is a definite tie local authorities usually recommend a random method of breaking the deadlock, for example drawing lots from a hat or tossing a coin. Alternatively one or more candidates could choose to withdraw.

Can an existing staff governor be re-elected?

Yes. As long as they are still employed by the school on the election date, they are eligible to stand for election again. However, note that they do have to be re-elected, so they must either win the election or be the only candidate and win unopposed.

For any elected role the board cannot simply vote to renew their term of office because that prevents other candidates from standing for office.

When does the term of office start?

The term of office starts from the date of election (the final day that votes could be cast). If no election was held the term starts from the deadline set for receiving applications.

If you held the election early and the old staff governor is still in post, the new governor’s term starts as soon as the old governor “expires”.

Default terms of office for staff governors are the standard four years but boards can impose any term between one and four years.

Federated School Governance

Maintained schools can choose to join together in a federation, where one governing body oversees two or more schools. This page explains how governance works in federations and whether you need governors from each individual school.

Federations must follow the Federations (England) Regulations 2012. (Single maintained schools follow the Constitution (England) Regulations 2012.)

How are federations formed?

Two or more single maintained schools can choose to form a new federation. They can also join an existing federation, or two existing federations can join together into one big one. The right to do this comes from the Education Act 2002.

“In prescribed cases, the governing bodies—

(a) of two or more maintained schools in England,

(b) of an existing federation and of one or more maintained schools in England, or

(c) of two or more existing federations,

may…provide for their respective schools to be federated.

“Where any schools are federated by virtue of this section, they shall have a single governing body constituted under a single instrument of government.”
Education Act 2002 (Section 24)

What is the process to form or join a federation?

The process is set out in part 2 of the Federations (England) Regulations 2012. This law has been amended since 2012 and only the original version is provided by the DfE, but you can find an up-to-date version on my page of revised regulations.

Constitution of Federated School Boards

Your instrument of government will show the constitution of the board – in other words, how many governors you have of each type. A federation has one instrument of government to cover the entire group of schools.

The requirements for federated school governing bodies are very similar to those for single schools, including the legal minimum of seven governors in the constitution and no maximum number. However, the rules for headteacher and parent governors are slightly different.

Here are the rules for every federation governing body.

“The total membership of the governing body of a federation must be no fewer than seven governors.

“The governing body of a federation must include the following—

(a) two parent governors

(b) the head teacher of each federated school unless any such head teacher resigns the office of governor in accordance with regulation 19 of the Constitution Regulations 2012;

(c) one staff governor; and

(d) one local authority governor.

“The governing body may in addition appoint such number of co-opted governors as they consider necessary provided that the requirements in regulation 22 are met in respect of governing bodies of federations comprising foundation and voluntary schools.”
Federations (England) Regulations 2012

You will notice that the headteacher of every federated school has the right to be a governor, although they can choose not to be one if they prefer.

Federated boards only have two parent governors. (Single maintained schools must have “at least” two). Parent governors can come from any school in the federation.

The other requirements are the same as for single schools. There must be one staff governor, one local authority governor and as many co-opted governors as you like, provided that not too many work for the federation; the exact number allowed is explained below.

Federations that contain voluntary or foundation schools must have additional foundation or partnership governors. The rules for these governors are complicated and depend on the category of school. For example, a federation with only voluntary-aided schools must include enough foundation governors to outnumber all the other governors by two.

Rules for your particular type of voluntary or foundation school can be found in section 22 of the Federations (England) Regulations 2012.

Must federated boards have a parent governor from each school?

No. The law says federations must have “two parent governors”, which means only two parent governors. These parents can come from any school in the federation, so there could be two parents from one school or parents from two different schools. All parents across all federated schools must be told they are eligible to stand for election.

“The governing body of a federation must include the following—

(a) two parent governors.”
Federations (England) Regulations 2012

However, the law used to say that the board of a federation must have one parent governor “in respect of each school in the federation”, so one parent from each school. That law was amended in 2016 to just refer to “two parent governors”.

Unfortunately the government do not provide updated versions of these laws, so if you check the official version of the Federations (England) Regulations 2012 it still shows the old rules.

I have produced a revised version of the Federations Regulations 2012 as part of my page of revised versions of school governance regulations so you can see the changes clearly.

A memo to the law makes it clear that parents are elected across all schools in the federation. It also explains that parent governors are in place to advance the interests of pupils from every school, not just the school their own child attends.

“These Regulations will replace the current arrangements with a requirement that the governing body has two, and only two, parent governors elected by parents across all the schools in the federation.

“This will also help reinforce the message that governors govern in the interests of all the pupils in all the schools in the federation.”
Explanatory Memo to the Constitution and Federations (England) Amendment Regulations 2016

When the government made this amendment they explained the thinking behind it, which was that some schools were previously forced to have very large governing bodies, with more governors than “they need or want”.

For example, if a federation contained five schools you would previously have needed five parent governors, one from each school. On top of that some schools, such as voluntary-aided schools, must have enough foundation governors to outnumber all other governors by two.

When can federated boards appoint parent governors?

If all parents are told they can stand for election but not enough volunteers come forward to fill the vacancies the federated governing body can vote to appoint parent governors instead.

They must appoint parents in the following order of preference.

The parent of a pupil at a federated school.
The parent of a former pupil at a federated school.
The parent of a child with SEN for which a federation school is approved.
The parent of a child, including a child with SEN who is over compulsory school age.

“In appointing a parent governor, the governing body of a federation must appoint in the following order of preference—

(a) a parent of a registered pupil at a federated school (or, in respect of any maintained nursery school in the federation, a parent of a child for whom educational or other provision is made on the premises of the school (including any such provision made by the governing body under section 27 of EA 2002));

(b) a parent of a former registered pupil at a federated school;

(c) a parent of a child with special educational needs for which a federated school is approved; or

(d) a parent of a child, including a child who has special educational needs and is over compulsory school age.”
Federations (England) Regulations 2012

Can parent governors work for a federated school?

You cannot be a parent governor if you work for a maintained school for more than 500 hours per year. In a federation that means you are not eligible to be a parent governor if you work for any of the federated schools for more than 500 hours a year.

“A person is disqualified from election or appointment as a parent governor if the person is—

(a) an elected member of the local authority; or

(b) paid to work at the federation or a federated school for more than 500 hours in any consecutive twelve month period.”
Federations (England) Regulations 2012

Can the staff governor come from any federated school?

Yes. On the date of their election the staff governor just needs to be employed by either the federation governing body or by the local authority under a contract of employment to work at at that federation.

“In these Regulations “staff governor” means a person who—

(a) is elected in accordance with Schedule 3 as a governor by persons who are employed by either the governing body of the federation, or the local authority under a contract of employment providing for those persons to work at the federation or federated school, and

(b) is so employed at the time of the election referred to in sub-paragraph (a).”
Federations (England) Regulations 2012

Can co-opted governors be employed by a federated school?

Yes, but there is a limit. The total number of co-opted governors who are federation employees, when counted with the staff governor and all the headteachers, must not be more than one third of the governing body.

Say for example you have 12 governors in your constitution, with one staff governor and two headteacher governors. You could only appoint one co-opted governor who worked for the federation, because the staff governor plus the two heads plus one co-opted employee equals four out of 12 (one third exactly).

“The total number of co-opted governors who are also eligible to be elected as staff governors under Schedule 3, when counted together with the staff governor and the head teachers, must not exceed one third of the total membership of the governing body.”
Federations (England) Regulations 2012

Can the board function with vacancies?

Yes. Governing bodies at both maintained schools and academies can continue to hold meetings and take decisions even if they have ongoing vacancies.

In maintained schools there is no legal minimum number of governors you must have in post, but you must have a minimum of seven governors in the board’s constitution.

In academies your articles of association may say that if the number of trustees in post falls below a quorum those trustees can only make limited decisions. However, articles should also say that in all other circumstances the board can function normally with vacancies.

There are provisions in the rules (explained below) that allow boards to function with vacancies. However, it is not good practice to have too many vacancies because it puts pressure on your remaining governors.

This page explains the rules and suggests when vacancies may become a concern.

Law For Maintained Schools

Each maintained school must have a minimum of seven governors in its constitution. This number is set by law. You can see how many governors are in your constitution by checking the instrument of government.

The constitution of a governing body means the number of governor roles on your school board, which may be different to the number of volunteers you actually have in post.

“The total membership of the governing body of a maintained school must be no fewer than seven governors.”
Constitution Regulations (England) 2012

Although boards must have at least seven governors in their constitution, the law says that governing bodies can still function if they are not full and do not become valid because of “any vacancy”. This means there is no minimum number of governors that schools must legally have in post.

“The proceedings of the governing body of a school are not invalidated by any vacancy among their number.”
Roles, Procedures and Allowances Regulations (England) 2013

Say for example a school has seven governor roles in its constitution but one of these roles is not filled, which leaves only six governors in post.

These six governors are able to carry on attending meetings and making decisions if they are quorate, so for full governing body meetings they would need three governors in attendance for a quorum.

Rules for Academies

Check your own articles to be sure, but the current model articles of association for academies (June 2021) state that trustees are able to act even if there are vacancies on the trust board.

However, they also say that if the number of trustees in post is less than the number needed for a quorum then the trustees can only make decisions on two issues: filling the trustee vacancies or calling a general meeting (a meeting of academy members).

“The trustees may act notwithstanding any vacancies in their number, but, if the numbers of trustees is less than the number fixed as the quorum, the continuing trustees may act only for the purpose of filling vacancies or of calling a general meeting.”
Model Articles of Association (June 2021)

The quorum in model articles is either three trustees or one-third of trustees in post (rounded up), whichever number is greater.

So if an academy trust board has enough trustees in post to form a quorum it can function as normal. If there are two trustees in post or fewer they can only fill vacancies or call a general meeting.

If it is a committee such as a local governing body the rules will be set by that committee’s terms of reference.

When should we worry about governor vacancies?

As shown above the rules allow governing bodies to function with very small numbers of people, but a tiny board is not good practice for a number of reasons.

Firstly, a handful of people cannot take on all the responsibility of the governing body without strain.

It will be difficult to assign link roles and form committees or panels and the board may struggle to elect a chair and vice-chair. It may even struggle to find a free governor to meet OFSTED during an inspection.

The balance of stakeholders on the board would be another concern. If for example you have only five governors and the headteacher governor and staff governor are in post, it would only need a few other governors to send apologies for a meeting to effectively become a staff meeting rather than a meeting of the board.

Aiming for a minimum of around eight or nine governors/trustees in post might be a good rule of thumb. In reality most boards are larger than this, allowing a few governors to resign without putting too much pressure on those left.

A survey by the National Governance Association found that in 2019 the average board contained 11 to 12 governors when full, with only 16.7% of schools having eight governors or fewer in their constitution. Mind you, 2.8% of schools had 20 governors or more! Here are the full survey results.

Size Of School Boards When All Vacancies Filled

Boards with with eight governors or fewer: 16.7% of schools
Boards with 9-10 governors: 23.1%
Boards with 11-12 governors: 31.9%
Boards with 13-15 governors: 19.2%
Boards with 16-19 governors: 6.2%
Boards with 20 governors or more: 2.8%

Can boards renew elected governors’ terms of office?

No. For elected governor roles the board cannot simply vote to renew a governor’s term of office. All eligible parents or staff must be offered a chance to stand for election.

The board cannot decide to “convert” an elected role into an appointed one just because they have found a governor they like. However, parent governor or trustee roles can be filled by appointment, but only if not enough volunteers stand for election.

Elected Staff Governors and Trustees

In maintained schools the staff governor is never appointed by the board. They are either elected by staff in a ballot or elected unopposed if there is only one candidate. At the end of their term of office all staff must be given the opportunity to stand for election.

Academies may have staff trustees or local governors who are either elected or appointed. If your articles of association/terms of reference state that a staff vacancy is an elected role then all staff must be given the chance to volunteer when the current governor reaches the end of their term.

Elected Versus Appointed Parent Governors in Maintained Schools

If you have a parent governor who is nearing the end of their term of office the law for maintained schools says you must tell every parent of a current pupil about the vacancy. You must also tell them that they have the right to stand as a candidate in the election and vote.

“Where a vacancy for a parent governor arises, the appropriate authority must take such steps as are reasonably practicable to secure that every person who is known to them to be a parent of a registered pupil at the school…is—

(a) informed of the vacancy and that it is required to be filled by election;

(b) informed that the person is entitled to stand as a candidate and vote in the election; and

(c) given the opportunity to do so.”
Constitution (England) Regulations 2012

The phrase “where a vacancy for a parent governor arises” may cause confusion, because if you have a current parent governor who is happy to carry on in the role it may seem like there isn’t a “vacancy” as such.

However, parent governors have fixed terms of office like all governors who are not ex officio. Whenever a parent governor reaches the end of their term of office they must be re-elected or reappointed under the same rules that applied to their role when they first joined the board. The default term of office is four years (but may be less if your board has changed it).

If a governing body could simply vote to extend an elected parent governor’s term of office for another four years, then four again (and then four again) it’s possible that other parents at your school wouldn’t be offered the chance to stand for election for decades!

Can current parent governors stand in the election?

Yes, but only if they still have children at your school on the election date. The law for maintained schools says a parent governor is elected by parents of registered pupils and must be “such a parent at the time of the election”.

“In these Regulations “parent governor” means—

(a) a person who—

(i) is elected in accordance with paragraphs 4 to 8 of Schedule 1 as a governor by parents of registered pupils at the school, and

(ii) is such a parent at the time of election.”
Constitution (England) Regulations 2012

So if the governor’s child or children have left the school they are not eligible to be elected as a parent parent governor.

However, as a parent of a former pupil they will always be eligible to be appointed as a parent governor. The next section explains when the board can appoint parents.

You also need to check that the current parent governor does not work for the school for more than 500 hours a year and is not an elected member of the local authority, because both of these things disqualify someone from being elected or appointed as a maintained school parent governor.

What happens if not enough parents stand for election?

This is where boards can appoint a parent governor – in other words, hold a vote at a full governing body meeting. The law says that if the number of election candidates is less than the number of vacancies, parents can be appointed in the following order of preference:

“(a) a parent of a registered pupil at the school,

(b) a parent of a former registered pupil at the school, or

(c) a parent of a child under or of compulsory school age.”
Constitution (England) Regulations 2012

So if you have two volunteers, one with children who used to attend your school and the other with children at a different school, the first parent must be given preference. (Note that parents of children who are over school age are not eligible for appointment, but parents with children under school age are.)

Remember that even if the board appoints a parent governor they have still not “converted” that role into an appointed role. When the appointed parent governor reaches the end of their term of office they cannot simply be reappointed; all parents must be given the chance to stand for election. It is only if enough volunteers cannot be found via the election that the board can consider reappointing the parent governor.

A final point is that boards must consider the skills of any volunteer before appointing them.

“The governing body may only appoint as a parent governor a person who has, in the opinion of the governing body, the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of
the school.”
Constitution (England) Regulations 2012

What happens if more parents stand for election than vacancies?

A ballot must be held and parents are given one vote per parent, per vacancy. Your current parent governor may be re-elected, but if they lose the election they are replaced by the winning parent. (If the number of candidates is the same as the number of vacancies they are all elected unopposed with no ballot needed.)

If your current parent governor loses the election it is possible to appoint them to another vacancy as a different type of governor. For example, all members of the community are eligible to be co-opted governors. If you do this you will need to consider the balance of parents on the board, as it may not be wise to have too many governors from one stakeholder group.

You may also need to consider the fact that other parents may object, because of course they have just voted this person out of office!

Elected Versus Appointed Parent Governors in Academies

The current model articles for academies say that academies can appoint parent trustees or local governors only if the number of election candidates is less than the number of vacancies.

The quote below shows the wording for MATs but the rule is the same for single academy trusts too.

“Parent trustees and parent local governors shall be elected or, if the number of parents standing for election is less than the number of vacancies, appointed.”
Model Articles for Academies (June 2021)

In MAT model articles parents can only stand for election as a trustee if they have a child at one of the MAT academies on the date of election. To be an elected parent local governor they must have a child at an academy overseen by the local governing body on the date of the election.

In a multi-academy trust (MAT) if not enough candidates stand for election trustees can appoint as a trustee (in order of preference) either the parent of a child at one of the academies, or the parent of a child within the age of range of at least one of the MAT academies. (When appointing parent local governors they should appoint the parent of a child within the age range of one of the academies overseen by the local governing body.)

“In appointing a parent trustee or parent local governor the trustees shall appoint a person who is the parent of a registered pupil at an academy [within the trust]…

“or [if] it is not reasonably practical to appoint a parent…then the trustees may appoint a person who is the parent of a child within the age range of at least one of the academies

“or, in the case of an appointment to a local governing body, the age range of at least one of the academies overseen by that local governing body.”
Model Articles for Academies (June 2021)

In a single academy trust (SAT) the board can appoint the parent of a registered pupil or, if they can’t find one, any parent who has children who are of compulsory school age.

“In appointing a parent trustee the board of trustees shall appoint a person who is the parent of a registered pupil at the academy; or where it is not reasonably practical to do so, a person who is the parent of a child of compulsory school age.”
Model Articles for Academies (June 2021)

(Rules are a little different for 16-19 so check your own articles for the details.)

What does ex officio mean?

Ex officio means “by virtue of the office” and refers to a governor role that comes with someone’s job. For example, the headteacher of a maintained school always has the right to be an ex officio governor.

Ex officio is a Latin phrase that literally translates as “from the office” or “out of the office”. The DfE gave a good definition of the term in an old publication called The Governors’ Guide to the Law.

“Ex officio governor – someone who is automatically a governor or able to attend meetings of a governing body by virtue of the office they hold, for example a headteacher, parish priest or vicar, ie: the position of governor comes with the job.”
The Governors’ Guide to the Law (2012)

Ex Officio Governors In Maintained Schools

There are only two types of ex officio governor that can exist on the governing body of a maintained school. Many schools only have one of these types.

The headteacher is always ex officio. They do not have to be a governor but there is always a place reserved for them on the governing body. If they do not take up this place it cannot be filled by another governor.

Foundation governors are sometimes ex officio. They can exist in foundation, voluntary-aided or voluntary-controlled schools and are often the parish priest.

What is the term of office for ex officio governors?

Their term of office starts from the day they were appointed to their job, but unlike other governors who have a fixed term of office of a certain number of years they have no set “expiry” date.

However, their term of office ends automatically if they leave their job.

“A person who is a governor by virtue of being headteacher of the school or who is an ex officio foundation governor may not hold office for longer than the position from which the governorship derives is held by that person.”
Constitution (England) Regulations 2012

This means the headteacher has a right to be a governor for as long as they remain the headteacher. If a governing body wanted to stop the headteacher from being a governor and the head refused to give up their governor role the only way to prevent them from governing would be to fire the headteacher!

However, an ex officio foundation governor can be removed from the board, even though they do not have a fixed term of office. In a foundation, VA or VC school your instrument of government will say who has the power to remove an ex officio foundation governor.

“The governing body may, in accordance with the procedure set out in regulation 25, remove any ex officio foundation governor at the request of the person named in the instrument of government as the person entitled to make such a request.

“A person requesting the removal of an ex officio foundation governor must give written reasons for the request to the clerk to the governing body and the governor in question.”
Constitution (England) Regulations 2012

The instrument of government will also tell you who has the power to appoint a substitute governor.

A substitute can be appointed if the original governor has been removed or if they are “unable or unwilling” to act as a governor. For example, if the parish priest is so ill they cannot attend meetings a substitute can be appointed.

“‘Substitute governor’ means a foundation governor appointed to act in the place of an ex officio foundation governor who is unwilling or unable to act as a governor or has been removed from office under regulation 21(1).”
Constitution (England) Regulations 2012

If a substitute governor is appointed their term of office is four years unless the original foundation governor becomes able to fulfil the role again (assuming they were just unable to fulfil the role and not removed from the board) or is replaced in their job by someone else.

Ex Officio Trustees In Academies

Any ex officio trustees in an academy will be listed in the articles of association. The current model articles (2021) do not list any specific ex officio positions, but do say that the standard four-year term of office does not apply to ex officio trustees.

“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.”
Model Articles of Association (June 2021)

Although the main model articles don’t contain ex officio posts and neither do model articles for Catholic academies, the model articles for Church of England academies do contain (optional) ex officio roles.

Here’s the wording from model articles for a C of E academy converting from a voluntary-aided school.

“The company shall have… the following ex officio directors: [insert incumbent(s), Area Dean, Archdeacon, Diocesan Bishop if required or delete and mark “Not used”].”
Church of England Academies Model Articles of Association: Majority Version

(Note that these articles call the trustees “directors” but the role is the same; they sit on the main academy trust board.)

Academy trusts can also assign ex officio positions to committees such as local governing bodies, so for example a local governor within a multi-academy trust could be an academy employee. Check the terms of reference for each committee to see whether any of these positions exist.

Ex Officio Roles in Committee Terms of Reference

You may come across terms of reference for committees that say someone is an ex officio member of that committee because of their role on the governing body rather than their job role.

For example, terms of reference for a finance committee may say the chair of governors is a member of that committee “ex officio”.

This means that the chair of governors always has a right to be a member of that committee. If the current chair resigned your new chair would now have the right to be on that committee and the old chair would not.

Both maintained schools and academy trusts are free to set terms of reference for their committees so there’s nothing wrong with this practice, as long as the board understands what “ex officio” means in this context.

Can ex officio governors be disqualified for not attending meetings?

In a maintained school ex officio governors cannot be disqualified for missing meetings. The usual rule is that governors who are absent for more than six months of meetings can be disqualified if the board does not consent to the absences.

However, the law says that this rule does not apply to ex officio governors.

“This paragraph applies to every governor, other than governors who are governors by virtue of the office that they hold.

“A governor who, without the consent of the governing body, has failed to attend their meetings for a continuous period of six months beginning with the date of the first such meeting the governor fails to attend, is, on the expiry of that period, disqualified from continuing to hold office as a governor of that school.”
Constitution (England) Regulations 2012

As explained above an ex officio foundation governor can be removed from the board, so if this governor is missing lots of meetings check your instrument of government to see who has the power to remove them and appoint a substitute.

In academies the rules will depend your articles of association (for trustees) and terms of reference for any committees such as local governing bodies.

Are ex officio governors disqualified for some criminal offences?

Yes. In all types of school a person must meet certain criteria to join the governing body. There is a full list of disqualification criteria in this article but they include specific criminal convictions and being removed from office as a charity trustee.

There are slightly different criteria for maintained schools and academies but they apply equally to ex officio governors/trustees.

Can ex officio governors vote?

Yes. Ex officio governors and trustees have the same voting rights as any other governor or trustee.

Do ex officio governors count towards the quorum?

Yes.

Revised Versions of The School Governance Regulations

This page provides revised, consolidated versions of the three main sets of School Governance Regulations, incorporating all amendments made since the original laws came into force.

The School Governance Regulations for maintained schools are only made available on www.legislation.gov.uk in their original form, which means that the text does not show the changes made by amendments from the following years.

This can cause confusion, particularly for new clerks who might for example wonder why governors do not need DBS checks in the original 2012 Constitution Regulations. The DBS requirement was added as an amendment in 2016, but unfortunately the text of the 2012 original law has not been updated to make this clear.

This page provides the most up-to-date version of the Constitution Regulations 2012, the Roles, Procedures and Allowances Regulations 2013 and the Federations Regulations 2012. Amendments are colour-coded in the downloadable files so you can see when they were introduced.

Revised Constitution Regulations 2012

This is a revised copy of The School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012. It incorporates the amendments published in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Download revised copy of The School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012 (.docx Word file)

Download revised copy of The School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012 (.pdf)

List of Amendments in the Revised Copy of the Constitution Regulations 2012

Amendments from The School Governance (Constitution and Federations) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 are in RED

The 2014 amendment:

revoked the Constitution Regulations 2007
added a requirement that LA, foundation, appointed parent and partnership governors must have the skills to contribute to effective governance and the success of the school
changed the procedure for removing surplus governors from “first in, last out” to a process based on skills
added one disqualification criteria so governors and associate members are now disqualified if they are on the section 128 list.

Amendments from The School Governance (Miscellaneous Amendments) (England) Regulations 2015 are in BLUE

The 2015 amendment:

allowed boards to set terms of office of between one and four years for any individual governor within a category
stated that the instrument of government must show if a term of office for a governor of a particular category can be chosen by whoever appoints them.

Amendments from The School Governance (Constitution and Federations) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 are in BROWN

The 2016 amendment made it mandatory to apply for an enhanced criminal record check for any governor who did not already hold one within 21 days of their election or appointment.

Amendments from The School Governance (Constitution and Federations) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 are in PURPLE

The 2017 amendment:

removed a requirement that you should round numbers up or down to a whole number when calculating how many foundation or partnership governors you need
allowed boards to remove elected parent or staff governors
stated that an elected parent or staff governor who is removed is disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a governor for five years
removed a requirement that a person must notify the clerk if they are disqualified under any of the criteria in the regulations (although this requirement still exists in statutory guidance to the 2012 constitution regulations).

Revised Roles, Procedures and Allowances Regulations 2013

This is a revised copy of The School Governances (Roles, Procedures and Allowances) (England) Regulations 2013. It incorporates the amendments published in 2013 and 2014.

Download revised copy of The School Governance (Roles, Procedures and Allowances) (England) Regulations 2013 (.docx Word file)

Download revised copy of The School Governance (Roles, Procedures and Allowances) (England) Regulations 2013 (pdf)

List of Amendments in the Revised Copy of the Roles, Procedures and Allowances 2013 Regulations

Amendments from The School Governance (Roles, Procedures and Allowances) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 are in GREEN

The 2013 amendment:

added a requirement that reports and other papers must be sent out with the agenda seven clear days in advance of full governing body and committee meetings (unless the chair determines there are urgent matters to address)
allowed virtual attendance at committee meetings by phone, video link or other methods.

Amendments from The School Governance (Constitution and Federations) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 are in RED

The 2014 amendment stated that a decision to remove surplus governors must be specified as an item of business on the agenda.

Revised Federations Regulations 2012

This is a revised copy of the The School Governance (Federations) (England) Regulations 2012. It incorporates the amendments from 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

(Note: The Federations Regulations 2012 only apply to federated schools, where one governing body oversees two or more schools. Single schools follow the Constitution Regulations 2012 instead.)

Download revised copy of The School Governance (Federations) (England) Regulations 2012 (.docx Word file)

Download revised copy of The School Governance (Federations) (England) Regulations 2012 (pdf)

List of Amendments in the Revised Copy of the Federations Regulations 2012

Amendments from The School Governance (Constitution and Federations)
(England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 are in RED

The 2014 amendment:

revoked the Federations Regulations 2007
stated that local authority, foundation, appointed parent and partnership governors must be appointed for their skills
amended the rule on co-opted governors who are school employees, which used to say they must not exceed one third of the board (and now says co-opted school employees plus headteachers plus the staff governor must not exceed one third of the board)
changed the procedure for removing surplus governors.

Amendments from The School Governance (Federations) (England)
(Amendment) Regulations 2015 are in BLUE

The 2015 amendment said numbers must be rounded up in academy orders decisions.

Amendments from The School Governance (Constitution and Federations)
(England) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 are in BROWN

The 2016 amendment requires federations to have only two parent governors (from any federated school), rather than one parent governor from each school in the federation. It also made minor amendments to the list of preferred candidates when appointing parent governors.

Amendments from The School Governance (Constitution and Federations)
(England) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 are in PURPLE

The 2017 law amended the rules on applying for an academy order.

Clerk’s Meeting Cheat Sheet

On this page you can download my quick reference cheat sheet which provides answers to the most common questions a clerk to governors will be asked in a meeting. This sheet is designed to help clerks navigate those tricky moments when a governor asks a question and all eyes turn to you for advice!

It covers the most common questions I have been asked as a clerk on subjects like the quorum, conflicts of interest, election of chair, governors missing meetings and more. A complete list of questions is shown at the base of this page.

How To Use The Clerk’s Cheat Sheet

This cheat sheet contains advice for maintained school clerks, based on the law, but it could easily be edited to fit academy rules based on your trust’s articles of association and terms of reference. (If anyone would like me to create a version based on the model articles let me know and I would be happy to.)

Download the Clerk’s Meeting Cheat Sheet (.docx Word file)

Clerks in single maintained community schools can follow the advice exactly as it is written. You will need to add in the quorum number for your school’s full governing body (based on the number of governors in post) and any committees.

Clerks in federations (a group of schools legally joined together) should edit the section on parent governors to say they must have only two parent governors, rather than at least two. The rules for appointing parent governors are also slightly different in federations and can be found at the end of this law.

Clerks in voluntary-aided, voluntary-controlled or foundation schools will also need to edit one question. For the question “Can we recruit more governors?” you will need to add in details of any foundation or partnership governors your school must have.

Unfortunately the rules around these types of governor are complicated and vary for each type of school, so they don’t squish into a small space! They can be found in section 14 of this law for single schools or section 22 of this law for federated schools.

Clerks in special schools will need to edit the information on appointed parent governors because they should prioritise parents of children with SEN. The rules are in section 11 of this law.

Answered Questions in the Clerk’s Meeting Cheat Sheet

These are all the answers listed in the Cheat Sheet. In the answers below I’ve also included links to relevant articles on Ask A Clerk so you can see the reasoning behind each answer.

Q. Are we quorate?
A. The quorum for our full governing body (FGB) is __ because we have __ governors in post. (FGB quorum is 50% of governors in post rounded up to a whole number. Ignore associate members.)

Our data committee quorum is ___. (Committee quorums must be a minimum of three governors; ignore associate members. But remember associates can be given voting rights on committees.)

Q. What happens if we are not quorate?
A. The meeting can continue but no votes can be held. Governors may wish to postpone or cancel but can hold discussions if they wish. The clerk should take minutes that state the meeting was inquorate. Governors who leave the room due to a conflict of interest cannot vote. Governors who leave the room or abstain do not count towards the quorum.

Further reading: What is the quorum for a school governor meeting?

Q. Is a governor disqualified if they miss meetings?
A. There is no automatic disqualification but a governor can be disqualified if they miss all FGB meetings for six months without the consent of the board, counting from the first meeting missed. The board can withhold their consent by not accepting apologies.

Further reading: What happens if a governor is not attending meetings?

How To Record Apologies

Q. How do we elect the chair and vice-chair?
A. Candidates must leave the room and not vote. Staff and associate members cannot stand for election. You may have standing orders that set other rules. Usual practice is to allow candidates two minutes to state their case with a vote by ballot. If there is only one candidate governors should vote to accept/reject them.

Further reading: Procedure for Electing the Chair of Governors

Q. Who can sign the minutes?
A. The person chairing. It is irrelevant whether they attended that meeting as they are signing the minutes to show the board or committee has approved them.

Further reading: Who can sign the minutes?

Q. Who can be our staff governor?
A. Staff governors must have a contract of employment at the school. All staff are eligible, not just teachers. They are elected by other staff members.

Further reading: Who can be a staff governor?

Q. Do I have to leave the room during this item?
A. Governors and associate members must leave the room and not vote when they have a conflict of interest. This often happens when a) their own appointment/reappointment is discussed and b) the pay or appraisal of school employees is discussed.

They must also withdraw when they have a business or personal interest, as shown in the register of interests.

The Headteacher does not have to leave while the pay or appraisal of his staff are discussed. He does have to leave if his own pay or appraisal is discussed.

Further reading: When do governors have a conflict of interest?

Q. Who can be a parent governor?
A. A parent governor cannot work at the school for more than 500 hours per year or be an elected LA member. Parents must be elected by parents or appointed by the board if no-one stands for election.

Elected parent governors can be anyone who “has or has had parental responsibility for, or cares or has cared for, a child”. Appointed parents must meet the same criteria OR (in order of preference) be a) the parent of a former pupil or b) a parent of any child under or of compulsory school age.

Further reading: Who can be a parent governor?

Q. What if the chair and vice-chair are both absent?
A. The board decides what happens but it is reasonable to elect a governor to act as chair (not a school employee). Consider postponing important items.

Further reading: What happens if a governor is not attending meetings?

Q. Should this item go in a confidential minute?
A. Governors can make any item confidential if they are “satisfied” it should not be in public minutes. They need to balance this with their legal duty to be open about their decisions and actions. They must also consider that all minutes may be obtainable under freedom of information or subject access requests (if they contain personal data). Try to keep as much as possible in the main minutes.

Further reading: Are minutes of school governor meetings public?

Q. Can we recruit more governors?
A. Yes, if you have spaces in your instrument of government. If there are no spaces the board can either vote to “reconstitute” and add them or recruit them as associate members.

You cannot add extra LA or staff governor roles, but school staff can be co-opted governors as long as they do not make up more than one third of the board when counted with the head and the staff governor. You need at least two parent governors. There is no limit on the number of co-opted governors, associate members or overall number of governors. The minimum overall number of governors is seven.

Further reading: What is the instrument of government?

What are the different types of school governor?

How do we induct new governors?

When a new governor is recruited the school needs to carry out DBS and section 128 checks and then ensure that the governor has the training, documents and information they need to fulfil the role.

This article explains what to put in a governor induction pack and links to a downloadable checklist you can use to keep track of the documents provided to new governors.

Governor Induction Checklist

An editable induction checklist is available on my templates and letters page.

What should be in an induction pack?

I would recommend you give the following documents and items to all new governors and associate members. The first section lists items that should be given out in all schools, followed by two short lists of extra items depending on whether the governor is joining a maintained school or an academy.

The checklist I link to above lets you keep track of all these items.

Governor Induction Pack For All Schools

DfE Governance Guide for either maintained schools or academies.
Keeping Children Safe in Education.
The school’s most recent OFSTED report.
If you are a member of the National Governance Association (NGA) you may wish to provide copies of their book Welcome To Governance.
Dates for all upcoming meetings.
Minutes from recent meetings.
Any agendas that have been set for future meetings.
A governance glossary and acronyms list.
Contact details for the chair, headteacher and clerk (and possibly all governors too).
Copy of the code of conduct (if you have one, it is not mandatory).
A form to declare their business interests.
Details of any induction training you wish them to attend (there is no mandatory training but induction training at minimum is highly recommended).
Logins and passwords for any digital services you use such as GovernorHub, NGA, The Key for School Governors and your school’s online storage system (eg: Google Drive).
Login and password for their school email address (if provided).
A copy of the school improvement plan (SIP), which may be called the school development plan (SDP) or similar.
Copy of the school self-evaluation (SEF).
Copies of the most important or relevant policies – this will depend on the setting but should include safeguarding/child protection. If the governor has been assigned a link role they could be given the relevant policy, eg: SEND.
Their governor identification badge and lanyard.
Information about any relevant trusts or religious bodies, eg: a foundation school trust or the diocese in a faith school, with an explanation of how they influence the school and board.
Instructions for how to get into the school building! Schools often have door access codes and car park codes for security and you don’t want a new governor stuck outside at 6pm because no-one is on reception.

Additional items for maintained schools

A copy of the instrument of government.
Terms of reference for all committees (and the full governing body if you have them).
Any standing orders.

Additional items for academies

Copy of the Academy Trust Handbook.
The memorandum and articles of association.
Terms of reference for any committees (including local governing bodies if the person will be a local governor).
Scheme of delegation.

Governor Skills Audit

All school governing bodies should conduct skills audits to discover the strengths and weaknesses of current governors and identify training needs.

This page explains how to carry out a skills audit for every governor, the chair and the clerk using a downloadable template.

Skills Audit Templates

I have produced editable Word forms that let each governor, the chair or the clerk rate their own skill level in a wide range of specific areas on a scale of one to five.

Either the clerk or chair as appropriate can then collate the results and the board can start tackling the areas where governors or clerks feel least confident.

The skills audits are equally applicable to maintained schools and academies. The main audit for governors also lets you identify areas where not every governor needs to be skilled but where at least one member of the board should be confident in their abilities.

The editable Word files can be downloaded from my templates and letters page.

The skills audit for governors and chairs covers the following six areas.

Strategic Leadership
– setting direction
– culture, values and ethos
– decision-making
– collaborative working with stakeholders and partners
– risk management.
Accountability for Educational Standards and Financial Performance
– educational improvement
– rigorous analysis of data
– financial frameworks and accountability
– financial management and monitoring
– staffing and performance management
– external accountability.
People
– building an effective team.
Structures
– roles and responsibilities.
Compliance
– statutory and contractual requirements.
Evaluation
– managing self-review and development
– managing and developing the board’s effectiveness.

The skills audit for clerks to governors covers the following four areas.

Understanding Governance.
Administration.
Advice and Guidance.
People and Relationships.

Should the headteacher complete the skills audit?

Yes if they’re a governor or trustee, which most headteachers are.

All governors and trustees should complete the skills audit. The whole point of the audit is to find out what skills and expertise you already have and what skills governors need to develop or focus on when recruiting new governors.

There’s no reason why the skills of the headteacher should be ignored.

Should staff governors complete the skills audit?

Yes. Why would the skills of your staff governors not count?

Who approves policies?

The governing body of a school or academy is responsible for approving most statutory policies, but can choose to delegate many of them to a committee, headteacher or sometimes an individual governor.

The DfE provides a list of statutory polices in their Governance Guides which were first published in March 2024. Schools must have policies that cover every topic on the statutory list.

The lists in the Governance Guides replace the old DfE list of statutory policies which has been withdrawn.

Do we need a separate policy for every issue?

No. Several issues can be combined into one policy if it makes sense to combine the topics.

How are policies approved?

If a policy is discussed at a full governing body meeting or a committee it is approved by a simple vote at a quorate meeting, in the same way that all other decisions are made. Remember that not all policies need to come to a full governors’ meeting.

If the approval is delegated to an individual that person should report their decision back to the governing body so it can be minuted and the clerk can keep track of when the policy needs reviewing again.

There may be some policies that governors cannot change, even if they wish to. For example, a teachers’ pay policy in a maintained school has usually been agreed by both the local authority and teaching unions. In that case governors can vote to adopt the policy as it stands.

Download A Policy Schedule Template

I have provided an example policy schedule on my templates and letters page. It can be adapted to suit your own school or academy.

This template lets you keep track of which policies have been delegated, when they are due for review and whether they are on the school website.

How often must statutory policies be approved?

The DfE Governance Guides recommend that all statutory policies are reviewed annually, with the exception of the equality objectives policy which can be reviewed every four years.

How often must non-statutory policies be approved?

This is down to each governing body to decide. Most schools will have policies that are not legally required but are useful, for example on off-site activities or marking.

As these are not statutory documents it is entirely up to the governing body as to how often they are reviewed and to whom they are delegated.

Which policies must be on our website?

The policies that must be on the school website are listed in two DfE documents, one for maintained schools and one for academies.

Many schools choose to publish a wide range of their policies online, not just the ones mandated by the DfE.

Who writes school policies?

Most policies will be drafted by senior school staff, perhaps using model policies from the DfE or local schools as a template.

Others may be written in consultation with unions (pay policies, for example). Documents such as the admissions policy will be drafted by your local authority if they are the admission authority.

Governors do not write school policies. Governors should:

ask what impact the policy has had
ask how the policy fits in with the school’s priorities
ensure policies reflect changes in legislation
approve the policy at the appropriate level of delegation
monitor the school to check the policy is being implemented successfully.

Governors may suggest improvements and ask questions about how well the policy is working, but they do not draft the policy itself.

Do policies need to be signed?

There is no requirement for the chair to sign policies, although they can do so if it helps you keep track of which document is the final one.

It is important to date the policy document itself and include the approval date and delegation level. For example: “Approved by full governing body on 21 January 2025.”

Do governors proofread policies?

No! This drives me a little bit round the bend because I’ve been in so many meetings where governors insist on talking about the spelling mistakes, grammar or presentation of the policy but not whether it’s made any difference to the children.

Governors are not proofreaders. Even if they were you wouldn’t call a meeting of a dozen people so you can correct two spelling mistakes and change a font.

What if governors are overwhelmed with policies?

Most governors will have attended a meeting where there were at least half a dozen policies to approve and the sheer number of required policies may seem unmanageable.

If governors are struggling with the policy review cycle here are some ideas.

Delegate. Make sure the full governing isn’t approving every last policy, it really doesn’t need to. Use your committees or consider delegating to a single governor or the headteacher.
Increase the time between reviews. The DfE recommends that policies are all approved annually, but some policies probably don’t need looking at every single year.

Think about which policies are vital and which are less important. Do you really need to approve the charging and remissions policy once a year? What about the governor expenses policy?

For non-statutory policies there is no requirement that they are approved by governors at all. Do governors really need to approve the marking policy, for example, or is that operational?
Reduce discussion of unchanged policies and “fixed” model policies from the LA. If a policy was discussed in detail last year and has not been amended, does it need to be discussed at length this year?

Are governors spending valuable meeting time discussing staffing policies like the pay policy, grievance policy or disciplinary policy which have been agreed with the LA and unions and effectively cannot be changed?
Track changes for updated policies. Use track changes in Word so governors can see the amendments clearly and focus on the new sections or wording.
Delete policies. If it’s not statutory the school can decide to get rid of it completely.
Send policies out in advance. All papers should be sent well in advance of meetings and that applies equally to policies. Governors cannot be expected to read pages and pages of documents at the meeting itself.