There is no such thing as an “associate governor” in an English maintained school.
Associate members cannot vote at meetings of the full governing body in a maintained school but they can vote on committees if they have been given the power to do so by the governing body.
Academies have the freedom to call members of their committees anything they wish, so they may have associate members or associate governors.
Associate Members in Maintained Schools
The definition of associate member is given in regulations from 2012.
“‘Associate member’ means a person who is appointed by the governing body as a member of any committee established by them but who is not a governor.”
Constitution (England) Regulations 2012
The voting rights of associate members are explained in regulations from 2013 which say that the governing body decides whether they can vote on committees or not.
“An associate member has such voting rights in a committee to which that person is appointed as are determined by the governing body.”
Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013
Written guidance from the DfE on the Roles, Procedures and Allowances regulations confirms that associate members can only vote on committees and only then with the permission of the board.
“Associate members cannot vote on board decisions, but may be permitted by the board to vote in decisions of any committees to which they are appointed.”
Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013 Departmental Advice
In practice associate members are often given full voting rights on committees, but the board could decide that an associate member can vote on every issue except, for example, budget and finances. The board could also decide that associate members cannot vote on any subject at all, even on committees.
If there is a belief in your school that associate members are automatically banned from voting on some issues it probably stems from the 2003 procedures regulations which no longer apply.
“An associate member may not vote on any resolution concerning:
(a) admissions
(b) pupil discipline
(c) election or appointment of governors
(d) the budget and financial commitments of the governing body.”
Old law, School Governance Procedures (England) Regulations 2003
Although these voting restrictions no longer apply, associate members can be asked to leave a meeting during discussions around a specific school employee or pupil. If they have been asked to leave the meeting they cannot, of course, cast a vote if one is called.
“The governing body may exclude an associate member from any part of its meeting which the associate member is otherwise entitled to attend when the business under consideration concerns an individual member of staff or pupil.”
Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013
Because pupils in secondary schools are eligible to be associate members the law also sets a minimum age limit of 18 for voting rights: “An associate member may not vote on any business transacted by any committee unless the associate member is aged over 18.”
Can an associate member be chair of governors?
No. They cannot be the vice-chair either, because this role must be filled by a governor in a maintained school or a trustee in an academy. Associate members are not governors/trustees and are not listed in the instrument of government which sets out how many governors are in a maintained school’s governing body.
This is a good reason to avoid using the term “associate governor” in a maintained school. It may seem pedantic – I’m sure many schools do use it, I’ve heard it myself – but if there is confusion about who is actually a governor it can cause needless problems when electing a chair or checking the quorum.
Can associate members chair committees?
Yes, although there are three issues to be aware of if an associate member is the committee chair. These three issues apply to maintained schools only as academy trusts can make their own rules on how committees are run.
The first issue is that an associate member will not have a casting vote if a vote is tied, because the law for maintained schools says that the person acting as chair has a second vote provided that such person is a governor. The easy way to avoid a problem here is to always have an odd number of members on your committees so the vote can never be tied as long as all committee members attend the meeting.
Secondly, the law says that associate members only have the voting rights that have been given to them by the full board and they can be asked to leave a meeting if the discussion involves an individual staff member or pupil. If the full board has limited the rights of an associate member, as they are perfectly entitled to do, it may be difficult for them to chair a committee effectively.
Thirdly, there is also the restriction that “no vote on any matter may be taken at any meeting of a committee unless the majority of members of the committee present are governors”. In other words, it is no use forming a committee of three associate members and one governor as the committee would never be allowed to vote and could make no decisions.
Key Differences Between Governors and Associate Members
This is a summary of the main differences between governors and associate members in maintained schools.
| Governors | Associate Members | |
| Can be chair or vice-chair of full governing body | Yes (as long as not school employee) | No |
| Count towards the quorum | Yes | No |
| Can vote at full governing body | Yes | No |
| Can be chair or vice-chair of a committee | Yes | Yes |
| Can vote on committees | Yes, if they are a member of that committee | Only if: a) they are given voting rights by full governing body, and b) majority of committee members present are governors, not associate members, and c) they are aged over 18 |
| Can use a casting vote if they are the committee chair | Yes | No |
| Can be excluded from a meeting by the governing body if an individual staff member or pupil is discussed | No (unless they have a conflict of interest) | Yes |
| Must be DBS checked | Yes | Legally no, but the board may wish to check them anyway |
| Must declare their business interests | Yes | Yes |
| Must be recorded in the instrument of government | Yes | No |
Do academies have associate members?
Academies can appoint “persons who are not trustees” to serve on committees according to the June 2021 model articles. They may refer to them as associate members if they wish, although this term is not used in the articles.
The articles do not explicitly say that these “persons” can vote. Articles do say that no committee votes can be held unless a majority of committee members present are trustees, which implies that non-trustees can indeed vote on committee matters. (This restriction does not apply to local governing bodies in multi-academy trusts, however, where non-trustee committee members can outnumber trustees and votes can still go ahead. )
“The membership of any committee of the trustees may include persons who are not trustees, provided that [(with the exception of the local governing bodies)] a majority of members of any such committee shall be trustees.
“[Except in the case of a local governing body,] no vote on any matter shall be taken at a meeting of a committee of the trustees unless the majority of members of the committee present are trustees.”
Model Articles of Association (June 2021)