School governors and trustees must hold at least three meetings of the full governing body each school year.
This is the minimum number of meetings allowed by law for maintained schools. It is also the minimum number allowed for academy trustees in the Academy Trust Handbook and the current model articles of association (June 2021).
Most governing bodies will meet more often than this, for example twice per term, as three meetings in a year will not give them enough time to carry out their statutory duties.
Other schools will have one meeting of the full governing body per term, plus a range of committee meetings which are attended by a smaller number of governors. On average a governor might be expected to attend two full governing body meetings plus two committee meetings per term.
This is what the law says for maintained schools.
“The governing body must hold at least three meetings in every school year.”
Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013
This is what the model articles of association and Academy Trust Handbook say for academies.
“The trustees shall hold at least three meetings in every school year.”
Model Articles of Association for Academies (June 2021)
“Board meetings must take place at least three times a year, although trusts should consider meeting more frequently to discharge their responsibilities.”
Academy Trust Handbook
How often do committees meet?
There are no rules in maintained schools about how often committees should meet or how many committees governors should have. Governing bodies in maintained schools can choose not to have any committees at all if they prefer; this is known as the circle model of governance.
Academies must have an audit and risk committee (meeting at least three times per year) which must be a dedicated committee if the trust has an annual income of over £50 million. Academies should also have a finance committee according to the Academy Trust Handbook.
How long are governor meetings?
It varies, but the average full governing body meeting lasts about two hours and the average committee meeting around one hour.
I have clerked meetings that have been less than an hour long or up to three hours long, but in general most schools will hold meetings of around one to two hours.