Key Takeaways
School Types in England
In England, schools fall into three broad categories: state-funded schools (including maintained schools and academies), and independent schools (sometimes called private schools). The key differences lie in who funds them, who governs them, and how much freedom they have over curriculum and admissions. Understanding these distinctions helps parents look past branding and marketing to assess what each school actually offers.
Academies are legally independent schools that receive direct government funding rather than local authority funding; they operate under an Academy Funding Agreement with the Secretary of State for Education.
The Three Broad Categories Explained
When parents start researching schools, the terminology can feel deliberately opaque. Terms like maintained school, free school, academy trust, and prep school are often used loosely, even by schools themselves. Cutting through that requires understanding the three structural categories.
State maintained schools are funded through local authorities, which receive money from central government. These schools must follow the National Curriculum, adhere to national pay and conditions for teachers, and comply with local authority admissions processes. They are free to attend.
Academies and free schools are also publicly funded and free to attend, but they receive their funding directly from the Department for Education rather than through a local authority. Free schools are a type of academy — new schools set up by groups such as charities, universities, or parents. Both operate under a legal agreement that grants them greater autonomy over curriculum design, staff pay, and school hours, though they remain subject to national oversight and Ofsted inspection.
Independent schools — often called private schools — are funded primarily through tuition fees paid by families, supplemented in some cases by endowments or charitable income. They are not obligated to follow the National Curriculum and set their own admissions criteria, though they must meet national Independent School Standards and undergo inspection.
Free Schools Are a Type of Academy
Free schools are sometimes treated as a separate category, but legally they are academies — they simply describe a school that was newly established rather than converted from an existing maintained school. The same funding model, governance rules, and curriculum freedoms apply. When a school calls itself a free school, the structural implications are the same as any other academy.
What Autonomy Actually Changes Day-to-Day
Structural independence doesn't automatically translate into a better or worse education — it shapes the type of decisions a school can make independently. Here's where the differences show up in practice.
Curriculum: Maintained schools teach the National Curriculum. Academies can deviate but rarely depart dramatically from it. Independent schools have the widest latitude — some follow the International Baccalaureate, others design entirely bespoke programmes.
Admissions: Maintained schools and most academies must follow the School Admissions Code, which sets rules around how places are allocated and prohibits most forms of academic selection (outside designated grammar schools). Independent schools select freely — using entrance exams, interviews, or auditions for specialist programmes.
Staffing: Maintained schools must follow national teacher pay scales. Academies and independent schools can set their own pay structures, which can attract experienced specialists but also means qualifications and pay vary more widely. In England, academies and independent schools are not legally required to employ teachers with Qualified Teacher Status, though many do.
Ask About the Trust, Not Just the School
If you're visiting an academy, find out which multi-academy trust (MAT) sponsors it and how many schools that trust oversees. A large MAT may apply central policies on curriculum and staffing that affect the school significantly. Asking how much autonomy the individual school retains day-to-day gives you a clearer picture than the academy label alone.
For a closer look at how selection-based admissions work within the state sector, see our article on grammar schools vs. comprehensive schools.
What Stays the Same Across All Three Types
Despite the structural differences, several things apply regardless of school type — and knowing this prevents some common misconceptions.
- Inspection: All registered schools in England are subject to inspection. Maintained schools and most academies are inspected by Ofsted. Many independent schools are inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI), which is approved by and accountable to the Secretary of State.
- Safeguarding requirements: All schools must meet statutory safeguarding duties under national child protection legislation, regardless of governance structure.
- GCSE and A-level qualifications: All three types can enter students for the same nationally recognised qualifications, including GCSEs, A-levels, and BTECs.
- SEND duties: Maintained schools must follow the SEND Code of Practice fully. Academies have the same legal obligations. Independent schools have some SEND duties but the obligations differ depending on whether a pupil has an Education, Health and Care Plan.
~40%
Share of English state secondary schools that are academies
According to Department for Education school census data, a substantial and growing proportion of state secondary schools now operate as academies rather than local authority maintained schools.
~6.5%
Proportion of pupils in independent schools in England
The Independent Schools Council's annual census consistently reports that roughly 6–7% of school-age children in England attend fee-paying independent schools.
1,000+
Registered independent schools in England
The Department for Education register lists over a thousand independent schools ranging from small specialist settings to large boarding schools, reflecting significant diversity within this category.
Understanding these shared obligations means you can focus open day questions on what genuinely varies — culture, curriculum breadth, and pastoral approach — rather than assuming one type is inherently safer or more rigorous than another.
Turning This Knowledge Into Better Questions
The structural category a school belongs to should be a starting point for inquiry, not a verdict on quality. A well-led maintained school outperforms a poorly run independent one, and vice versa. What matters is whether a school's values, approach, and resources are a good fit for your child.
Armed with the distinctions above, parents can move beyond surface-level comparisons. On open days, useful questions include: Who holds governance — a local authority, a multi-academy trust, or a board of governors? How is teacher pay and professional development structured? What flexibility does the school exercise over its curriculum, and how is that used? For academies, who is the sponsoring trust, and how many schools does it run?
Our guide on questions worth asking on primary school open days provides a practical checklist to take into any visit. And if you're weighing a more radical alternative, home education vs. mainstream school offers a balanced look at what families consider before stepping outside the formal system altogether.
School type tells you about governance and funding. It does not tell you about classroom relationships, curriculum depth, or how well a school knows its students. Use it as a filter — not a final answer.