ABSTRACT
The Education Act of 1986 removed the built-in majority of local authority appointments on governing bodies. The ‘new’ governors taking office in 1988 held a majority of places on County Maintained and Controlled Schools. Depending on the size of the school, there were between two and five elected parents, one or two elected teachers, between three and six governors co-opted by the governing body, between two and five governors appointed, as before, by the local education authority, and the headteacher, if s/he chose. A small primary school might have a governing body of eight or nine, while a large secondary school could have nineteen governors. Voluntary aided schools retained a majority of ‘foundation’ governors, while the new grant maintained schools would have the majority of governors appointed by the outgoing governing body of the school, with between three and five elected parents, and one or two teachers. Headteachers of opted-out schools were required to be governors.
