The Designation of Schools Having a Religious Character (Independent Schools) (England) Order 2015

Statutory Instruments

2015 No. 1636

Education, England

The Designation of Schools Having a Religious Character (Independent Schools) (England) Order 2015

Made

28th August 2015

The Secretary of State for Education makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 69(3) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998(1), as applied in relation to independent schools by section 124B(1)(2) of that Act.

In making this Order the Secretary of State has followed the procedure specified in the Religious Character of Schools (Designation Procedure) (Independent Schools) (England) Regulations 2003(3).

Citation

1.  This Order may be cited as the Designation of Schools Having a Religious Character (Independent Schools) (England) Order 2015.

Interpretation

2.  In this Order “the relevant religion or religious denomination” means the religion or religious denomination in accordance with whose tenets education is provided at the school or the school is conducted.

Designation of schools

3.—(1) The schools listed in column (1) of Schedule 1 are designated as schools having a religious character.

(2) The relevant religion or religious denomination in relation to a school listed in column (1) of Schedule 1 is specified in relation to that school in column (2).

Revocations

4.  The instruments listed in column (1) of Schedule 2 (which have the references listed in column (2)) are revoked to the extent indicated in column (3).

Edward Wagstaff

Deputy Director

Department for Education

28th August 2015

Article 3

SCHEDULE 1 Schools having a religious character

(1) Name and postcode of school	(2) Relevant religion or religious denomination
Birmingham
Eden Boys’ School, Birmingham, B6 6EL	Muslim
Birmingham
King Solomon International Business School, B7 4AA	Christian
Bradford
Bradford Forster Academy, BD4 8RG	Church of England
Derby
Akaal Primary School, DE23 8NT	Sikh
Hillingdon
St Martin’s Church of England Primary School, UB7 7UF	Church of England
Lancashire
Eden Boys’ School, Preston, PR1 3NU	Muslim
Leicester
Imam Ghazali Academy, LE2 0GU	Muslim
Manchester
West Didsbury CE Primary School, M20 4ZA	Church of England
Plymouth
St Matthew’s Church of England Primary and Nursery Academy, PL6 5AA	Church of England
Slough
Eden Girls’ School, Slough, SL1 3DR	Muslim
Stockton on Tees
Wynyard Church of England Primary School, TS22 5GJ	Church of England
York
Focus School, York Campus, YO23 2QA	Plymouth Brethren Christian Church

Article 4

SCHEDULE 2 Revocations

(1)Regulations revoked	(2) References	(3) Extent of revocation
The Designation of Schools Having a Religious Character (Independent Schools) (England) Order 2003	S.I. 2003/3108	In the Schedule, the entry in relation to Gateway Christian School, DE7 4PP
The Designation of Schools Having a Religious Character (Independent Schools) (England) (No. 2) Order 2012	S.I. 2012/2265	In the Schedule, the entry in relation to St Michael’s Catholic Secondary School, TR14 7AD

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order designates the independent schools listed in Schedule 1 as having a religious character and revokes the instruments listed in Schedule 2 to the extent set out in that Schedule. The first revocation relates to a school which has closed and the second relates to a school which will no longer be designated with a religious character.

Under section 124A of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, independent schools which are so designated are permitted to take account of certain religious or denominational considerations in making specified employment decisions which relate to teaching staff (such as decisions on appointment or promotion).

Designation by this Order is not of itself a means of acquiring a religious character or of changing religious character. Designation is the recognition of certain existing attributes of the school or its governing body as described in the Religious Character of Schools (Designation Procedure) (Independent Schools) (England) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/2314, as amended by S.I. 2004/2262).

(1)

1998 c. 31.

(2)

Section 124B was inserted by the Independent Schools (Employment of Teachers in Schools with a Religious Character) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/2037) and has been amended by the Alternative Provision Academies (Consequential Amendments to Acts) (England) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/976).

(3)

S.I. 2003/2314, as amended by S.I. 2004/2262.