Education policy
The National Society for Education leads the Church of England's work in developing and shaping education policy for early years, schools, colleges and universities. We work with the House of Bishops, General Synod and the Archbishops' Council, to ensure alignment with other policy areas of the church. Part of the role of National Society is to resource equip and advise Diocesan Boards of Education as the religious authority for church schools. There are 40 DBEs, governed by the DBE Measure 2021 which sets out the powers and functions in relation to Church of England Schools as part of a wider diocesan family for which the National Society acts as the national advocate. This historic relationship between the church and state in education is reflected in the MoU with the Secretary of State for Education Memorandum of understanding between the National Society and DfE
Role of National Society in policy
The Church works with education providers across all ages and phases. There are 4,630 Church of England schools and 200 church schools in Wales. The church provides a quarter of all primary schools and we work in partnership with the State to ensure the policy landscape for education is one in which our schools and academies can flourish as they continue to offer high quality education which parents value for their children. We engage though regular meetings with government ministers and civil servants.
Documents & publications
We publish documents on vision, the shape of the education system, and various curriculum matters. Please see here for links to our most recent documents.
School & academies
The Church of England has schools across the ecology of the system, including voluntary aided-, voluntary controlled- foundation schools and academies. There are 1,540 Church of England academies with 280 Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) holding Church of England Articles. This makes the Church of England the biggest provider of academies in England. Find out more about our policy for the school system here.
Net-zero schools
We are seeking to inspire and to encourage Church of England schools to sign up to a vision of net zero carbon schools for the benefit of the whole school community, to conserve the environment and to enable the planet to flourish for future generations.
Further education
The National Society is working to support staff and students in FE colleges across England.
Higher education
The National Society supports the provision of Chaplains in Higher Education in England.
School governance
The National Society recognise the fundemental importance of governors to the success of our schools. We are very interested in the recruitment and training of governors and work with a number of organisations and diocesan boards of education to support them.