63.These sections enable any community, foundation, voluntary or special school that is of a prescribed description and satisfies prescribed criteria to apply for exemption from certain aspects of legislation covering the national curriculum and teachers’ pay and conditions.
64.They enable the Secretary of State, or the NAW, to make regulations specifying the qualifying criteria that a school will be required to meet to be eligible to apply. The application will be to the Secretary of State, or the NAW, for an order to confirm the exemption. Some elements of the pay and conditions and curriculum requirements will be subject to exemption by right, whereas others will be subject to the Secretary of State’s, or the NAW’s, discretion. The areas in which exemption may apply by right and those in which it will only be available at the discretion of the Secretary of State, or the NAW, will also be set out in regulations.
65.The governing body of an eligible school will need to consult with appropriate parties, including the LEA, staff within the school and parents, on whether and how to apply. The exemption will apply until such time as the order is revoked or varied.
66.Revocation or variation can be by order without application if the school has ceased to be a qualifying school.