Schools in Collaboration: Federations, collegiates and partnerships

Ronald Arnold

22 March 2006

The concept of partnership in education has had a major presence in all the Government's principal initiatives in recent years, and the value of collaboration between schools has become widely recognised. The Education and Inspection Bill published on 28 February 2006 anticipates the further development of partnerships and federations to promote higher standards.

This report looks at some of the many forms of school collaboration. It considers the benefits and challenges of such arrangements, and notes the findings of research studies which have examined the effects of these partnerships, focusing particularly on federations. Case studies are presented to illustrate the range of partnerships which can be found in local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales. The concluding section offers some key messages, and suggests some of the conditions needed for federations and partnerships to flourish. Central to success is the quality of school leadership.