What are the categories of governors?
Governor duties are the same regardless of category (apart from associate members).
Parent
These are appointed by other parents. They must have parental responsibility for a pupil at the school/trust.
Staff
These are elected by other staff members. They must be employed by the school / trust.
Foundation
These are appointed to voluntary controlled and voluntary aided schools. This is to preserve the religious character of the school.
Partnership
These are appointed by the governing body of local authority maintained foundation schools.
Co-opted (also known as community governors)
These are appointed by the board based on their:
- skills
- experience
- perspective
They often have specialised knowledge in areas like:
- HR
- finance
- law
- data
- education
Local authority
These are governors who are nominated by the local authority but appointed by the governing board.
Local academy governor
These are governors that sit on a local governing board (LGB) within a multi-academy trust (MATs).
LGBs are committees of the MAT's board of trustees. They have delegated responsibilities for overseeing a particular school within the MAT.
Trustee
These are appointed or elected to academy trust boards. In some academy trusts, trustees are referred to as 'directors'.
Associate member (not a governor)
When a school has no governor vacancies but needs someone with specific skills, they may have an associate sit on the board for a certain length of time.
They have no voting rights at full governing body meetings.