Designation and cohort development

The specialist programme development (SPD) team aims to provide clear and timely information and guidance for mainstream and special schools seeking to become a specialist school for the first time or seeking to maintain their status through the redesignation process. The team also advises those schools joining the high-performing specialist schools programme and liaises with local authorities.

The recent '21st Century Schools' white paper signalled some significant changes to the way that the specialist schools programme will operate. Decisions about designation and redesignation will be taken by schools’ School Improvement Partners (SIPs) from early 2010. Also, the redesignation cycle will revert to three years. The Ofsted inspection will no longer trigger the redesignation process although Ofsted will still inspect the impact of the specialism.

For further details please consult the DCSF’s interim guidance. Full guidance will be published later in the autumn term along with the benchmarks for specialism which SIPs will use to make decisions about a school’s status.

Our consultant was very constructive in her comments. We left with clear ideas of how to improve our bid.

Contacting us

The specialist programme development team are contactable during office hours throughout the year and enquiries from schools aspiring for specialist status or specialist schools wishing to redesignate are welcome:

Tel: 020 7802 2377
Fax: 020 7802 2318
Email: designation@ssatrust.org.uk or redesignation@ssatrust.org.uk

Or write to:
Specialist programme development team
Specialist Schools and Academies Trust
16th Floor, Millbank Tower
21-24 Millbank
London SW1P 4QP

SPD staff
Head of Joint Initiatives - Linda Doyle
Designation Strategy Manager - Keith Horner
Redesignation Manager - Martyn Ashmead
SEN Designation Manager - Lorna Grant
Research & Liaison Manager - Keith Blake
Project Manager – Nadine Amarasinghe.

Partnership fund

Find out more about partnership fund applications