In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say:—

• “Agreed syllabus” means, subject to the provisions of subsection (4) of this section, an agreed syllabus of religious F2education prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Fifth Schedule to this Act and adopted or deemed to be adopted thereunder;

• F3 “alterations”, in relation to any school premises, includes improvements, extensions and additions, but does not include any significant enlargement of the school premises;

• “Assist”, in relation to any school . . . F4 or institution, has the meaning assigned to it by F5subsections (2) and (2A) of this section;

• “Child” means a person who is not over compulsory school age;

• “Clothing” includes boots and other footwear;

• “Compulsory school age” has, F6. . ., the meaning assigned to it by section thirty-five of this Act;

• “County” means F7a county within the meaning of the M1Local Government Act 1972;

• F8 “enlargement”, in relation to any school premises, includes any modification of the existing premises which has the effect of increasing the number of pupils for whom accommodation can be provided, and “enlarge” shall be construed accordingly;

• “Former authority” means any authority which was a local education authority within the meaning of any enactment repealed by this Act or any previous Act;

• F9 “foundation governors” means, in relation to any voluntary school, governors appointed otherwise than by a local education authority or a minor authority for the purpose of securing, so far as is practicable, that the character of the school as a voluntary school is preserved and developed, and, in particular, that the school is conducted in accordance with the provisions of any trust deed relating thereto; and, unless the context otherwise requires, references in this Act to . . . F10 “governors” shall, in relation to any function thereby conferred or imposed exclusively on . . . F10 foundation governors, be construed as references to such . . . F10 governors;

• “Further education” has the meaning assigned to it by section forty-one of this Act F11as read with section 14 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992;

• F12 “Higher education” has the meaning assigned to it by section 120(1) of the Education Reform Act 1988;

• “Independent school” means any school at which full–time education is provided for five or more pupils of compulsory school age (whether or not such education is also provided for pupils under or over that age), not being a school maintained by a local education authority F13a grant-maintained school or F14a special school not maintained by a local education authority;

• “Junior pupil” means a child who has not attained the age of twelve years;

• C1 “Local education authority” means, in relation to any area for which a joint education board is constituted as the local education authority under the provisions of Part I of the First Schedule to this Act, the board so constituted, and, save as aforesaid, means, F15in relation to a non-metropolitan county, the council of the county, F16in relation to a county borough, the council of the county borough, and in relation to a metropolitan district, the council of the district;

• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F17

• “Local government elector” has the meaning assigned to it by F18section 270(1) of the M2Local Government Act 1972; and in relation to the area of any joint education board constituted under Part I of the First Schedule to this Act a local government elector for the area of any council by whom members are appointed to the board shall be deemed to be a local government elector for the area of the authority;

• “Maintain” in relation to any school . . . F19 has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (2) of this section;

• “Maintenance contribution”, in relation to any voluntary school, means a contribution payable under section one hundred and two of this Act;

• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F20

• “Medical officer” means, in relation to any local education authority, a duly qualified medical practitioner employed or engaged, whether regularly or for the purposes of any particular case, by that authority F21or whose services are made available to that authority by the Secretary of State;

• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F20

• F22C1 “Minor authority” means, in relation to a school maintained by a local education authority,—

  1. a

     where the area which appears to the local education authority to be served by the school is a parish or community, the parish or community council or, in the case of a parish which has no council, the parish meeting;

  2. b

     where the said area F23. . . is an area in England which is not within a parish and is not situated in a F24a county for which there is no council or county in which there are no district councils, the council of the district for the area concerned;

  3. c

     where the said area comprises two or more of the following, a parish, a community or an area in England which is not within a parish and is not situated in a F24a county for which there is no council or a county in which there are no district councils—

     1. i

        the parish or community council or councils, if any;

     2. ii

        in the case of a parish which has no council, the parish meeting;

     3. iii

        in the case of an area F23. . . which is in England and is not within a parish, the council of the district concerned;

     acting jointly;

• F25 . . .

• F26F27. . .

• F28. . .

• “Premises”, in relation to any school, includes any detached playing fields, but, except where otherwise expressly provided, does not include a teacher’s dwelling-house;

• “Prescribed”, means prescribed by regulations made by the F29Secretary of State for Education and Science;

• “Primary education” has the meaning assigned to it by section eight of this Act;

• F30 “Primary school” means, subject to regulations under section 1 of the Education Act 1964, a school for providing primary education, whether or not it also provides F30part-time education suitable to the requirements of junior pupils or further education

• “Proprietor”, in relation to any school, means the person or body of persons responsible for the management of the school, and for the purposes of the provisions of this Act relating to applications for the registration of independent schools, includes any person or body of persons proposing to be so responsible;

• “Provisionally registered school” means an independent school registered in the register of independent schools, whereof the registration is provisional only;

• “Pupil” has the meaning assigned to it by section 14(6) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992

• “Registered pupil” means, in relation to any school, a F31person registered as a pupil in the register kept in accordance with the requirements of this Act . . . F32

• “Registered school” means an independent school registered in the register of independent schools, whereof the registration is final;

• “School” has the meaning assigned to it by section 14(5) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992

• “Secondary education” has the meaning assigned to it by section F3314 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992;

• F34 “Secondary school” means, subject to regulations under section 1 of the Education Act 1964, a school for providing secondary education, whether or not it also provides F34. . . further education

• “Senior pupil” means a person who has attained the age of twelve years but has not attained the age of nineteen years;

• F35 “Sex education” includes education about—

  1. a

     Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and

  2. b

     any other sexually transmitted disease

• F36 “Significant”, in relation to a change in the character of a school or an enlargement of school premises, implies that there is a substantial change in the function or size of the school;

• “Special agreement” means an agreement made under the provisions of the Third Schedule to this Act;

• F37 “Special educational needs” and “Special educational provision” have the meanings given to them by section F38156 of the Education Act 1993;

• “Trust deed”, in relation to any voluntary school, includes any instrument (not being an . . . F39 instrument of government, . . . F39 or articles of government, made under this Act) regulating the maintenance management or conduct of the school or the constitution of the body of . . . F39 governors thereof;

• “Young person” means a person over compulsory school age who has not attained the age of eighteen years.

F40. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F40. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F40. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Neither a university nor any institution F49within the further education sector or within the F50higher education sector other than a university shall be deemed under subsection (2)(b) of this section to be assisted by a local education authority by virtue of the making by that authority to the persons responsible for the maintenance of that university or institution of any such grant or payment as is there mentioned.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F51

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F52

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F53

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F54

Where at any time before the date of the commencement of Part II of this Act the premises of any school which was for the time being a public elementary school within the meaning of the enactments repealed by this Act have ceased by reason of war damage, or by reason of any action taken in contemplation or in consequence of war, to be used for the purposes of a school, then, for the purposes of this Act, the school, unless it has been closed in accordance with those enactments, shall be deemed to have been a public elementary school within the meaning of those enactments immediately before that date and, if it was maintained by a former authority immediately before the premises ceased to be used for the purposes of a school, to have been maintained by such an authority immediately before that date.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, references to any enactment or any provision of any enactment shall be construed as references to that enactment or provision as amended by any subsequent enactment, including this Act.