All children in England between the ages of 5 and 16 are entitled to a free place at a state school.
State schools receive funding through their local authority or directly from the government.
The most common ones are:
- Community schools, which are sometimes called local authority-maintained schools – are not influenced by business or religious groups and follow the national curriculum
- Foundation schools and voluntary schools, which are funded by the local authority but have more freedom to change the way they do things – sometimes they are supported by representatives from religious groups
- Academies and free schools, which are run by not-for-profit academy trusts, are independent from the local authority – they have more freedom to change how they run things and can follow a different curriculum
- Grammar schools, which can be run by the local authority, a foundation body or an academy trust – select their pupils based on academic ability and there is a test to get in
For more information, please visit the UK Government website