Categories of schools
There are 4 main types of maintained school in England:

* Community
* Foundation
* Voluntary Aided
* Voluntary Controlled

In 1998 these replaced the previous categories of state school: county, voluntary controlled, special agreement, voluntary aided and grant-maintained (GM).

Schools in all the categories have a lot in common. They work in partnership with other schools and the LEAs, and they receive funding from LEA and they have to deliver the national curriculum. Each category has its own characteristics.