| answer text |
<p>The Government has agreed a joint understanding with the Independent Schools Council
to encourage more independent schools to work in partnership with state-funded schools
across four key areas: governance, teaching, curriculum and targeted school improvement.
The Department is supporting the growth of partnerships across these four areas, through
a dedicated unit within the Department.</p><p>To further strengthen this work, the
Department is calling for bids for its cross-sector partnerships grant, which opened
on 9 October 2019. This grant aims to raise the ambition for what schools can achieve
together, and to remove a key financial barrier to new high-impact, sustainable, and
mutually beneficial partnerships forming.</p><p>The Department does not hold information
on the number and type of bursaries offered by independent schools. In accordance
with the joint understanding, and in addition to its work on partnerships, the Department
will continue to work with the Independent Schools Council to encourage its member
schools to offer a greater number of full bursary places, targeted at children from
disadvantaged backgrounds.</p><p> </p>
|
|
