A trust school is a foundation school. Some schools will need to acquire foundation status in order to become a trust school, meaning they will take on specific responsibilities which have traditionally been carried out by the Local Authority, including:
- Responsibility for overseeing admissions and appeals processes
- Specific requirement for the make-up of the governing board
- Becoming the legal employers of all staff
- Managing the school premises.
Where Trust Schools are different from other maintained schools is that they are supported by a charitable trust. The Trust is made up of partners, community organisations and sometimes businesses, which share and support the strategic direction of the school or schools.