Governance professionals/clerks: this guide is mainly aimed at you, as your role includes advising your board on governance legal and procedural matters.
Governors and trustees: you won't need to know this guidance in depth, but you can use it to get an overview of key governance legislation. Remember that your clerk or trust governance lead will often have the answers you need.
Your first port of call: the Governance Guides
There are 2 governance guides – 1 for maintained schools and 1 for academy trusts. The relevant guide for your school type will often be the first place to look for anything governance-related. The guides aren't legislation, but they:
- Set out the purpose and functions of the trust/governing board
- Summarise all the legal duties on boards, signposting to more detailed information, guidance and resources (including several from GovernorHub)
- Provide information on the support available to boards to be effective
The governance guides are published by the Department for Education (DfE).
Constitution