Co-opted governors/trustees: role

Understand the role of a co-opted governor/co-opted trustee, and find guidance on who's eligible to be appointed and what their voting rights and restrictions are.

Last reviewed on 26 September 2022
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 4060
Contents
  1. Role
  2. Eligibility
  3. Voting rights and restrictions

Role

Co-opted governors or trustees are appointed by the governing board. They're appointed because they have the right skills to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school. 

This is outlined in The School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012 (these regulations apply to maintained schools, but the principle is the same for co-opted trustees).

Their role is no different from other governors. See our role descriptions for clarity on the roles and responsibilities of all governors and trustees.

Eligibility

Any individual from the community can be a co-opted governor/trustee, as long as they meet eligibility criteria and agree to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks as required. 

Find out what disqualifies an individual from serving as a maintained