Academy (English school) in the context of "Department for Education"

Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is a co-educational, fee-charging, private day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate Pre-Preparatory School (ages 4–8), Highgate junior school (ages 8–11) and the senior school (11+) – which together comprise the Highgate Foundation. As part of its wider work the charity was from 2010 a founding partner of the London Academy of Excellence and it is now also the principal education sponsor of an associated Academy, the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham, which opened in September 2017. The principal business sponsor is Tottenham Hotspur FC. The charity also funds the Chrysalis Partnership, a scheme supporting 26 state schools in six London boroughs.

A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented selective secondary school.

The original purpose of medieval grammar schools was the teaching of Latin. Over time the curriculum was broadened, first to include Ancient Greek, and later English and other European languages, natural sciences, mathematics, history, geography, art and other subjects. In the late Victorian era, grammar schools were reorganised to provide secondary education throughout England and Wales; Scotland had developed a different system. Grammar schools of these types were also established in British territories overseas, where they have evolved in different ways.

A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis of selection criteria, usually academic performance. The term is commonly used in relation to England and Wales, where comprehensive schools were introduced as state schools on an experimental basis in the 1940s and became more widespread from 1965.

About 90% of English secondary school pupils attend such schools (academy schools, community schools, faith schools, foundation schools, free schools, studio schools, university technical colleges, state boarding schools, City Technology Colleges, etc). Specialist schools may however select up to 10% of their intake for aptitude in their specialism. A school may have a few specialisms, like arts (media, performing arts, visual arts), business and enterprise, engineering, humanities, languages, mathematics, computing, music, science, sports, and technology. They are not permitted to select on academic ability generally.

English state-funded schools, commonly known as state schools, provide education to pupils between the ages of 3 and 18 without charge. Approximately 93% of English schoolchildren attend 24,000 such schools. Since 2008 about 75% have attained "academy status", which essentially gives them a higher budget per pupil from the Department for Education.

There are a number of categories of English state-funded schools including academy schools, community schools, faith schools, foundation schools, grammar schools, free schools (including studio schools, maths schools and university technical colleges), and a small number of state boarding schools and City Technology Colleges.

The National Curriculum for England is the statutory standard of school subjects, lesson content, and attainment levels for primary and secondary schools in England. It is compulsory for local authority-maintained schools, but also often followed by independent schools and state-funded academies. It was first introduced by the Education Reform Act 1988 as simply The National Curriculum and applied to both England and Wales. However, education later became a devolved matter for the Welsh government.

The National Curriculum for England has been updated multiple times since its introduction. As of 2024, the current version in use dates from 2014.

The Henrietta Barnett School is a grammar school with academy status for girls, in Hampstead Garden Suburb in London. The Good Schools Guide called the school 'One of the best academic state schools in the country, providing a gentle, inspiring education in a wonderful setting for very clever girls', and the school consistently ranks amongst the top state schools in educational league tables. The school was named among the 'magnificent seven' in 2005, following three mentions as being 'outstanding' in Ofsted's inspections. Following its latest Ofsted inspection in May 2022, the school was recategorised as "Good".