Following the Education Act 2002, the School Governance (Constitution)(England) Regulations 2003 came into force on 20 March 2003.

Under these Regulations, maintained nursery schools must now have governing bodies and all governing bodies are expected to have a new Instrument of Government by September 2006.  The Instrument must specify the numbers of governors from each of the following categories of governor to be elected or appointed.  The categories of governor are covered in Part 2 of the regulations. 

Below is a brief description of types of governor that serve on a governing body (links to further and background reading, including Electing Parent and Staff Governors, can be found below):

Parent governor (Regulation 4 and Schedule 1 of the Constitution Regs) - parents, including carers, of registered pupils at the school are eligible to stand for election by other parents or carers at the school.  Parent governors do not have to stand down if their child leaves the school during the period they serve, though they may do so if they wish.  They may stand for re-election at the end of their term of office if they still have a child on the school roll.  If not enough parents of registered pupils at the school stand, then a parent of a former registered pupil at the school, or of a child under or of compulsory school age may be appointed by the governing body.  A person is not able to be a parent governor if, at the time of the election or appointment, they are an elected member of the LEA or work more than 500 hours a year at the school (from 1 August-31 July).  Once elected, if a parent governor then becomes an elected member of the LEA or works more than 500 hours a year at the school, they are still entitled to serve out their term of office.  The governing body may remove an appointed parent governor from office, but an elected parent governor cannot be removed unless they come under the disqualifications stated under Regulation 20 and Schedule 12 of the Constitution Regulations.  The ISCG publication, A Manual for Governing Bodies and their Clerks 2003, has a useful Good Practice for Parent Governor Elections section.
The number of Parent governors depends on the Instrument of Government and the category of school:

• Community, Foundation and Voluntary Controlled schools - at least one-third of governors
• Voluntary Aided schools - at least one, but enough to make up at least one third of the membership of the governing body when counted with foundation governors who are eligible for election or appointment as parent governors

Staff governor - (Regulation 3 and Schedule 2 of the Constitution Regs) Both teaching and support staff paid to work at the school are eligible to stand for election for staff governorship (school volunteers are not eligible).  Staff eligible to be staff governors are not eligible to be Community or LEA governors, nor Parent governors if they work for more than 500 hours per year at the school.  However, staff can vote in parent governor elections if they are parents and can be governors at other schools - their employment status will not affect their qualification for governorships in these categories at another school.  Upon ceasing to work at the school, the staff governor is disqualified from holding this post.  The headteacher is a governor unless he or she chooses to resign from the governing body, in which case they must inform the clerk of that decision in writing - their position must be held in reserve and cannot be filled by another member of staff.  Any election which is contested must be held by ballot. 
The number of Staff governors depends on the Instrument of Government: 

• Community, Foundation, Voluntary Aided and Voluntary Controlled schools - at least two places, but no more than one-third, including the head teacher - In cases where there are two staff governor positions, the second must be filled by a teacher unless no teachers stand for election in which case a member of the support staff may be elected.  In cases where there are three staff governor positions, the third must be filled by a member of the support staff unless nobody stands for election in which case it may be filled by a teacher. 

LEA governor (Regulation 6 of the Constitution Regs) - a person appointed by the LEA.  They are only disqualified from appointment as an LEA governor if they are eligible to be a staff governor of the school.  LEAs are encouraged to appoint high calibre governor candidates to schools that need most support and to appoint candidates irrespective of any political affiliation or preferences.  In making appointments to particular schools, LEAs should have regard to the skills and experience of which those schools have the greatest need, and to candidates' support for the schools' ethos and mission.  Once appointed, those governors' priority is to contribute to raising standards at the school: they cannot be mandated by the Authority to take any particular line.  Authorities may dismiss them for good reason.  They should ensure appointments are promplty made, normally within 3 months, when vacancies arise, and should not allow vacancies to remain because suitable political appointees are not available.  LEAs may appoint minor authority representatives as LEA governors.  The number of LEA governors depends on the Instrument of Government and the category of school:

• Community schools - one-fifth of governors
• Foundation and Voluntary Controlled schools - at least one, but no more than one-fifth of all governors
• Voluntary Aided schools - at least one but no more than one-tenth

Community governor (Regulation 7 and Schedule 3 of the Constitution Regs) - a person appointed by the governing body, who lives or works in the community served by the school, or who, in the opinion of the governing body, is committed to the good governance and success of the school, including minor authority representatives.  Registered pupils at the school, anyone eligible to be a staff governor or an elected member of the LEA are not eligible to be appointed as community governors.  They may be removed by the governing body following two meetings and the passing of a resolution by one half of the governors.  All categories of school except voluntary aided schools will have community governors.  In community special schools, the governing body must appoint as one of the community governors, a person (if any) nominated by one or more voluntary organisations designated by the LEA, or if the school is based in a hospital, one or more primary care trusts or the National Health Service trust.  The number of community governors depends on the Instrument of Governance and the category of school:

• Community schools - at least one-fifth
• Foundation and Voluntary Controlled schools - at least one-tenth
• Voluntary Aided schools - none

NB.  The category of co-opted governor is replaced by that of community governors under the 2003 constitution regulations.  Under the School Government Regulations 1999, which apply until a governing body reconstitutes, co opted governors are appointed by members of the governing body who are not themselves co-opted. 

NB.  Minor Authority representatives are no longer a separate category of governor.  The guidance explains that minor authority representatives can be appointed as LEA or community governors.  This does not mean that LEAs or governing bodies can reserve places for them.  Minor authority representatives can be appointed as community or LEA governors in the same way as for instance business people can be appointed as community governors.

Foundation governor (Regulations 8 & 9 and Schedule 4 of the Constitution Regs) - is a person who is appointed by the school's founding body, church or other organisation named in the school's Instrument of Government or who holds the governorship ex officio, as the holder of an office specified in the Instrument of Government.  If the school has a religious character, they must preserve and develop this.  They must also secure compliance with the trust deed (if any).  If there is more than one body that has the right to appoint foundation governors, the instrument of government shall specify the bodies concerned and the basis on which appointments are made.  At foundation and foundation special schools that do not have a foundation or trustees, Foundation governors are replaced by Partnership governors.  Partnership governors must be members of the community served by the school who are committed to the good government and success of the school.  The governing body is responsible for seeking nominations for and appointing partnership governors.  This includes seeking nominations from parents of registered pupils at the school and such others in the community served by the school as they consider appropriate.  Governing bodies may decide for themselves how they will seek nominations, but they must make sure that parents of pupils at the school are informed that they may make nominations.  Some people may not be appointed as partnership governors.  These are parents of pupils currently at the school, people employed to work at the school, or elected members or employees of the maintaining authority.  The number of Foundation (or Partnership) governors depends on the Instrument of Government and the category of school:

• Foundation and Voluntary Controlled schools - (or partnership governors if the school has no foundation) at least two but no more than one quarter
• Voluntary Aided schools - Foundation governors must outnumber the other governors by two and at least a fifth must be eligible for election or appointment as parent governors
• Community schools - none

Sponsor governor (Regulation 10 and Schedule 5 of the Constitution Regs) - under the new legislation, people who give substantial assistance to a school, financially or in kind, or who provide services to the school, can be appointed as sponsor governors by a governing body.  This allows for external partners, including other schools, who offer advice and support to a school to be represented on the governing body.  These can include governors nominated by the Local Education Action Forum if the school is part of an Education Action Zone (EAZ).  A governing body is not required to appoint sponsor governors and may appoint a maximum of two.

Associate members (Regulation 11 of the Constitution Regs) - governing bodies can benefit from being able to draw on expertise and experience from outside their formal governor membership.  The governing body can appoint associate members to serve on one or more governing body committees and attend full governing body meetings.  Associate members are persons interested in contributing to the work of the governing body.  The definition of associate member is wide and can include pupils, school staff and persons who want to contribute specifically on issues related to their particular area of expertise, for instance finance.  Associate members are appointed for a period between one and four years and can be reappointed at the end of their term of office.  They can be removed from office by the governing body at any time.  They are not governors and are not recorded on the Instrument of Government - they can have bestowed voting rights within a committee, but not on any resolution concerning: admissions, pupil discipline, election or appointment of governors, or the budget and financial commitments of the governing body.  An associate member may not vote on any other business transacted by any committee unless they were aged 18 or over at the date of their appointment. 

Governing bodies must have between 9 and 20 governors, not including sponsor governors or additional foundation governors.  The number will be chosen by the outgoing governing body, ie. there will be no connection in law between the size of the governing body and the size of the school.   Regulations 13 to 16 explain the composition. 

Transitional Arrangements
All governors elected or appointed on or before 1 September 2003 serve out their term of office until it ends or up to 31 August 2006, whichever is the earlier.  Governors appointed or elected after 1 September 2003 under the �old� system will have to stand for re-election or request re-appointment if they want to continue in office after the governing body is reconstituted under the Constitution Regulations.  Individual governors may resign before their term ends or before 31 August 2006 if they choose. 

The quorum is decided by the total size of the governing body as recorded on the instrument of government.  Any governor, including additional governors and surplus governors, present at the meeting counts toward calculating if the meeting is quorate.  Under the Procedures Regulations 2003, the quorum was calculated as 50% of the complete membership of the governing body which included any vacant posts. (Procedures regulations: regulation 12(1), New Schools regulations: regulation 44 (1)).
Amended position - From 1st April, under the School Governance (Constitution, Procedures and New Schools)(England)(Amendment) Regulations 2004/450, the quorum needs to be calculated as 50% of only those governors in post. Vacancies will no longer be included in the calculation.