The Specialist Schools Programme � Building on Success
The key proposals are:
a renewed emphasis on specialist schools as centres of excellence in their areas;
a simpler accountability regime, with School Improvement Partners (SIPs) taking decisions about schools' specialist status locally, in line with rigorous national benchmarking;
a commitment to build on the High Performing Specialist Schools (HPSS) programme so as to reward the best schools for supporting improvement.
Further information is available on the Specialist schools website. More detailed guidance for schools will be published in the autumn.
