| Term | Meaning |
| A2 | second year of Advanced Level course |
| ACE | Advisory Centre for Education, advisory service for parents |
| Academies | publicly funded independent secondary schools with sponsors from private or voluntary sectors, or from churches or other faith groups. Capital costs are provided by the sponsor and DfES and running costs are fully met by the DfES |
| AEN | Additional Educational Needs |
| AS | first year of Advanced Level course |
| AST | Advanced Skills Teacher |
| ATL | Association of Teachers and Lecturers |
| Attainment Targets | These establish what children of differing ability should be expected to know and be able to do by the end of each Key Stage of the curriculum. There are eight levels |
| AWPU | Age-Weighted Pupil Unit. The sum of money allocated to the school for each pupil according to age. This is the basic unit of funding for the school from the LEA |
| Baseline Assessment | Assessment of infant children's basic skills on entry to school |
| Beacon Schools | an initiative designed to raise standards through the dissemination of good practice between schools |
| Behaviour Support Plan | the action plan implemented by the LEA to deal with behavioural problems |
| Benchmarking | comparing school expenditure with broadly similar schools at local, regional and national levels |
| Best Value | aims to ensure local authorities continually improve the ways that they function, having regard to economy, efficiency and effectiveness |
| CASE | Campaign for State education |
| CATS | Cognitive Ability Tests for knowing, thinking and reasoning |
| Catchment Area | The area from which a school takes its pupils |
| Connexions | Government advice and support service for all young people aged between 13- providing guidance in planning further education and employment |
| Core Curriculum | English, maths and science studied by all pupils from 5-16 |
| CPD | Continuing Professional Development: activities that increase teachers' knowledge, or understanding and effectiveness in schools |
| DDA | Disability Discrimination Act |
| DfES | Department for Education and Skills |
| Differentiation | The organisation of teaching programmes and methods specifically to suit the age, ability and aptitudes of individual children |
| EDP | Education Development Plan which each LEA is required to prepare setting out its strategies for improving standards in schools and raising pupil attainment |
| EMA | The Education Maintenance Allowance is available nationally across England to eligible young people on courses such as AS/A2, GNVQs, NVQs, GCSEs studying in schools, sixth form colleges and FE colleges. |
| ESO | Education Supervision Order which an LEA may apply for to deal with cases of poor attendance at school |
| EWO | Education Welfare Officer |
| Exclusion | Temporary or permanent banning of a pupil from school. |
| Extended Schools | Schools can provide a range of extended services and facilities for the benefit of pupils, parents, families and the wider community |
| Foundation Schools | Previously Grant Maintained schools |
| Foundation Stage | The curriculum followed by children below statutory school age, in schools (Nursery and Reception) and pre-school provision |
| GSA | Girls' School Association |
| GCSE | General Certificate of Secondary Education |
| GNVQ | General National Vocational Qualification |
| GTC | General Teaching Council an independent professional body for teachers |
| HMC | Headmaster's and Headmistress's Conference |
| HMI | Her Majesty's Inspector |
| Home-School Agreement | the written contract drawn up between the school, parents or carers and the pupil. It sets out expectations of attendance, behaviour, standards of education and homework. |
| IAPS | Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools |
| IEP | Individual Education Plan devised for meeting a pupil's requirements with special education needs |
IIP | Investors in People |
| INSET | In-Service Education and Training: professional development for school staff. Each year 5 days during term time are set aside |
| Inclusion | : used to denote that pupils with special needs are included in a mainstream school |
| ICT | Information and Communication Technology |
| Key Stages (KS) | the four stages of the National Curriculum for pupils |
| KS1 | pupils aged 5-7 |
| KS2 | pupils aged 7-11 |
| KS3 | pupils aged 11-14 |
| KS4 | pupils aged 14-16 |
| LEA | Local Education Authority |
| LEP | Leading Edge Partnership: programme aimed at identifying, extending and disseminating innovation and excellence amongst groups of secondary schools in order to contribute to school improvement |
| LSC | Learning and Skills Council |
| NAHT | National Association of Headteachers |
| NASUWT | National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers |
| National Curriculum | Established by the 1988 Education Act to ensure that all pupils receive a broad and balanced education |
| NCMA | National Childminding Association |
| NCPTA | National Confederations of Parent Teacher Associations |
| NFER | National Foundation for Educational Research |
| NQT | Newly Qualified Teacher |
| NUT | National Union of Teachers |
| NVQ | National Vocational Qualification |
| OFSTED | Office for Standards in Education sets standards and arranges school inspections |
| PAN | Plan Admissions Number: The number of children the LEA (or governing body of an Aided School) determines can be admitted to the school. It can be above the Standard Number (see below) but may not be below it. |
| PANDA | Performance and Assessment reports are produced by Ofsted and rate schools according to similar circumstances |
| PAT | Professional Association of Teachers |
| Peripatetic Teacher | A teacher who provides specialist instruction eg music at more than one school |
| PGCE | Post-Graduate Certificate of Education for newly qualified teachers (NQT). |
| Progress File | Formerly the National Record of Achievement. Supports pupils from Year 9 in planning their future progression |
| PSP | Pastoral Support Programme for pupils at serious risk of permanent exclusion |
| PTA | Parent Teacher Association |
| QCA | Qualifications and Curriculum Authority |
| Remodelling | A process for relieving teachers of administrative chores and more time to engage with pupils |
| RgI/RI | Registered Inspector, who is authorised by Ofsted to lead an inspection team |
| SACRE | Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education. Local statutory body which advises on religious education and collective worship |
| SATS | Standard Assessment Tasks used for Curriculum Assessment. |
| SEBD | Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties. |
| SEN | Special Educational Needs. Pupils with learning difficulties for which special education provision has to be made. May include children with physical disabilities or emotional and behavioural disorders |
| SENCO | Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator. The teacher responsible for co-ordinating SEN provision in the school |
| Setting | The organising of pupils into ability groups for particular subjects |
| SHA | Secondary Heads Association |
| Special School | A school for children whose special educational needs cannot be met within a mainstream school |
| Specialist Schools | The Specialist Schools Programme helps secondary schools, in partnership with private sector sponsors and supported by additional Government funding, to establish distinctive identities through their chosen specialisms and achieve their targets to raise standards |
| Special Unit | A unit attached to a mainstream school for children with specific special needs |
| Standard Number (SN) | The legally determined number of pupils in the admission year group below which the PAN may not be set |
| Standards Fund | Programme of specific grants from the DfES for school improvement projects some of which may be earmarked for specific purposes eg National Literacy and Numeracy strategies |
| Statementing | The procedure by which a child is formally assessed under the 1996 Education Act as having significant special education needs |
| Streaming | Placing pupils in classes according to their ability |
| Target Setting | Each autumn, governing bodies of all maintained pri mary and secondary schools must set targets for improving pupil performance |
| TTA | Teaching Training Agency.: involved in the initial training of teachers and their on-going professional development after qualification |
| VA | Voluntary Aided Schools provide the same range of education as community schools but reflect the ethos or religious nature of the foundation that established them. The governing body sets out its own admissions policy, and, because of the nature of the school, children may come from a wider area than the immediate local community |
| Value Added | Shows the progress made by an individual pupil or groups of pupils compared with the average progress made by similar pupils nationally between the Key Stages |
| VC | Voluntary Controlled Schools. They provide the same range of education as community schools but also reflect the ethos of the foundation that established them |
| Vertical Grouping | Classes formed (in primary schools) with pupils of different age groups |
| Walking Distance | The statutory distance beyond which the LEA must provide free school transport is two miles for children up to 8 years old and three miles for those aged 8 and over |
If you come across any we have missed please feel free to let us know so we can add them in.
Also for any others that you may come across and are not sure the meaning of you may like to check out TheFreeDictionary "English, Medical, Legal, Financial, and Computer Dictionaries, Thesaurus, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, a Literature Reference Library, and a Search Engine all in one!" by Farlex
Just type the Acronym into their search box and click search - normally it will say something like "is not available in the general English dictionary and thesaurus" it will give a link to try Acronyms.