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June 07, 2018

Educational Foundations

Educational Foundations

Our Charity sector lawyers work, often alongside our leading Education sector colleagues, for numerous charities and foundations set up to advance education. Such charities are often set up by schools to support aspects of their work or hold their land.

We advise on the full range of charity law from formation to governance and regulation by the Charity Commission (where relevant).

Our formation work

Examples of our formation work include:

  • We advise on the establishment of foundations and PTAs to support both state and independent schools.
  • We work all the time with schools establishing support charities, for instance recently following a determination by HMRC we have advised several Jewish schools establishing charities to collect funding for Jewish studies.
  • We have advised a number of special schools on their connected charities, often set up to operate a provision for post-19 education, but also sometimes to assist with other aspects of broader curriculum enrichment, such as work placements.
  • We have established many partnership charities between schools, including for teaching schools.
Governance and Regulation

Our governance and regulation work covers the full spectrum of advice that these organisations require. Our recent work includes the following:

  • Advising a foundation connected with an independent school on the scope of grants which it can make, particularly to school leavers.
  • Working with colleagues in our Private Client team, advising a grammar school charity on a significant legacy left by a member of its alumni.
  • Advising a significant educational charity related to a school on the relationship between the charity and the school including management of conflicts of interest.
  • Advising a charity set up in connection with a school on its fundraising materials sent to parents and alumni.
  • Advising a charity holding a significant endowment for an independent school on its powers to support borrowing by the school to enable development of its site.
  • Applications to the Charity Commission for access to its enabling powers-orders, ex gratia payments and written advice.

We also frequently advise on trustee and governor responsibilities and duties and provide trustee training.