Independent schools’ associations

This one has gone through a lot of names – Headmasters’ Conference, then Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, now branded the Heads’ Conference! 

But we’ll let them off as they’re one of the oldest independent school associations, going since 1869 when the head of Uppingham invited fellow heads to what became the inaugural annual meeting. 

It’s grown a tad since those original 14 heads met but HMC remains pretty exclusive. In fact, membership was confined to 200 heads of day and boarding schools until the 1970s and they didn’t allow heads of girls-only schools in until 2005. Membership now stands at over 350, mostly in the UK but some in the Commonwealth – including most of the well-known public schools and most (but not all) notable others. 

So what can you infer from your school’s website having HMC stamped on its website? Well, its strict membership terms mean the school is financially healthy and that key staff and governors are well supported. Students themselves get regular resources too, eg around choosing university, transition to university, digital learning support. As HMC has expert public affairs professionals, they can quickly take regulatory issues to government, parliamentarians or civil service. Also notable is that one in three children at an HMC school receives some kind of financial support.

HMC also supports the other membership organisations listed here, working particularly closely with them when it comes to events and government lobbying. 

As its name suggests, this Leicester based organisation advocates for girls’ schools and girls’ education – and it’s this female centred lens that makes it unique.

As with the other organisations listed here, there’s history – over 150 years – with the 150 heads now made up of a range of schools: boarding, day, big, small, rural, city, junior, senior, UK, overseas, state, independent, you name it. 

Research is a major benefit – the GSA does tons of it on the girls’ school experience to ensure education is relevant for 21st century learning.

There’s also the Go Bold student events series, created to bring the best out of young women beyond the classroom. Covering sport (football, cricket, netball) to financial training in the stock market to creative writing awards with award-winning writers, these events can be huge, and some attract both parents and their daughters.

Bottom line – parents should feel reassured that a GSA member school is part of a well-informed, expert and active network of schools that really gets girls’ education. 

Founded in 1878, this organisation represents heads of 660 of the UK’s leading independent schools – with all the usual range of professional development courses for heads and staff. Plus conferences, webinars, subject level network groups, discussion forums and all the other things that encourage sharing of best practice - whether across schools that are similar (eg boarding, SEN, a certain religion) or subject based (humanities, PE etc). 

There are informal comms too, via WhatsApp or email, so the tap keeps running for the member prep, junior, senior and sixth form schools, plus those offering boarding and specialisms in SEN, bilingual or performing arts. 

But what parents probably know ISA best for are their competitions in sports (over 50) and arts (performing and visual), which get ISA schools competing on a national level across different areas. Recently, for example, they hosted the national finals of ISA swimming at the Olympic pool in Stratford, which hundreds of parents came to watch. On the arts front, there’s an a capella competition through to STEAM competition, plus drama festival, essay writing competition and more. 

So, again not a parent facing organisation – but reassurance for parents that their child can take part in these competitions and that their child’s head is well supported. 

Let’s face it, if you’re going to send your child off to live away from home, you want to be very, very sure of high boarding standards – and that’s where this organisation comes in. BSA schools not only sign up to a strict safeguarding charter, but a guide is available for parents themselves. 

The organisation – which has drawn on almost 60 years of boarding experience - tells us there’s no such thing as a typical BSA school. Spread across 50 countries, they vary in size and specialism and include both state and independent. But what they all have are beds! 

As you’d hope, these schools get sector-specific CPD opportunities, guidance and advice – which takes place via training and events for boarding staff, including conferences focusing on pastoral care. BSA also has a wider role of promoting the boarding sector and acting as its voice when dealing with policymakers. For example, BSA supports the DfE in setting National Minimum Standards (NMS) for boarding.

With 15 minutes of free legal advice per member school per term, we hope the heads of these schools are fast talkers. Apparently, these short sharp slots are primarily used for queries relating to visas and immigration. 

That is, the Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools (AGBIS), the Independent Schools’ Bursars Associations (ISBA) and the Society of Heads (SoH)

Schools tend not to shout about membership to these organisations so much as the benefits to families are less direct. But don’t underestimate their power behind the scenes. 

AGBIS, for example, is the go-to organisation on governance in independent schools – so membership means your child’s school has access to everything from webinars to seminars, emergency helpline and best practice guidance. It all helps to prevent their governors being nodding dogs and instead a diverse group of well-managed decision makers with collective responsibility. 

IBSA is a vast organisation with around 1,300 member schools gaining support in every aspect of business management – be it finance, IT, HR, business development, compliance, catering, management of boarding, grounds, buildings and estate management – the list goes on. Membership schools get access to advice and guidance, with over 2,000 template documents and policies. 

Then there’s the Society of Heads – which schools join to belong to a strong, collegiate community where they can share ideas, experiences and best practice, as well as to benefit from CDP and support and guidance. The latter is available to the whole school community, which impacts positively on every child within that school. 

The ISC is a different beast altogether, in that it’s the umbrella body bringing all these organisations altogether. It incorporates the big seven associations mentioned here, along with four affiliated ones (the Boarding Schools Association, covered here, plus Council of British International Schools, Scottish Council of Independent Schools and Welsh Independent Schools Council). 

This means major coverage - 1,300 independent schools educating over half a million children. Indeed, around half of UK independent schools are ISC schools, educating around 80 per cent of all independent school children. 

So why the need for the ISC? Partly it’s a promotion tool, partly it’s to widen aims and opportunities and partly it’s to help create more meaningful partnerships, including between the independent and state sectors. 

But perhaps most interesting (and timely) is the ISC’s joint lobby work and legal action – exemplified by its current legal case against the government’s decision to levy VAT on independent school fees. No joy on that front yet, of course – but even critics of ISC have described them as the ‘sleepless champion of the sector’, so watch this space.