Independent and state school partnerships (ISSP)
The ISSP scheme was established by the Government in 1998, to
support partnership working between the independent and state school sectors.
Since then, 330 partnerships have been supported with £10 million of
funds. The aim of the scheme is to break down barriers between the
independent and state school sectors, share expertise and good practice, widen
educational opportunities, and to raise standards in education.
Partnership projects funded by the scheme have covered the full range of curriculum subjects, ages and abilities and have also supported extra-curricular activities. The current round (tenth) of partnerships was announced in May 2008, with total funding of over £4 million over three years. This is supporting 24 new partnerships which encourage long-term cooperation between clusters of independent and maintained schools. The focus is on support for gifted and talented young people, particularly from communities where aspirations are low. Activities are centred on increasing attainment in and take-up of science, mathematics and modern foreign languages at GCSE, A Level and university level. Many of the partnerships include links with LAs, universities, colleges and businesses.
At present limited funds are available for allocation to projects nearing their end that require some sustainability funding to keep them going.
The Government has made it clear that it is committed to encouraging collaborative working between schools in the maintained and independent sectors for their mutual benefit in order to raise standards for all young people, widen educational opportunities and spread best practice. In order to see this continue the DCSF is inviting current partnerships to seek for sustainability funding, to assist their partnership in its transition to becoming self supporting.
The ISSP Scheme will fund proposals which represent value for money and demonstrate long-term sustainability. Partnerships must confirm that they have not altered in character and provide evidence that the activities previously funded have helped to raise attainment in its broadest sense (e.g. attendance, motivation, behaviour and academic performance).
Applications for sustainability should be made in line with the instructions in the guidance.
All applications should be sent to Lisa White by 15 January 2010.
Last updated: 23 November 2009
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