| has gloss | eng: The specialist schools programme is a UK government initiative which encourages secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust is responsible for the delivery of the programme. Currently there are nearly 3,000 specialist schools, or 88% of the state-funded secondary schools in England. The government plans that eventually all schools in England will specialise. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland control their own education systems; there are no specialist schools in Scotland or Wales. In Northern Ireland specialist school status has been granted to 34 schools by the Department of Education as of June 2008, part of a three year pilot. |
