Education Law & Schools

Our Education Team is nationally recognised for its expertise and experience, which dates back to the firm's origins in 1855. LBMW is ranked in Legal 500 as a leading Education firm.

Our Education Team maintains active links with government, the Department for Education, General Synod, the Charity Commission and other relevant bodies. Our team of education lawyers not only responds to legislative changes but are also involved in shaping it. The wealth of our experience means that we are fully equipped to address any queries raised.

We are a market leader in the provision of legal services and support to the full range of schools, academies, multi-academy trusts, chains and sponsors and other teaching institutions throughout the country, including providers of Further and Higher Education. Our litigation department has successfully acted in a number of important and ground-breaking cases affecting this sector, those recently have included Rittson- Thomas v Oxfordshire County Council and Durand Academy Trust v Ofsted.

We pass on our experience and knowledge in this sector through newsletters, briefings, seminars, workshops and conferences throughout the year, including our longstanding annual schools conference.

Schools and other educational institutions use us because of our close understanding of the complexity of interacting land, buildings, staff, policies, community relations and charitable trusts issues.

Parents and students come to us because we are best able to advocate for them from a position of knowledge and careful attention to the presenting issues.

Contact our education law solicitors in Westminster, London

Get in touch with our education law solicitors in London by calling 020 7222 5381 or filling out our online enquiry form.

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Matters our education law solicitors can assist with

We can provide efficient and effective advice for the following:

Find out more about our specific areas of education law expertise

Academies & Free Schools

Our highly experienced team is able to cover all Commercial, Land, Employment, and Educational aspects of an academy project. We are experienced in the creation, expansion, dissolution and reorganisation of academy trusts, charities, and trading subsidiaries, working with church and secular education providers to ensure the children served have the best opportunities to flourish in the Academy system.

Our particular specialism is making academies work in the context of complicated school site issues, for example where land ownership and the effect of charitable trusts on the land need to be worked through.

We can help with such issues as:

Setting up an academy trust including constitutional, governance and funding arrangements
Converting an existing school to an academy including investigating title, business transfer issues, contractual documentation
Rebrokering existing academies into other academy trusts
Establishing a free school
Conflicts of interest
Governance reviews
Leases and licences on academies
Relocations, school expansions and building projects
Admissions, exclusions, pupil and parental support

For more information see Academies & Free Schools

Church & Faith Schools

We are able to offer a depth of experience in the church education sector which is unparalleled. We act for many dioceses in both the Church of England and Church in Wales in respect of their education work. This enables us to keep fully up-to-date with all the various issues and immediate pressures being faced both in England and in Wales.

We are also experienced with assisting other faith education providers, many of which face similar challenges to those faced by the Church of England.

In particular, we can help with:

Admissions
Capital works (including construction)
Change of category
Children's Centres
Commercial arrangements
Constitutional
Diocesan Boards of Education
Dispute resolution
Education legislation and statutory guidance
Employment and pensions
Faith Academies and Free Schools
Federations
Foundation Schools
Governance
Intellectual property and freedom of information
Land and property
Local authority duties
Parental complaints
Policies
RE and collective worship
Religious designation
Reverter and the Schools Sites Act 1841
Safeguarding
Section 554 Orders
Staffing
Third party use and occupation
Trading companies

For more information see Church & Faith Schools

Community & Other Maintained Schools

We are well versed in the full range of legal matters connected to maintained schools, including community, foundation, special and other schools.

We can help you with such matters as:

Admissions policies and challenges
Change of category
Commercial arrangements
Constitutional
Dispute resolution
Education legislation and statutory guidance
Employment and pensions
Federations and other ways schools can work together short of federation
Governance
Intellectual property and freedom of information
Land and property (including construction)
Local authority duties
Parental complaints
Policies
Safeguarding
SEN provision
Staffing

For more information see Community & Other Maintained Schools

Independent Schools

We have represented a number of important independent schools and can offer independent schools extensive advice far beyond governance and charity law.

We can help with such matters as:

Charity law and compliance
Commercial arrangements
Constitutional
Donations and legacies
Dispute resolution
Education legislation and statutory guidance
Employment and pensions including redundancies and settlement agreements
Fees
Governance and Trustees
Intellectual property and freedom of information
Land and property (including construction)
Mergers and demergers
Parental complaints
Policies
Safeguarding
Staffing

For more information see Independent Schools

Further & Higher Education

As one of the country's leading education law firms, we are committed to advising and supporting further and higher education for people of all ages and backgrounds.

We have developed a thorough appreciation and understanding of a variety of educational institutions and the challenges and opportunities they face.

Our expertise extends particularly into formations of further and higher educational institutions, mergers and joint ventures, and governance and constitutional issues. We can advise upon and have experience of a wide range of relevant legal issues, including:

Admissions
Commercial arrangements
Constitutional
Dispute resolution
Donations and legacies
Employment and pensions
Federations
Further Education Colleges
Fundraising
Governance
Higher Education Institutions
Intellectual property and freedom of information
Internal student and staff appeals
Joint ventures and collaborations
Land and property (including construction)
Legislation and statutory guidance
Local authority duties
Mergers and demergers
Permanent Private Halls
Policies
Safeguarding
SEN provision
Staffing
Theological Colleges
Trading companies
Transfer of control

For more information see Further & Higher Education

Education Legislation & Regulations

We are experts in the interpretation and application of education legislation. We are used to looking at the interaction of pure education law with the whole range of company, charity, human rights, competition and data protection laws.

Should the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill 2024 become law, we are well equipped to assist the sector in responding to it.

We can help with such matters as:

Admissions and Exclusions
Data protection
DfE and EFA Guidance and that of the Welsh Ministers
Education Acts
Education Bills
Governance
Premises
School meals
SEN
Staffing and employment
Statutory Guidance

For more information see Education Legislation & Regulations

Reverter

Any school site which was granted under powers provided by the School Sites Act is liable to be subject to reverter.

This affects many Church of England schools which still occupy their original sites, equating to over a thousand school sites, and can cause huge complications for third party occupation arrangements and on closure or relocation of the school.

We are the market leaders in this complex and specialist area of law. We routinely advise schools, academy trusts, trustees, Dioceses and Government in relation to it and have provided input on associated Government guidance.

We can help you with such matters as:

School relocations
School closures
Section 554 orders under the Education Act 1996
Section 2 schemes under the Reverter of Sites Act 1987
Third party occupation of sites subject to reverter
Claims by beneficiaries under the Schools Sites Act 1841 and the Reverter of Sites Act 1987

For more information see Reverter

School Sites

Our team is able to provide expert assistance with the full range of land issues which may arise at a school site, with particular expertise in Church of England sites, which can often be particularly complicated due to the age of the site trusts and the possibility of reverter.

We use such various sources as the Land Registry, National Records Centre, the Church of England Records Centre and old maps to deduce title and trusts in often unregistered or improperly registered school sites and then ensure that you are able to achieve your project on a proper footing. We ensure that all leases, licences and permissions take place squarely within the ambit of the charitable trusts upon which the land is held to avoid triggering reverter or causing breach of trust. We are able to work with the Charity Commission to obtain the necessary modifications to trusts of school sites where required.

We are able to help with such matters as:

Relocation and closure of schools
Sale of school land
Acquisition of additional school land
Site trusts- creation and amendment
Appointment and retirement of trustees
Trustee disputes
Applications to the Charity Commission
Charity Commission inquiries and investigations
Reverter
Third party use and occupation of school sites, including transfer of control agreements (TOCAs), licences and leases including for nurseries
Third party rights over school sites, both permanent and temporary arrangements, including licence for works
Capital works on school sites
Assets of community value applications
Town and village green status
Playing fields – change of use, disposal and protection
Redevelopment projects for closed school sites
Orders under section 554 of the Education Act 1996
Schemes under the section 2 of the Reverter of Sites Act 1987

For further information see School Sites

Our education law solicitors’ fees

We can provide you with an estimate of our charges following an initial telephone call or email with the background to your matter. Depending on the nature of the work fees might be charged according to time spent or for a fixed fee, or if you will be needing our help over a range of matters we can offer a fixed-price legal advice service retainer. The retainer packages offer blocks of time at reduced rates and can be charged on a monthly basis which can assist with budgeting. Please contact us for a no-obligation estimate.

Why choose Lee Bolton Monier-Williams?

Our Education Team is nationally recognised for its expertise and experience, which dates back to the firm's origins in 1855. LBMW is ranked in Legal 500 as a leading Education firm. Our national coverage is complemented by our practitioners' close attention to the facts, laws, people and circumstances at each local school or other educational institution we work with. We get stuck into getting to know every situation we deal with inside out in order to give the best possible advice.

Legal 500:

'LBMW has been established for many years and has specialist experience in the education and charity sector. This experience is tangible both in the quality of advice both from longer-serving and new staff, and gives a sense of security. Whilst there are high-quality rivals, I have not seen from any of these the breadth and depth of quality that is available at LBMW. My experience, in particular, is of the state-funded education sector.'

'The education team at LBMW has well-established expertise in educational law which is unrivalled. It is consistently well-briefed on legal developments and is adaptable to the varying needs of a range of clients.'