Schools independent of local and central government control and funding are generally known as independent schools. They are largely financed by the fees parents pay and in some cases by endowments. If charities, their income may be tax exempt if they can demonstrate public benefit. Critically, they control their own admissions, priorities and curriculum.

But there are problems with this definition. The government calls state funded academies 'independent',   by which they mean independent of the LEA, not the state. And state boarding schools charge fees for boarding costs but not for tuition.

Transfer between the independent school and state school systems is quite common. It is usually easiest at natural entry points - age 11 (12 in Scotland) into secondary school, or at 16 after GCSE into the sixth form.