The specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme. At the end of the status there were nearly 3,000 specialist schools, which was fully 88% of the state-funded secondary schools in England.When the new Coalition government took power in May 2010 the scheme was ended and funding was absorbed into general school budgets.