SSAT (The Schools Network) Limited (branded as SSAT, the Schools, Students and Teachers network) is a UK-based, independent educational membership organisation working with primary, secondary, special and free schools, academies and UTCs. It provides support and training in four main areas: teaching and learning, curriculum, networking, and leadership development. The company was set up in May 2012, to carry out the business of the previous Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. Based in the UK, SSAT operates worldwide through its international arm, iNet. SSAT has almost 3,000 member schools in England and overseas. The Chief Executive of SSAT is Sue Williamson, a former headteacher of Monks' Dyke Technology College in Lincolnshire, and former Strategic Director of Leadership and Innovation at the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. History 1986–1996 In January 1986, a Centre for Policy Studies meeting was held in the House of Lords. The meeting was organised by Cyril Taylor and focused on the growing issue of unemployment amongst the youth. Among the attendees were Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Secretary of State for Employment David Young and 60 other business leaders and politicians. It was decided that around 100 schools would be funded to specialise in technology via direct grants to fulfil business qualifications. The resulting City Technology Colleges (CTC) programme was announced at that year's Conservative Party Conference by Secretary of State for Education and Science Kenneth Baker. CTCs were state specialist schools independent from local authority control, specialising in science and technology. Baker and Thatcher requested that Taylor establish the City Technology Colleges Trust to oversee the establishment of CTCs. Taylor became Baker's adviser and founded the trust in 1987. It was given government grants amounting to, at most, £200,000 by 1991. These grants would fund the trust's efforts in acquiring campuses and attracting potential sponsors for CTCs. The first chief executive, Susan Fey, was appointed in 1988. In 1990, Susan Fey appointed the trust's six curriculum development directors (CDDs), individuals who would visit CTCs to develop their ethos and curricula and support teacher trainees. The Department for Education and Science granted a sum of £2 million to support their appointment. CDDs influenced the creation of the specialist schools programme and the CTC Trust's affiliation scheme, both of which were first conceptualised in 1992. The affiliation scheme's first meeting was held in December 1992 and was hosted by the BRIT School CTC. Originally, the target for schools with