Meanings
- UKpluralplural onlyExternal administration for a failing public service such as a school or hospital.
The LEA is required to support schools in special measures or with serious weaknesses.
2004, K.B. Everard, Geoff Morris, Ian Wilson, Effective School Management, SAGE, →ISBN, page 2283 more examples
Before the 2005 Schools White Paper, schools put into Special Measures have been aware that they might face closure if they did not improve within about two years.
2006, Great Britain. National Audit Office, Improving Poorly Performing Schools in England, The Stationery Office, →ISBN, page 37The governments new proposals intend to make the following changes and introductions: [...] Placing underperforming council planning departments into “special measures” and allowing developers to bypass them if they fail to improve.
2013, Selchouk Sami, The Book on Entrepreneurship and Property: The Guide to Successful Entrepreneurship and Property Investment, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 78These organisations were put into special measures and their boards placed under high levels of scrutiny around how they were focusing on quality and patient safety issues.
2015, Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP), Good Governance Handbook, Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) →ISBN, page 22 - pluralplural onlyScots lawJudicial systems to protect vulnerable witnesses in courts of law.
Cite this entry
special measures. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/special%20measures
“special measures.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/special%20measures. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “special measures,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/special%20measures.
Source: special measures on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.