Despite past democratic experiments in education (Fielding and Moss 2010), there has, until recently, been no sustained mass movement for democratic education in the UK. The rapid rise of co-operative schools in England – with over 700 schools adopting co-operative governance models since 2008 - 1000 expected by 2015 – may potentially provide a democratic alternative in an increasingly fragmented and marketised system and make a real impact on the lives of young people and the development of new forms of community accountability and engagement. The challenge is to put democratic and co-operative values into practice within a system dominated by hierarchical, competitive forms of organisation and practice. This paper will discuss the work and political strategies of the Co-operative College in supporting and contributing to policy development. This has included developing co-operative legal models, briefing MPs and policy makers and contributing to the recent House of Commons Education Committee enquiry into Schools Partnerships and Co-operation (Wilson 2003; Wilson and Woodin 2003; Wilson 2004; Wilson 2008). Comparisons will be drawn with co-operative schools internationally. The paper will provide a critical examination of rise of the co-operative school and its future prospects both nationally and globally.