The Football Academy schemes are licensed to operate by the English Football Association under the FA Programme for Excellence. The Programme for Excellence has been devised as part of the FA's Charter for Quality, developed by Howard Wilkinson.

The regulations state that the purpose of the programme is: "to identify players of outstanding ability and place them in a technical and educational programme designed to produce football excellence in conjunction with personal development."

All football academies are monitored by the FA on a regular basis to ensure they adhere to the criteria. These include:

• Providing suitable training, study and medical facilities
• Providing a set amount of technical training per week
• Incorporating feedback sessions on both technical and academic aspects
• A maximum number of matches allowed per season
• A maximum ratio of players to coach
• Staff to be suitably screened and qualified and to undergo in-service training on an ongoing basis
• Adequate liaison between academy staff and schools/colleges
• Commitment to screening, profiling, monitoring and recording key aspects of the players' physiological growth and development

The rules also set out minimum facilities that should be in place and set out to stop young players burning themselves out with too many games by setting a maximum number of games that they may play. 

Students must also reside within a set traveling distance of the academy that they join. This is normally one hour for students between the ages of 9-13 and one and a half hours between the ages 13-16. Clubs are allowed to set up one satellite academy and a major reason for doing so would be to extend their catchment areas.

Full details of the academy schemes can be obtained from the premier league