Less schools are applying to be academies, figures show

The number of schools applying to become academies has dropped according to figures by the Department for Education.

As reported by Tes, there were 88 applications last month for academy conversion, which is the lowest number for February in any of the four years for which the figures were provided.

The figures also reveal that in January there was 63 application, compared with 102 the previous year in the same period.

In total there were 1,107 applications last year. This is a 10 per cent decline from 2016, where there were 1,232 applications.

However, the 2016 figure represented a sharp increase from the year before, with applications increasing from 509 in 2015.

The figures come from a parliamentary question asked by Lucy Powell, who stepped down as shadow education secretary in June 2016.