EB / Academies / Over half of pupils in state-funded education in an academy or free school
Over half of pupils in state-funded education in an academy or free school
EB News: 23/01/2019 - 10:36
More than 50 per cent of pupils in state-funded schools in England are now studying in an academy or free school, DfE figures have shown.
Education Secretary Damian Hinds is urging more schools to consider becoming an academy to enjoy better freedom and opportunities.
The Academies Act started in 2010 and gives schools autonomy and freedom to innovate, alongside the increased ability to make decisions in the interests of staff and pupils. This has included measures such as altering the length of the school day or adapting the curriculum to help every child access a school that meets their needs, interests and abilities. More than 8,300 schools in the country have become an academy or opened as a free school, with hundreds of schools choosing to convert to become an academy in the last 12 months alone.
The academies programme was introduced by the last Government in 2000 with the aim “to improve pupil performance and break the cycle of low expectation”. By 2010, there were 203 academies – mostly in inner cities.
The 2010 Academies Act gave all schools in England the freedom to choose to become an academy and now over 50% of pupils in the state funded education system are taught in an academy or free school.
Education Secretary Damian Hinds said: "In everything we’ve been doing to improve education these last few years, we have put a strong focus on handing power back to schools, back to school leaders - recognising that they are the ones best placed to make the right decisions for their pupils and their communities.
"It is fantastic that 50% of the pupils in state-funded schools in the country are now benefitting from the freedom and autonomy that an academy trust enjoys. But the academies programme has never really been about structures – it has been about trusting head teachers and school leaders to run schools.
"Whilst there is a huge amount of diversity in our school system – and there are great schools of all types – I want more schools to choose to become an academy and enjoy the enormous benefits it provides to schools, their staff and pupils."
Many sponsored academies - those that have been taken out of Local Authority control through government intervention because of educational underperformance - have improved their inspections from inadequate to good or outstanding. At the end of 2017, only 1 in 10 sponsored academy predecessor schools were judged good or outstanding before they converted, compared to almost 7 in 10 after they became an academy, of those who had been inspected.
The DfE has also published analysis of schools that have become sponsored academies in recent years. It matches sponsored academies with similar non-academies based on inspection results and the make-up of their pupils. It shows that sponsored academies that have been open for longer have made substantial gains in performance. The data shows, in many cases, standards have risen more quickly in under-performing schools that have become academies than in similar council-run schools.
Leora Cruddas, Chief Executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, said: "This is an important moment. School trusts are no longer a policy initiative – a small project in a much larger education system. Half of children and young people in England are educated in the academy sector. We have come of age.
"Academies are making a positive difference by turning around schools which have failed children for generations."
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