Academy status for one-in-10 secondary schools
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Under the Coalition Government, the number of schools given new powers to break free of local council control has more than doubled to 407, figures show.
Under the Coalition Government, the number of schools given new powers to break free of local council control has more than doubled to 407, figures show.
Many of the schools granted academy status are poor-performing comprehensives placed in the hands of third-party sponsors – private companies, fee-paying schools, universities and charities – in an attempt to drive up standards.
Firms such as JCB, BT and the Co-operative Group and independent schools such as Sevenoaks in Kent are among organisations now helping to run academies.
Last night, the National Union of Teachers warned that the Government was creating an “unaccountable” system of state education in England.
But Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, said schools benefited from greater independence, insisting figures showed exam results among academies increased faster than the national average.
"The Coalition believes that head teachers and teachers – not politicians and bureaucrats – know best how to run schools,” he said.
Academy status gives individual head teachers almost complete freedom over budgets, the curriculum, hiring staff, term times and the length of school day.
The proposals are strongly backed by both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats who both pledged to expand the number of academies.
Read more about this story at the Telegraph website
