Over 1000 Schools Apply to be Academies – DFE

I thought I would try to get behind then numbers and information given out so far about Academies. They seem set to be a bit feature of education in the UK over the coming years and it makes sense to get to grips with the issues.

So, about 1100 schools have applied to become Academies since Michael Gove suggested that all could apply last week. Pretty good take up really. What is interesting is that more than 30% were NOT ‘outstanding’ so there is desire right across the spectrum.

What do you get if you become an academy?

• Well, £25,000 for starters to help you get your bid off the ground.
• You also get your surplus back from the Local Authority (even if the funds were for Local Authority services), and that is immediately you become an Academy.
• Finally, you can generally get your hands on the land and buildings your school sits on. Now that is a real bonus for an ‘independent’ school as they are called in The Academies Bill. Imagine the leverage you can get with that from staff, banks, and parents. A real jewel in the crown of any academy in my view.
• All current staff are to be paid on the same terms as when they were employed before (something called TUPE Regulations) but teachers can be consulted on changes to those terms and conditions and new staff can be taken on under different conditions.

How do you become an academy?

• There is a handy guide on the DFE Website to give you the details and a FAQ sheet for tricky questions.
• You then complete a simple online registration form (a bit harder to sign up to than Twitter but really very straight-forward).
• The school is then given a contact at the DfE who will guide you through the rest of the process.

How will this change the complexion of schools across England (this doesn’t apply in NI, Scotland or Wales)?

Extrapolating up from the Outstanding Schools data (which is broken out) we get:

• 532 Secondaries applying or 17% of Maintained Secondaries in England – this will be a sea-change in UK schools with the number of Academies doubling within 6 months.
• 486 Primaries or 2.8% of maintained Primary Schools – again, this is a sizeable proportion of the total market and could have a real impact on curriculum development and the Primary ethos.
• 92 Special Schools or 8.7% of Special Schools – another sizeable take up. It’s the first time that Special Schools have really been encouraged to become academies and the take up is impressive.

Academies will change lots about education and very quickly. How they will relate to New ‘Free’ Schools is anyones guess. I can’t see there being too many maintained schools in England at least if the Coalition Government lasts its full term.

Filed under: Blog entries by ben