Half of students now in academy or free schools, shows report

The Education Secretary Damian Hinds has called on more schools to consider the “freedom and opportunities” offered by becoming an academy.

The report follows figures which show that more than 50 per cent of children are now taught in an academy or free school.

The same figures also show that standards are rising faster in many sponsored academies than in similar council-run schools.

Today’s remarks indicate that the Government is keen to press on with its nationwide academy conversion scheme. The scheme, first introduced in 2010, gave all schools in England freedom to choose to become an academy.

Academies generally enjoy more freedom than council-run schools, such as altering the length of the school day or adapting the curriculum to help students meet their needs and harness their abilities.

The latest statistics show that more than 8,300 schools in the country have since converted to academy or free school status, significantly improving performance in the meantime. According to the report, almost seven in 10 academies were judged “good” or “outstanding”, compared to one in 10 academy predecessor schools at the end of 2017.

Commenting on the report, Mr 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 per cent 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.”

He added: “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.”