reform academy
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Bold ideas, big conversationsReform’s report, 'Academy chains unlocked',
presents results from the first survey of academy chain chief executives. It
recommends reform to the funding and oversight of chains to raise standards
across the country. Since first introduced under Labour, academy schools have
been the main way that governments have sought to raise the standard of schools.
Their popularity with policymakers means that two fifths of state-educated
children in England now attend an academy. While there are different forms of
academies, all have greater responsibility over the curriculum, staffing and
finances than other state-funded schools. Yet the evidence that academies have
improved school education is not clear cut. Labour’s academies have almost
certainly led to sustainable improvements in pupil outcomes. However, the
Coalition Government’s academies have had variable impact, with some lowering,
some sustaining and others improving education in those schools, depending on
the starting point of the school. Taken in its entirety, the evidence suggests
that the recent academies are not having the transformative impact on education
that was expected by government. The Conservative Government has changed its
approach to academies. It now expects all new academies to join or establish an
academy chain – groups of two or more academies run by the same sponsor –
believing that chains will help unleash the potential of academies to spread
educational excellence across the country. Yet, as with individual academies,
the evidence on academy chains shows variable impact on pupil attainment. There
is a dearth of information explaining why, as no research has established a full
enough picture of what academy chains do.
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