
Table of contents
- 1. Academy schools skip to link
- 2. Development of policies on academies skip to link
- 3. Data on academy and LA maintained school performance skip to link
- 4. Labour government plans for academies skip to link
- 4.1 School teachers’ qualifications and induction skip to link
- 4.2 Applying the national curriculum to academies skip to link
- 4.3 Extending education provision for improving behaviour to academies skip to link
- 4.4 Introducing compliance directions for academy trusts skip to link
- 4.5 Removing academy orders for schools causing concern skip to link
- 4.6 Extending statutory pay and conditions arrangements to academy teachers skip to link
- 4.7 Removing the presumption that new schools should be academies skip to link
- 4.8 Bringing MATs into the Ofsted inspection regime skip to link
- 5. Conservative party calls for academisation skip to link
- 6. Read more skip to link
Approximate read time: 15 minutes
On 23 January 2025, the House of Lords is due to debate a motion moved by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Conservative) to take note of the achievements of free schools and academies.
1. Academy schools
Academies are state schools that are not controlled by the local authority (LA).[1] Schools that are controlled and funded by LAs are called maintained schools. Academies receive funding directly from the government and are run by an academy trust. There are three types of academy schools:[2]
- Converters: These are formerly LA maintained schools that have chosen to become academies.
- Sponsored: These are previously underperforming LA maintained schools that are in need of support and/or have been judged ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted and have been required by law to become academies.
- Free schools: These are new schools established to meet a need for good school places in an area.
Academies have more control than LA maintained schools over some aspects of delivering education.[3] For example, they do not have to follow the national curriculum and can set their own pay and conditions. However, academies must follow the same rules on admissions, special educational needs and exclusions as other state schools, and their students sit the same exams.
Academy trusts are not-for-profit companies responsible for the performance of academies in the trust. Single academy trusts (SATs) run a single academy school whereas multi-academy trusts (MATs) run a group of academies. Some academies are supported by sponsors such as existing academy trusts, businesses, universities, other schools, faith groups or voluntary groups.
Underperforming schools have often joined MATs.[4] LA maintained schools judged by Ofsted to be causing concern can receive an ‘academy order’ under the Academies Act 2010. This refers to schools identified as requiring special measures or significant improvements. The effect of an academy order means the LA maintained school must join a MAT.
Academies are inspected by Ofsted.[5] If an academy that is part of a MAT is judged inadequate by Ofsted it can be required to join a different MAT. If it is a standalone academy it can be required to join a MAT. Ofsted does not currently inspect MATs. Instead, Ofsted conducts ‘summary evaluations’ of MATs, which are carried out with the agreement of the trust and do not result in graded ratings.[6]
The number of academies and pupils attending academies has continued to grow in recent years.[7] In the 2023/24 academic year there were 10,640 academies and 5.1 million pupils attending academies. This equated to 43.5% of all schools being academies, with over half of all pupils (56.2%) attending an academy.
2. Development of policies on academies
Academies were first introduced under the 1997–2010 Labour government.[8] The Learning and Skills Act 2000 made provision for the creation of ‘city academies’. These were then renamed ‘academies’ under the Education Act 2002. Academies built on the concept of city technical colleges, which were introduced by the Conservative government in the 1980s.
The 2010–15 Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government expanded the academies and free schools policy.[9] This included introducing legislation allowing schools to become academies. In January 2010 there were 202 academy schools and a total of approximately 192,000 pupils attending academies.[10] By January 2015 there were 4,722 academies and 2.7 million pupils attending academies.[11] From 2015 onwards, consecutive Conservative policies continued to support the growth of academies.[12]
3. Data on academy and LA maintained school performance
Making comparisons on educational performance between sponsored academies and LA maintained schools is complex.[13] According to the Department for Education, this is because:
[…] many of the poorest performing schools have now become sponsored academies, which raises the average quality of the remaining LA maintained schools. Conversely, many high performing LA maintained schools have become converter academies, and this can act to reduce the average quality of the remaining LA maintained schools. In addition, the group of schools included in each category changes from one year to the next. This means that comparing the headline performance figures reflects not only the change in performance and the effect of reforms, but also the change in school composition.
School performance is measured in various ways. This includes a wide range of attainment and progress measures which differ for primary and secondary schools.[14] For example, there are six main measures used for secondary school performance. These are a mixture of attainment and progress measures, as well as figures on subjects entered and pupil destinations post-16.
Tables 1 and 2 present a selection of headline measures for the academic year 2023/24.
Table 1. Key stage 2 attainment by school type, 2023/24
School type | Percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (combined) | Percentage of pupils meeting the higher standard in reading, writing and maths (combined) | Reading average scaled score | Maths average scaled score | Grammar, punctuation and spelling average scaled score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LA maintained schools | 61% | 8% | 105 | 104 | 106 |
Sponsored academies | 58% | 6% | 104 | 103 | 104 |
Converter academies | 63% | 8% | 105 | 105 | 105 |
(Department for Education, ‘Key stage 2 attainment’, accessed 20 January 2025)
Table 2. Key stage 4 attainment by school type, 2023/24
School type | Average ‘Attainment 8’ score (attainment in eight subjects including maths and English) | Average EBACC score (attainment in English, maths, science, geography or history, and a language) | Average ‘Progress 8’ score (progress from the end of key stage 2 to the end of key stage 4) |
---|---|---|---|
LA maintained schools | 47.0 | 4.14 | 0.02 |
Sponsored academies | 41.4 | 3.64 | -0.23 |
Converter academies | 49.4 | 4.41 | 0.10 |
(Department for Education, ‘Key stage 4 performance’, accessed 20 January 2025)
A selection of school performance data sources containing the most recent figures can be found below. Please note, the following list is not exhaustive:
Department for Education school performance data
- Department for Education, ‘A level and other 16 to 18 results by institution type’, 28 November 2024
- Department for Education ‘Percentage of GCSE and L2 functional skills entries passed at level 2 by institution type’, 28 November 2024
- Department for Education, ‘Key stage 4 performance by institution type’, 5 December 2024
- Department for Education, ‘Key stage 4 destination measures by mainstream institution type’, 24 October 2024
- Department for Education, ‘Key stage 2 attainment by school characteristics’, 10 September 2024
- Department for Education, ‘Education destinations by mainstream institution type’, 24 October 2024
- Department for Education, ‘Multi-academy trust performance measures (key stages 2, 4 and 5)’, 16 March 2023
- Department for Education, ‘ Pupil level achievement’, accessed 16 January 2025
- Department for Education, ‘Academy schools sector in England: Consolidated annual report and accounts for the period 1 September to 31 August 2022’, HC 284 of session 2023–24, 31 January 2024
Ofqual exam results data
- Ofqual, ‘GCSE outcomes by centre type’, accessed 16 January 2025
- Ofqual, ‘A level outcomes by centre type’, accessed 16 January 2025
Ofsted ratings
- Ofsted, ‘State-funded schools inspections and outcomes as at 31 August 2024’, 26 November 2024
- Department for Education, ‘Inspection of maintained schools and academies: Research and statistics’, accessed 16 January 2025
4. Labour government plans for academies
One of the government’s five national missions is to “break down the barriers to opportunity”.[15]. This includes helping every child to “achieve and thrive at school, through excellent teaching and high standards”.[16] As part of this mission, the government has introduced the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. If enacted, this would make various changes to academy schools and the rules they must follow. For example, several provisions would apply the same rules to academies that currently apply to LA maintained schools. Some of the key changes proposed in the bill are summarised below.
4.1 School teachers’ qualifications and induction
The bill would extend to academies the requirement for new teachers to either have or be working towards qualified teacher status (QTS).[17] This requirement is currently applicable to LA maintained schools and non-maintained special schools in England and is subject to certain exceptions. If the bill is enacted, the QTS requirement would come into force on 1 September 2026.[18] Additionally, the bill would extend to academies’ existing statutory induction conditions, including which teachers are in scope, how inductions are conducted and who is responsible.[19] The government said these measures would standardise the approach taken on new teacher qualifications and inductions across state-funded schools.
Recent figures show the proportion of teachers with QTS was similar across academies and LA maintained schools in November 2023:[20]
- 97.4% of full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers in primary academies had QTS compared to 98.4% in LA maintained primary schools
- 96.5% of FTE teachers in secondary academies had QTS, compared to 97.3% in LA maintained secondary schools
4.2 Applying the national curriculum to academies
The bill would introduce a requirement for academies to teach the national curriculum in the same way as other state-funded schools.[21] The government referred to existing discrepancies between LA maintained schools and academies that it said potentially created “inconsistencies in education standards, opportunities and outcomes for pupils from different types of schools”. It said the bill’s measure would create a “common entitlement” for all children in state-funded schools and give parents assurance of the minimum curriculum their child would be taught. It has also given assurance that making academies teach the national curriculum would “empower” and not restrict schools and ensure teachers have the flexibility to “innovate and adapt” to their pupils’ needs.[22]
If the bill becomes law, this provision is not expected to be implemented immediately. The government said this measure would be commenced after its ‘curriculum and assessment review’ had concluded and a revised national curriculum introduced.[23] The review’s final report is expected to be published in autumn 2025.[24] However, the government has warned that it will take several years after the final report’s publication for the review’s recommendations to be implemented.
4.3 Extending education provision for improving behaviour to academies
Currently, LA maintained schools have the power to temporarily direct pupils off-site for the purpose of receiving educational provision which is intended to improve their behaviour.[25] This power is set out in section 29A of the Education Act 2002. Whilst the existing legislation does not apply to academies, they are able to arrange off-site placements for similar purposes using their general powers.
The bill would extend the legislation to academies to ensure they and LA maintained schools were on the same statutory footing. If enacted, academies would need to adhere to the same requirements as maintained schools such as establishing objectives for the placement and notifying local authorities in specified cases.[26] The government said this provision was not intended to change existing practices.[27] It said it would regularise the legal framework between academies and LA maintained schools to ensure they were subject to the same statutory requirements.
4.4 Introducing compliance directions for academy trusts
Currently, failure of an academy trust to comply with its legal duties is considered a breach of its funding agreement.[28] In these circumstances, the Department for Education has the power to intervene by issuing a termination warning notice followed by a termination notice if a trust fails to address the concerns. The effect of a termination notice means the removal and referral of schools from their existing academy trust to another trust. In some cases, this could cause trusts to close, which the government said can be disruptive for pupils and parents. To date, this is the only intervention method available to the government to ensure academy trusts comply with their legal duties.
The government has said it wants to increase the intervention options available.[29] It noted that academy trusts’ wide range of legal duties and powers meant that “commencing the process leading to the eventual termination [was] not always an appropriate, effective or […] proportionate course of action”. To address this, the bill would introduce a new mechanism called a ‘compliance direction’.[30] This would allow the government to intervene if a trust breached its legal obligations or acted unreasonably. The direction would specify what actions the trust must take to remedy the failure. Any failure by the trust to take further action could result in it receiving a termination warning notice or formal legal action to ensure compliance. The government said these new compliance powers would provide a proportionate way of ensuring trusts met their legal obligations whilst also protecting the interests of students, parents and carers.[31]
4.5 Removing academy orders for schools causing concern
The government has said the “forced academisation” by academy order is not always effective and can be “highly disruptive for pupils, staff and parents”.[32] To address these concerns, it wants to make this duty discretionary and has introduced a provision to this effect in the bill. Rather than defaulting to an academy order, the government said the provision would allow LA maintained schools to benefit from different approaches that suited their circumstances. For example, the secretary of state could support school improvement through other means such as the deployment of “regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) teams”.[33] RISE teams would comprise civil servants and school leader advisors who connect schools that require help with other local schools and support networks.[34]
4.6 Extending statutory pay and conditions arrangements to academy teachers
The bill would extend the statutory school teachers’ pay and conditions framework to include teachers in academy schools and alternative provision academies.[35] Currently, this framework only applies to LA maintained schools in England.[36] The government has acknowledged that most academy trusts have chosen to follow the statutory framework, with only some trusts having deviated from it.[37] However, it said this change would mean a school’s ability to innovate their pay and conditions would not be determined purely based on its administrative structure. Instead, the government said this provision would create a “core offer” which would mean all state schools had the same ability to attract and retain the best teachers. Additionally, the government stated it would consider how to build in more flexibility to the framework over and above the core offer.[38]
4.7 Removing the presumption that new schools should be academies
Where a new school is required in an area, the existing law requires LAs to invite academy proposals only.[39] Additionally, LAs are only permitted to propose new schools in limited circumstances.[40] The bill would remove this existing legal presumption that new schools should be academies. Instead, it would allow LAs to invite proposals for other types of school, in addition to proposals for academies. LAs would also be given the discretion to put forward their own proposals, alongside others. The government said this measure “better align[ed] local authorities’ responsibility for securing sufficient school places with their ability to open new schools”.
4.8 Bringing MATs into the Ofsted inspection regime
The Labour Party’s 2024 manifesto promised to “enhance” the school inspection regime in several ways, including by bringing MATs into the inspection system.[41] In September 2024, Ofsted published the outcome of its ‘big listen’ consultation, which confirmed that the organisation would work with the government on upcoming legislation to introduce MAT inspections.[42] Ofsted said expanding the inspection regime to cover all school groups would help to improve standards and ensure accountability reflected decision-making.
5. Conservative party calls for academisation
The Conservative Party has been a proponent of wider academisation of schools. For example, in 2023 the Conservative government said it wanted “to ensure all pupils and schools benefit from being in a high-quality multi-academy trust”.[43] In its paper ‘The case for a fully trust-led system’, published in 2022, it argued that the best MATs were able to “transform outcomes for pupils, particularly the most disadvantaged, and deliver improvement in schools and areas where poor performance had become entrenched”.[44]
However, not everyone supported the Conservative government’s viewpoint. For example, research by think tank the Education Policy Institute in 2017 showed mixed results on the impact of MATs on school performance.[45] Additionally, organisations such as the National Education Union have argued against the effectiveness of academisation.[46]
During the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill’s second reading debate in the House of Commons on 9 January 2025, the Conservative Party criticised the government’s plans to standardise rules relating to academies. Shadow Secretary of State for Education Laura Trott argued the bill would abolish academies “in all but name”.[47] For example, the shadow secretary of state suggested the proposal to extend statutory pay and conditions arrangements to academy teachers would be equivalent to “a pay cut for nearly 20,000 teachers in future years”.[48] Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson said that the measure would not result in a cut to teachers’ pay.[49]
The shadow education secretary also criticised the government’s plan to require academies to follow the national curriculum, asking “where is the evidence that there is a problem?”.[50] Overall, the shadow minister stated the purpose of academies was to “drive up standards by freeing them from state control”.[51] She said the bill undermined that purpose and urged the government to remove the bill’s academy provisions.
During the same debate, the Conservative Party moved a reasoned amendment to decline to give the bill its second reading.[52] This was based on various concerns it had about the bill’s academy provisions and included a call for the government to establish a national statutory inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation focused on grooming gangs. The amendment was negatived on division by 111 votes to 364.[53] The bill’s second reading was agreed to.
For information on the impact of academisation on school performance, as well as a summary of the arguments for and against academisation, see the House of Lords Library briefing ‘Improving schools’ performance: Are multi-academy trusts the answer?’ (11 September 2023).
6. Read more
- House of Lords Library, ‘Education: Multi-academy trusts’, 31 March 2022
- House of Commons Library, ‘FAQs: Academies and free schools’, 18 June 2019
- House of Commons Library, ‘Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill 2024–25’, 3 January 2025
- Department for Education, ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’, 6 June 2024
- Education Policy Institute, ‘The features of effective school groups: Measuring pupil inclusion and attainment at school-group level’, February 2024
- Education and Skills Funding Agency, ‘Engagement with academy trusts about executive pay’, 17 October 2024
- John Dickens, ‘Does Labour have an academies problem?’, Schools Week, 27 September 2024
- Nesta, ‘Ten ideas to improve England’s education system, according to conversations with the experts’, 9 September 2024
- National Foundation for Education Research, ‘National reference test 2021: Factors affecting attainment’, 18 December 2024
- Angel Solutions and Local Government Association, ‘Analysis of Ofsted inspection outcomes by school type’, 2 August 2023
- Freddie Whittaker, ‘Fact check: Do council schools really outperform academies?’, Schools Week, 3 August 2023
Cover image by Kohji Asakawa on Pixabay.
References
- HM Government, ‘Types of school: Academies’, accessed 16 January 2025. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘What is an academy and what are the benefits?’, 14 October 2021. Return to text
- HM Government, ‘Types of school: Academies’, accessed 16 January 2025. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘The case for a fully trust-led system’, March 2022. Return to text
- HM Government, ‘Types of school: Academies’, accessed 16 January 2025. Return to text
- Ofsted, ‘Summary evaluations of multi-academy trusts’, updated 31 March 2023. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’, updated 26 September 2024, table ‘Number of schools by type of school, 2015/16 to 2023/24’. Return to text
- House of Commons Library, ‘Academies under the Labour government’, 23 December 2015. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘2010 to 2015 government policy: Academies and free schools’, updated 8 May 2015. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2010 (provisional)’, 13 May 2010. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘Academies annual report: Academic year 2014 to 2015’, November 2016, HC 749 of session 2016–17, pp 14 and 31. Return to text
- House of Lords Library, ‘Improving schools’ performance: Are multi-academy trusts the answer?’, 11 September 2023. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘Academy schools sector in England: Consolidated annual report and accounts’, 31 January 2024, HC 284 of session 2023–24, p 44. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘How to understand school performance: Everything you need to know’, 19 October 2022. Return to text
- HM Government, ‘Plan for change: Milestones for mission-led government’, 5 December 2024, CP 1210 Return to text
- As above, p 35. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Policy summary notes’, December 2024, p 112. Return to text
- As above, p 113. Return to text
- As above, p 114. Return to text
- House of Commons Library, ‘Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill 2024–25’, 3 January 2025, p 120. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Policy summary notes’, December 2024, p 116. Return to text
- As above, p 117. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘Curriculum and assessment review’, accessed 16 January 2025. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Policy summary notes’, December 2024, p 117. Return to text
- As above, p 118. Return to text
- As above, p 119. Return to text
- As above, pp 118–19. Return to text
- As above, p 121. Return to text
- As above. Return to text
- As above, p 122. Return to text
- As above, p 123. Return to text
- As above, p 125. Return to text
- As above, p 126. Return to text
- Schools Week, ‘Intervention model for regional improvement teams revealed’, 5 November 2024. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Policy summary notes’, December 2024, p 128. ‘Alternative provision academies’ are schools that provide education for children who cannot go to mainstream school. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘School teachers’ pay and conditions’, updated 21 October 2024. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Policy summary notes’, December 2024, p 128. Return to text
- As above, p 130. Return to text
- As above, p 144. Return to text
- As above, p 145. Return to text
- Labour Party, ‘Labour Party manifesto 2024’, June 2024, p 83. Return to text
- Ofsted, ‘Findings of Ofsted’s big listen public consultation’, 3 September 2024. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘Academies regulatory and commissioning review’, March 2023, p 5. Return to text
- Department for Education, ‘The case for a fully trust-led system’, March 2022, p 18. Return to text
- Education Policy Institute, ‘The impact of academies on education outcomes’, 10 July 2017. Return to text
- National Education Union, ‘The NEU case against academisation’, 17 July 2024. Return to text
- HC Hansard, 8 January 2025, col 864. Return to text
- HC Hansard, 8 January 2025, col 864. Return to text
- HC Hansard, 8 January 2025, col 860. Return to text
- HC Hansard, 8 January 2025, col 865. Return to text
- HC Hansard, 8 January 2025, col 866. Return to text
- HC Hansard, 8 January 2025, cols 862–3. Return to text
- HC Hansard, 8 January 2025, cols 957–9. Return to text