This House of Lords Library briefing provides background reading in advance of the question for short debate on 12 September 2016 about what plans the Government has to ensure that all teachers at academies and free schools are fully qualified.
Teachers at Academies and Free Schools: Qualifications (102 KB , PDF)
On 12 September 2016, the House of Lords will debate how the Government “intends to ensure that all teachers at academies and free schools are fully qualified”. Academies are publicly funded independent schools. They are run by an academy trust, which employs the staff, and receive money direct from the government, rather than the local authority (LA). Unlike maintained schools, they do not need to follow the national curriculum and can set their own term times. However, they do need to follow the same rules as schools when it comes to admissions, exclusions and special educational needs. Similar to academies, free schools can choose not to follow the national curriculum and can set the length of their own school terms. According to the Department for Education, in January 2016 there were 20,179 state-funded primary and secondary schools in England. Of these, as at 1 July 2016, 73 percent were LA maintained, 26 percent were academies and 1 percent were free schools, with 3,125 academies and 117 free schools providing 19 percent of primary education, and 2,028 academies and 120 free schools providing 66 percent of secondary education. In July 2012, the Coalition Government announced that new academies would be able to employ teachers who do not possess a teaching qualification, with the same policy already in place for free schools.
Teachers at Academies and Free Schools: Qualifications (102 KB , PDF)
Schools are currently required to actively promote British values. These values were taken from the 2011 Prevent strategy. The Education (Values of British Citizenship) Bill [HL] would require any statement relating to British values for education purposes, made by public authorities in England and Wales, to include certain values, some of which are different from those currently set out.
![Education (Values of British Citizenship) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 12 of 2024–25](https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/Education-568x426.jpg)
In its manifesto ahead of the 2024 general election, the Labour Party stated that if elected it would remove the current exemption from VAT and business rates for independent schools. The impact of this measure has been debated; some estimate a net benefit to the government of £1.3bn to £1.5bn, while others argue it could result in a net cost.
In recent years, many universities have faced financial challenges. This has been attributed to several factors, including the impact of inflation on the real-terms value of tuition fee income from undergraduates, a dependence on international student numbers and increases in the cost of living. These challenges have led to some universities reducing their education provision and staffing allocations.
