Are Academies working for our Children?
- Mable Green
- Aug 28
- 4 min read
National School Boards in 1909, and local authorities had different land and financial boundaries.
They said that Academies will bring change, more freedom, and autonomy to schools, taking out a layer of bureaucracy as more money comes to the schools from the government. The plan was for many schools to join as Multi-Academy Trusts to share the sourcing of services to get the best value for money, as it would be for many schools at a time. The extra layer of bureaucracy of the Local Authority would go, and the academics would deal directly with the government. The Trusts could set the teachers’ and other professionals’ wages, getting the best for their pupils and doing long-awaited building repairs.
What is the board of trustees?
A layer of bureaucracy between the schools and the Government.
Has this happened?
Three types
Converters - Formerly council-run schools that turn into an Academy Trust.
Sponsored: Previously run council schools judged by Ofsted as under-functioning, supported by a Multi-Academy Trust.
Free Schools: Parents, teachers, and churches run these schools as a charity.
Multi: Academy Trusts are charities and are companies limited by guarantee. The trustees are company directors. Unlike other charities, Schools, Academies, colleges, and universities have Trustees. The Trustees are governors on a board.
Charity Status
The Academies Act 2010 makes significant changes to the framework for academies. It deems that all academies approved by the Secretary of State are automatically charities and that all existing academies became exempt charities when the Secretary of State for Education became their Principal Regulator.’
Monitoring Schools
Ofsted continues to assess and have shared accountability with the Multi-Academy Trusts to produce the best education for their pupils. The Government decided that schools rated ‘Excellent’ didn’t need routine checks. Some schools had not been inspected for up to 10 years. After Covid, many schools rated 'Excellent' have now been inspected.
The Academy has to follow an evidence-based curriculum delivered to the teachers. A curriculum is designed and standardised for all the primary schools in the trust.
While the Multi-Academy Trust has eliminated a tier between the school and the Government, the Department of National and Regional Schools Commissioners added another layer.
The Department of National and Regional Schools Commissioners
The Commissioners worked in their region to improve the outcomes of children’s education, social care and SEND. They work on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education.
Regional directors’ primary responsibilities include:
Addressing underperformance in schools, academies, children’s social care and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services, offering support, and where necessary, intervening to deliver rapid improvement
making decisions on academy sponsor matches and significant changes to academies
deciding on new free schools
making decisions on the creation, consolidation and growth of multi-academy trusts (MATs)
Supporting local authorities to ensure that every local area has sufficient places for pupils
delivering across several key programmes by building the department’s presence locally through working closely with stakeholders, local authorities, MATs, Ofsted, and other local government departments
Making sure local needs inform policy development
leading the response to area-wide special educational needs (SEN) inspections, ensuring effective challenge and support to enable areas of weakness to be remedied quickly
taking the lead on safeguarding cases in their region
promoting financial health in the academy trusts and free schools sectors
leading on non-financial governance and safeguarding in their region
delivering across several key programmes emerging from the school's white paper, the SEND and AP green paper, and from the care review
Monitoring Academies
The regional Schools Commissioners work with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) to provide educational funding for children, young people, and adults. They monitor Academies, ensuring they work within the Academy guidelines and supporting failing trusts.
Regional School Administrators
Regional Schools Administrators overseeing the progress of the Academies and Free Schools is a good thing. The Government does not directly manage the increasing growth of Academies.
In December, in a written answer to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, the DfE’s permanent secretary, Chris Wormald, estimated the running costs for the RSCs and their offices for the first year at £4.5 million.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Academies
Advantages
Groups of schools can work together on curricula and share research and expertise.
Manage own budgets
Source the best price for services for many schools within a trust
The Government performs financial regulation, so greater accountability than a council-run school
Disadvantages
Multi-Academy trust is seen as a ‘flagship’ for privatisation, bringing market forces into schools|
Sky-high salaries for leaders of Multi-Trust Academies
The average teaching staff salary is lower than in the Council-run school
Academies have reduced the voice of the community, staff and parents.
Undermine professional autonomy with standardised teaching methods
There is excessive accountability and inspection via learning walks. Book checks and constant teacher observations fuel increased workload and pressure.
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