Anyone who has any involvement in schools, including parents, pupils, teachers and other school staff, cannot have failed to have heard about the conversion of some schools to academies over the last few years. This aim of this site is to enable those who wish to know more to access whatever information they can. The site aims to be objective and neutral, but of course those expressing an opinion in the forums and elsewhere may well express their opinion in a subjective manner. If the school in which you have an interest is considering converting to an academy, you really should try and get whatever information you can as this is a major change, not only for your school, but also for the education system as a whole.

What is an academy?

There has been some confusion over this. Academies were a concept introduced by the previous Labour government. They used them to try and turn around failing schools. This met with a varying degree of success. Academies of this sort involved closing down the old school, removing the leadership team, renaming the school and re-opening it in partnership with a private sector group.

More recently, the Coalition government has adapted the system and the latest wave of schools becoming academies have an OFSTED rating of at least "good with outstanding features", though most recently, the government has made it possible for any school to apply to become an academy. This new style of academy is voluntary, does not require a commercial partner and does not involve a change of leadership team.

Why would a school wish to become an academy?

• At present, when schools receive their annual funding from central government, they receive it via their local authority (LEA). The LEA is allowed to hold back a certain percentage of this funding to pay for services which they provide to the school. If a school becomes an academy, the whole funding is released to them. Academies will, of course, have to spend some of this to buy in some of those services they will no longer receive from the LEA, but many schools believe that they will be able to buy these for less than the previous cost, thereby making some savings.
• Academies are given more freedom to alter their curriculum than the freedoms available under the current National Curriculum
• Heads of academies have more control over their spending than those of schools. They have direct control over the pay of their staff, their spending and precisely what services they buy and from where.

Why would a school not wish to become an academy?

• Teaching staff are very wary because when a school becomes an academy, the national pay and conditions under which they currently work (effectively their contract), is no longer valid. The new academy can vary the pay and conditions of its staff as it sees fit, although the initial pay and conditions of the staff are protected under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)). The current pay and conditions protect teachers from being taken advantage of by their employers and ensure that they are paid fairly.
• The extra funding received initially by academies is only guaranteed for the first year. The government does not intend academies to necessarily have a financial advantage over LEA schools.
• Educationalists see this move as a step towards dismantling the education structure which has been developed in England and Wales over the last 150 years.

Who can I ask for more information?

If your school is considering becoming and academy you should ask for as many opinions as you can. In most schools which have converted so far, the main opinion put forward has been that of the headteacher. If you are a teacher or other member of staff, you should also discuss the process with your union representatives. There are also lots of online resources, some of which we link to from this site. If you are a parent or a student, you should also make sure you ask the teachers at your school about their opinion as many of them are also quite clued up. This is a significant moment in the history of education and there are many differing opinions out there about whether it will be a good moment or a bad one. If you wish to ask any questions, you may also use our forum. We would love the debate to be extensive!