Three times as many academy schools

One in six secondary schools now an academy, figures show

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• Jessica Shepherd, education correspondent
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 7 April 2011 15.00 BST
• Article history

Michael Gove envisages that the majority of schools are expected to turn into academies in the near future. Photograph: Sang Tan/AP
The number of academy schools in England has trebled over the last year to one in six secondary schools, government figures show. Statistics from the Department for Education reveal that the majority of secondary schools are academies in six local authorities. These include Southwark and Bromley, in south London, and Plymouth and Reading. Academies are schools that have opted out of the control of their local authority and may receive funds from charities or corporate sponsors. Under Labour, the academies programme focused on turning weak or underperforming schools into academies. Michael Gove, the education secretary, envisages that the majority of schools are expected to turn into academies in the near future. He has used emergency anti-terrorism legislation to change the law to allow all schools to acquire academy status. Academies can set their own pay and conditions for staff, set aside parts of the curriculum and change the length of the school day. The statistics show that the academy model is far more popular in secondary schools than primaries. Some 547 secondary schools are now academies – 16.5% of the total. But just 82 primary schools are academies – 0.5% of the total. There are now 629 Academies open, compared to 203 in May last year. In London, the south-west and the east of England, schools are particularly likely to become academies. They are least likely to convert to become academies in the north-east of the country. The government said it would now consider applications from schools for children with special needs that wanted to become academies. Lord Hill, minister for schools, said that "by setting good schools free and improving performance in weak schools, we will raise standards for all children no matter what their background".