Academy (England) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Education in England

Education in England is overseen by the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Local authorities take responsibility for implementing policy for public education and state schools at a regional level....

, an academy is a school that is directly funded by central government (specifically, the Department for Education

Department for Education

The Department for Education is a department of the UK government responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education....

) and independent of control by local government in England. An academy may receive additional support from personal or corporate sponsors, either financially or in kind. They must meet the National Curriculum core subject requirements and are subject to inspection by Ofsted

Ofsted

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....

. Academies are self-governing and most are constituted as registered charities

Charitable organization

A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...

or operated by other educational charities. Most are secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

s, i.e. for pupils aged 11 to 16, but some cater for children from nursery age upwards, i.e. for children aged 4 and upwards. All academies have a curriculum specialism within the English Specialist Schools Programme (SSP)

Specialist school

The specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme...

.

The Blair ministry

Blair Ministry

Tony Blair was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for three successive parliamentary terms from 1997-2007. His Cabinet was reshuffled for each new parliament as well as changed during the three periods.-Formation:...

established academies in 2000. The chief architect of the policy was Andrew Adonis (now Lord Adonis, former Secretary of State

Secretary of State

Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....

at the Department for Transport

Department for Transport

In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...

) in his capacity as education advisor to the Prime Minister

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

in the late 1990s.

In May 2010 there were 203 academies in England. The Academies Act 2010 sought to expand the number of academies and additionally extended academies with the introduction of the Free Schools Programme

Free school (England)

A Free school is a school in England funded by the taxpayer, non-selective and free to attend but not controlled by local authorities. The concept of free schools is based upon a similar model found in Sweden as well as US charter schools....

. By April 2011, the number of academies had increased to 629, and by August 2011, reached 1070.

The introduction of academy schools was not without opposition, notably from trades unions and many within the Labour Party, such as former party leader Lord Kinnock

Neil Kinnock

Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock is a Welsh politician belonging to the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995 and as Labour Leader and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from 1983 until 1992 - his leadership of the party during nearly nine years making him...

. There are no academies in Wales as education there is controlled by the Welsh Government which has showed no inclination to adopt the Academy model.

Definition

An academy in the education system in England

Education in England

is a type of school which is independent of Local Education Authority

Local Education Authority

A local education authority is a local authority in England and Wales that has responsibility for education within its jurisdiction...

control but is publicly funded

Public sector

The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...

, with some private sponsorship. It is roughly equivalent to the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

charter school

Charter school

Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter...

. This type of school was initiated in 2000 and known as a city academy for the first few years, but the term was changed to "academy" by an amendment

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

in the Education Act 2002

Education Act 2002

The Education Act 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Main provisions:The act significantly amended legislation relating to academies, publicly-funded schools operating outside of local government control and with a significant degree of autonomy areas such as wages and...

.

City academies were legally created by the Learning and Skills Act 2000

Learning and Skills Act 2000

The Learning and Skills Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It made changes in the funding and administration of further education, and of work-based learning for young people, within England and Wales....

, which amended the section of the Education Act 1996 relating to City Technology College

City Technology College

In England, a City Technology College is a state-funded all-ability secondary school that charges no fees but is independent of local authority control, being overseen directly by the Department for Education....

s. They were first announced in a speech by David Blunkett

David Blunkett

David Blunkett is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010...

, then Secretary of State for Education and Skills

Secretary of State for Education and Skills

The Secretary of State for Education is the chief minister of the Department for Education in the United Kingdom government. The position was re-established on 12 May 2010, held by Michael Gove....

, in 2000.

Academies are intended to address the problem of entrenched failure within English schools with low academic achievement, or schools situated in communities with little or no academic aspirations. Often these schools have been placed in "special measures

Special measures

Special measures is a status applied by Ofsted and Estyn, the schools inspection agencies, to schools in England and Wales, respectively, when it considers that they fail to supply an acceptable level of education and appear to lack the leadership capacity necessary to secure improvements...

", a term denoting a school that is "failing or likely to fail to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education".

Features of an academy

Academies are established in a way that is intended to be "creative" and "innovative" in order to give them the freedoms considered necessary to deal with the long-term issues they are intended to solve. Each academy has a private sponsor who can be an individual (such as Sir David Garrard, who sponsors Business Academy Bexley

Business Academy Bexley

The Business Academy Bexley is a school for ages 3–19 in South Thamesmead, the London Borough of Bexley, England, operating under the Academy programme for schools which are independently run but receive public funding. The secondary school opened in 2002, and relocated to dedicated premises in...

) or an organisation (such as the United Learning Trust

United Learning Trust

The United Learning Trust is an education charity and the largest single sponsor of academies in the UK with 20 academies and one City Technology College currently open. ULT's objective is to bring out "the best in everyone", driving educational improvement across its family of academies and...

or Amey plc

Amey plc

Amey plc, previously known as Amey Ltd and Amey Roadstone Construction, is a United Kingdom based infrastructure support service provider. It was once listed on the London Stock Exchange but since 2003 it has been a subsidiary of Spanish company Grupo Ferrovial, S.A....

). These sponsors are intended to bring "qualities of success" to academies, again to help them change the long-term trend of failure in the schools they replace (known as predecessor schools).

In return for an investment of 10% of the academy's capital costs (up to a maximum of £2m), the sponsor is able to influence the process of establishing the school, including its curriculum

Curriculum

See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...

, ethos

Ethos

Ethos is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology. The Greeks also used this word to refer to the power of music to influence its hearer's emotions, behaviors, and even morals. Early Greek stories of...

, specialism and building (if a new one is being built). The Department has recently become more flexible about the requirement for this financial investment in a move to encourage successful existing schools and charities to become sponsors. The sponsor also has the power to appoint governors

School governors

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, school governors are members of a school's Governing Body. In state schools they have responsibility for raising school standards through their three key roles of setting strategic direction, ensuring accountability and acting as a critical friend...

to the academy's governing body. Academies typically replace one or more existing schools, although some are newly established. The remainder of the capital and running costs are met by the state in the usual way for UK state schools - through grants funded by the local authority.

Academies are expected to follow a broad and balanced curriculum, but with a particular focus on one or more areas. Current specialisms include: science; arts; business and enterprise; computing; engineering; maths and computing; modern foreign languages; performing arts; sport; and technology. Academies can select up to 10% of pupils by aptitude

Aptitude

An aptitude is an innate component of a competency to do a certain kind of work at a certain level. Aptitudes may be physical or mental...

for the school's specialism in a way similar to specialist school

Specialist school

s. Although academies are required to follow the national curriculum in the core subjects of maths, English and science, they are otherwise free to innovate, although they still participate in the same Key Stage 3

Key Stage 3

Key Stage 3 is the legal term for the three years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9, when pupils are aged between 11 and 14...

and GCSE exams as other English schools (which effectively means they teach a curriculum very similar to maintained schools, with small variations).

In terms of their governance, academies are established as companies limited by guarantee with a governing body that acts as a Trust. The governors also act as the Trust's Board of Directors

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

(they are legally, but not financially, accountable for the operation of the academy). The Trust serves as the legal entity which the school is part of, and the governing body oversees the running of the school (although the day to day management of the school is, as in most schools, conducted by the principal and their senior management team, who are appointed by the sponsor).

Support for the academies scheme

Whilst still in the fairly early stage of development, supporters point to emerging data showing "striking" improvements in GCSE results for academies compared to their predecessors, with early results showing that "GCSE results are improving twice as fast in academies as in state schools".

In an article in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...

that regarded many of the Government's claims for academies with scepticism, journalist Geraldine Bedell

Geraldine Bedell

Geraldine Bedell is a British novelist. She is a writer for The Observer. She is married to Charles Leadbeater and sister of Elaine Bedell....

conceded that:

They seem, so far, to be working - not all as spectacularly as Mossbourne, but much better than most of the struggling inner-city schools they replaced.

The article singles out the cited academy, Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney

London Borough of Hackney

The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....

, as "apparently the most popular [school] in Britain - at least with politicians" and "the top school in the country for value-added results".

Criticism of and opposition to the academies scheme

Academies are controversial, and their existence has frequently been opposed and challenged by politicians, commentators, teachers and teachers' unions, and parents. Even after several years of operation and with a number of academies open and reporting successes, the programme continues to come under attack for creating schools that are said to be, among other things, a waste of money, selective, damaging to the schools and communities around them, forced on parents who do not want them, and a move towards privatisation of education "by the back door".

The House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

Education & Skills Select Committee

The Education & Skills Select Committee was a Committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The official name was the House of Commons, Education and Skills Committee....

reported in March 2005 that it would have been wiser to limit the programme to 30 or 50 academies in order to evaluate the results before expanding the programme, and that "the rapid expansion of the Academy policy comes at the expense of rigorous evaluation". The Select Committee was concerned that the promising results achieved by some academies may be due to increased exclusions of harder-to-teach pupils. They noted that two Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

academies had expelled 61 pupils, compared to just 15 from all other secondary schools in the borough.

The programme of creating academies has also been heavily criticised by some for handing schools to private sector entrepreneurs who in many cases have no experience of the education sector - most infamously, the Evangelical Christian car dealer, Sir Peter Vardy

Peter Vardy (businessman)

Sir Peter Vardy is a British businessman and philanthropist from Houghton-le-Spring in Durham. His business interests have been mainly in the automotive retail business...

, who has been accused of promoting the teaching of creationism

Creationism

Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...

alongside macroevolution

Macroevolution

Macroevolution is evolution on a scale of separated gene pools. Macroevolutionary studies focus on change that occurs at or above the level of species, in contrast with microevolution, which refers to smaller evolutionary changes within a species or population.The process of speciation may fall...

in his Emmanuel Schools Foundation

Emmanuel Schools Foundation

The Emmanuel Schools Foundation is a charitable trust which has been involved in education since 1989.ESF sponsored four schools: Emmanuel City Technology College in Gateshead , The King's Academy in Middlesbrough , Trinity Academy in Thorne, Doncaster and Bede Academy in Blyth, Northumberland...

academies. This is also linked to the wider debate in the education sector as to the benefits or otherwise of the growing role of religion in the school system being promoted by the New Labour government in general, and Tony Blair in particular, with many academies (one estimate puts it at "more than half") being sponsored either by religious groups or organisations/individuals with a religious affiliation.

Former leader of the Labour Party Neil Kinnock has criticised the academies scheme saying that they were a "distortion of choice" because they allowed schools to choose pupils, not parents to choose schools. He said they risked creating a "seller's market" with "schools selecting parents and children instead of parents selecting schools".

There are indications that several city academies are failing. Ofsted has placed the Unity Academy in Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

and the Richard Rose Central Academy in Carlisle

City of Carlisle

The City of Carlisle is a local government district of Cumbria, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. It is named after its largest settlement, Carlisle, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Brampton and Longtown, as well as outlying villages...

under special measures

Special measures

, heavily criticised the West London Academy in Ealing

Ealing

Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...

and condemned standards at the Business Academy

Business Academy Bexley

in Bexley

Bexley

Bexley is an South East London]] in the London Borough of Bexley, London, England. It is located on the banks of the River Cray south of the Roman Road, Watling Street...

, Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, which is now earmarked for closure.

The Richard Rose Central Academy in Carlisle

City of Carlisle

, sponsored by Eddie Stobart owner Andrew Tinkler, and local businessman Brian Scowcroft opened in September 2008. By January 2009, there were protests by parents and pupils regarding poor quality education and school facilities. The school was found to be failing and was placed in special measures, with the headmaster and chief executive being immediately replaced.

The programme has further been attacked for its expense: it costs on average £25m to build an academy, much of which is taken up by the costs of new buildings. Critics contend that this is significantly more than it costs to build a new local authority school. Some operators are paying senior staff six-figure salaries, partly funded by central government.

Party policies

The Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

has supported the academy proposal from its inception, only adding the caveat that the scheme should go further. This accord was reflected in a remark made by Conservative spokesman David Willetts

David Willetts

David Linsay Willetts is a British Conservative Party politician and the Minister of State for Universities and Science. He is the Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Havant in Hampshire.-Education:...

in 2006:

I am more authentically Andrew Adonis than Andrew Adonis is.

In 2004, the Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

were reported as being "split" on the issue, ruling that academies should not be mentioned in the party's education policy. The position of Phil Willis

Phil Willis

George Philip Willis, Baron Willis of Knaresborough is a politician in the United Kingdom. He is a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, and was Member of Parliament for Harrogate and Knaresborough from 1997 until retiring at the 2010 general election...

, the education spokesman at the time, was summarised as:

… there [are] no plans to abolish either city academies or specialist schools if the Lib Dems came to power, though "they would be brought under local authority control".

In 2005, Willis' successor, Ed Davey, argued that academies were creating a "two-tier education system" and called for the academy programme to be halted until "a proper analysis can be done".

As of 2008, academies are supported by all three main political parties, with a further cross-party initiative to extend the programme into primary schools currently being considered.

In 2010 the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats coalition government

Cameron Ministry

David Cameron is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, after being invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a new government after the resignation as Prime Minister of Gordon Brown on 11 May 2010. Leading a coalition government formed by the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, the coalition...

announced plans to expand the academy programme with the Academies Act 2010. In May 2010 the Education secretary Michael Gove

Michael Gove

Michael Andrew Gove, MP is a British politician, who currently serves as the Secretary of State for Education and as the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the Surrey Heath constituency. He is also a published author and former journalist.Born in Edinburgh, Gove was raised in Aberdeen...

wrote to all state schools in England inviting them to opt out of Local Authority Control and convert to academy status. Gove also stated that some academies could be created in time for the new Academic year in September 2010. As of 23 July 2010, 153 schools in England had applied for academy status, lower than the prediction that more than 1,000 would do so. In spite of the expanding Academy programme, in August 2010 Gove announced that 75 existing academy rebuild projects were likely to be scaled back.

Comparisons

The city academy programme was originally based on the programme of City Technology College

City Technology College

s (CTCs) created by the Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

government under Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

in the 1980s, which were also business-sponsored.

Currently, the Government is encouraging CTCs to convert to academies; several have already done so (for example, Djanogly CTC is now Djanogly City Academy

Djanogly City Academy

Djanogly City Academy is a City Academy secondary school in Nottingham, UK. The academy specialises in the use of ICT and has been open since 2003 when it replaced the oversubscribed Djanogly CTC, a City Technology College....

).

Academies differ from CTCs in several ways; most notably, academies cannot select more than 10% of pupils by ability, whereas CTCs can.

Academies have been compared to US charter school

Charter school

s, which are publicly funded schools largely independent of state and federal control.

of academies

A number of private and charitable organizations run groups of academies. These major operators include ARK (Absolute Return for Kids)

Absolute Return for Kids

Absolute Return for Kids is an international children's charity based in the United Kingdom.ARK is a registered charity under English law and is based in London...

, Academies Enterprise Trust, Edutrust Academies Charitable Trust (E-ACT), Emmanuel Schools Foundation

Emmanuel Schools Foundation

, Harris Federation

Harris Federation

Harris Federation is a federation of Primary and Secondary academies in South London, England. There are currently fourteen open academies in the federation which span over five London boroughs including the London Borough of Croydon, London Borough of Southwark, London Borough of Bexley, London...

, Learning Schools Trust

Learning Schools Trust

The Learning Schools Trust is a charitable trust that operates Kunskapsskolan sponsored academy schools in the United Kingdom.Learning Schools Trust operates three academy schools in England. Hampton Academy and Twickenham Academy are located in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, while...

, Oasis Trust

Oasis Trust

Oasis Trust is a UK-based Christian registered charity. It was founded by Rev Steve Chalke in August 1985, who had been assistant minister at Tonbridge Baptist Church, Kent, for four years...

, Ormiston Academies Trust, Priory Federation, Schools Partnership Trust and United Learning Trust

United Learning Trust

External links

The DCSF Academies website
Specialist Schools official website
Anti Academies Alliance
In Defence of Academies by a pupil at Greig City Academy
Greig City Academy
Greig City Academy is a co-educational secondary school within the English academy programme, in the borough of Haringey. The successor to The School of St. David and St...

, 12 October 2006.
"Do academy schools really work?", Lisa Freedman, Prospect magazine, 24 February 2010.

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