Councils should take schools back from struggling academy chains, says education report

The government should allow some academies to return to local authority control, a new report says.

Strong performing councils should to be able to take on schools in struggling academy trusts – in the same way a local authority-run school can be moved to an academy chain, a think-tank has said.

The study, from the Education Policy Institute (EPI), found little difference in the performance of schools run by academy chains and those run by councils – as standards vary between the different types of schools.

Authors of the study used data to examine the improvement in results at GCSE and age 11 among schools in England run by multi-academy trusts (MATs) and those run by local councils.

It found local councils make up 15 of the top 20 performing school groups at primary level. Of the 20 lowest performing school groups, 12 are academy chains and eight are councils.

At secondary level, 14 of the top 20 performing groups are at academy chains, and the rest are local councils. The lowest performers at secondary level included 11 authorities and 10 academy chains.

David Laws, executive chairman of the EPI and former Liberal Democrat education minister, said: “For many years, supporters of both academy schools and local authority-run schools have argued about the relative merits of both models for school improvement.

“This new EPI report is clear; there are both great academy chains and badly performing chains and there are great local authority school groups and very weak ones.

“Neither full academisation nor a wholesale return to the old local authority model is likely to significantly improve attainment in English schools.”

In 2016, the government planned to force all schools to transform into academies – but the education secretary at the time, Nicky Morgan, was forced to make a U-turn after the plans to decrease the role of local authorities was met with widespread opposition.

Councillor Roy Perry, vice-chairman of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) children and young people board, said: “What is more important to councils than the type of school is that every child gets the education they deserve and that will serve them best.

“This is why government needs to allow councils to be the effective education improvement partners they can be, ready and able to support schools of all types.

“There are so many ways councils can help schools and they are the democratic voice of a local community with respect to education.”

On the proposal to allow academies to come under council control, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “We can see no reason why the government should not explore further any option which potentially improves the life chances of young people.”

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), added: “This is simple common sense and would be welcomed by many communities who have seen their local schools taken over by unaccountable and negligent academy chains.

“Indeed it’s a demand that has already been made, many times. Notably in the case of the collapse of the Wakefield City Academies Trust where parents were forced to watch in dismay as their schools were then transferred to another set of unaccountable academy trusts without proper consultation or consideration for the needs and priorities of the community.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Academies free up leaders to do innovative, ground-breaking things to raise standards in our schools.

“This report acknowledges the flexibility academy status offers and we disagree that the solution is to place schools back under local authority control.

“Instead, we are empowering academies and trusts to drive improvements and share expertise.

“The results speak for themselves, with 1.9 million more pupils in good or outstanding schools than in 2010 – 480,000 of those pupils study in sponsored academies that, typically, were previously underperforming schools, often for many years.

“To ensure this continues we are providing £45m in targeted funding for successful multi-academy trusts to tackle underperformance and improve schools in areas across the country that lack capacity.”