Academy trust schools among the worst at raising pupil performance, new research shows

Academy trust schools are no better than ones run by local councils when it comes to raising standards, a major study has found.

Research by the Education Policy Institute ranked local authority schools and academy trust schools alongside each other.

The ranking found that academy trusts with at least five schools were among the worst schools for raising performance both at primary and secondary level.

The institute which conducted the research is chaired by David Laws, the former Liberal Democrat education minister who has previously backed policies on turning more schools into academies. He said successive governments had been “in denial” about failing academy schools. A “lot of political capital has been invested” by politicians in presenting academy schools as a success, he argued.

Mr Laws revealed that when he was a minister the Department for Education had held internal data showing weaknesses in academy trusts but had been reluctant to publish it while advocating expansion. A separate report published by the Sutton Trust has also found that academy trusts are not providing good enough education for disadvantaged pupils.

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The two warnings come following a government commitment for all schools to become academies.

Angela Rayner, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said Conservative “fixation” on academies was undermining education.

“This is yet more evidence that the Tory government’s obsession with academies as a one-size-fits-all approach for school improvement is deeply flawed,” she said. “There remain enormous challenges facing our schools under the Tories, and their fixation with structures is failing our children.”

Roy Perry, chairman of the Local Government Association's children and young people board, said some schools might be better off with councils.

“Councils have long been highlighting the fact that school structures are not a magic bullet to improve education, and what really matters is outstanding teaching and strong leadership,” he said. “Every school and every community is different, and head teachers need the freedom to choose, in partnership with parents and councils, the structure that is most appropriate for them.”