The Committee Report will be useful for education professionals working within the academy programme wishing to find examples of good practice and compare their own institutions against the Commons’ expectations.
Academies and free schools
Synopsis
Since 2010 the Academies Programme has introduced ‘healthy competition’ into English schools that may have helped drive improvement, according to the Education Select Committee. However, the Committee argues that the Department for Education needs to become more open about how it runs the programme and give Ofsted full powers to inspect academy chains in order to ensure all children have access to a quality education.
The report suggests that while some academy chains perform well in raising attainment, “others achieve worse outcomes creating huge disparities within the academy sector and compared to other mainstream schools”. The Committee recommends giving additional powers to Ofsted, allowing them to inspect academy chains in the same way it does schools within local authorities.
The Committee Chair, Graham Stuart MP, concludes “more evidence is urgently needed on the impact of academy status on primary schools and particular efforts made to encourage them to work in collaboration”.