The first thing to say is that academy status does seem to produce better results at GCSE than when the schools were state run. There is a higher rate of A*-C passes with most achieving the government's minimum benchmark of 53 per cent pass rate.
There is also an argument that the academy schools offer the chance of a longer school day with better provision for students to undertake extra-curricular activities. I have a teacher friend who has just begun a placement at an academy in East London. The school starts at 8 and there are numerous activities which go on until 530 in the evening. This keeps students from being bored and out on the streets. Their home time coincides much more with the average working day.
In terms of the problems, however, there are many. Academy schools are heavily oversubscribed and while 30 percent of the students are eligible for free school meals, there are questions over how easy the new school structures and systems are to navigate, especially for the less educated or less pushy parents.
There is also a problem in only partially introducing academies and that they are heavily concentrated in London. Over 60 per cent of academies are in the capital. The rural population do not have an equal opportunity to access such schools.
Another issue is that they reflect and promote a very narrow view of what education is for. They are still exam results focused and in one academy the school mantra is 'climbing the mountain to university together.' Such a statement is truly an abhorrent realization of the perverted value system we now adhere to. University should not be the single end goal of all students, but in suggesting this is the only way to success we doom some students to failure and we restrict options for other students. Not all students should go to university but neither should they be devalued for not 'climbing' that mountain. The introduction of the EBacc will only add to a narrowing of this sad vector of what subjects and careers we perceive as valuable. Ultimately it engenders the idea that lawyers, bankers and the corporate world is at the heart of what is useful. How can we hope to revitalize industry and other vocations?
When local authorities run schools they have to make provision for the disabled and those with very special learning needs. There is no guarantee that these will be provided by the academy. The transition also breaks the links with other local authority services.
The constant changes to the way the school is governed also creates extra work for teachers. And in this final point, the government has strong-armed many schools into becoming academies with little or no consultation with teachers and staff. In fact every teaching union remains in opposition to the academy schools programme. Nevertheless Gove continues to push ahead with little consideration for those who will have to live with his decisions.
