Government to introduce more new academies
As many as 1,000 academy schools could be created under new legislation being introduced today.
Education secretary Nicky Morgan said the government’s new education and adoption bill will “sweep away bureaucratic and legal loopholes” that previously prevented schools from being improved. The new law is expected to limit the powers of local campaign groups and force councils and local authorities to move quickly to convert failing schools into academies.
“Hundreds of schools, often in disadvantaged areas, are already being turned around thanks to the help of strong academy sponsors – education experts who know exactly what they have to do to make a failing school outstanding,” Morgan said. “This bill will allow them to do their job faster and more effectively, ensuring that thousands more pupils from across the country get the world-class education they deserve.”
The previous government intervened in about half of schools rated “inadequate” by the education regulator Ofsted. Morgan said that the new bill will allow interventions in a projected 1,000 schools over the course of the current parliament.