"Many of the academies established so far are performing
impressively in delivering the intended improvements. It cannot be
assumed, however, that academies' performance to date is an
accurate predictor of how the model will perform when generalised
more widely. Existing academies have been primarily about school
improvement in deprived areas, while new academies will often be
operating in very different educational and social
settings."
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 10
September 2010
The National Audit Office has reported that many academies are
performing impressively in delivering the Academies Programme's
intended improvements. Most are achieving greater rates of
improvement in academic attainment than their predecessor
schools.
New legislation and government plans mean that the Programme is
likely to expand significantly in the coming years, giving
successful schools greater freedoms as well as tackling
underperformance. The NAO warns in today's report that academies'
performance to date cannot be assumed to be an accurate predictor
of how the model will perform when generalized over many more
schools, given that the future number is likely to include schools
with a much wider range of attainment, and operating in very
different community settings.
Overall, academies have increased the rate of improvement in
GCSE results when compared with trends in their predecessor
schools. And although still below the national average, the
proportion of pupils achieving five or more A*-C GCSEs is improving
at a faster rate than in maintained schools with similar intakes.
However, a small number of academies have made little progress,
particularly when English and mathematics are taken into
account.
The proportion of academy pupils from socially disadvantaged
backgrounds has reduced, although it remains over twice the
national average, and academies now have higher absolute numbers of
these pupils on average than when they first opened. The
performance of academy pupils from more challenging circumstances
(those who are registered as eligible for free school meals, have
English as an additional language or have special educational
needs) has improved over time. However, the attainment gap between
these pupils and others has grown wider in academies than in
maintained schools with similar intakes, since less disadvantaged
pupils appear to benefit more immediately from improved standards
at the academy.
The rate at which new academies have been opening has increased
rapidly in recent years, creating challenges around timely staff
restructuring and appointment of senior teams. If not dealt with
effectively, these challenges can impact significantly on teaching
and learning, financial health and longer-term sustainability. Some
academies have found it difficult to achieve financial balance
without additional funding. The Department has identified that just
over a quarter of academies may require additional financial or
managerial support to secure their longer-term financial health,
and a significant number have not received the financial
contributions originally pledged by their sponsors.
The expansion of the Programme increases the scale of risks to
value for money - particularly in the areas of financial
sustainability, governance and management capacity. With greater
numbers of academies opening in recent years, the Department's
capacity to administer and monitor the Programme has been
stretched, particularly as funding is administered on an individual
basis. Responsibility for administering and monitoring open
academies has now transferred to the Young People's Learning
Agency, and plans for faster expansion of the Programme will also
put pressure on the Agency's resources.
Publication details:
HC: 288, 2010-2011
ISBN: 9780102965476