Comments were made during the run up to the election around the threat that a new government would take the country back to the 1980s. In relation to the scant details we know of the education policies of the new government, that idea may not be too far off the mark….
The coalition agreement includes a commitment to reform education to allow new providers into the market to meet parental demands and provide greater freedom for schools. The reforms suggest a re-invention of the structural reforms proposed in the Education Reform Act 1988 which provided the sector with grant-maintained schools (GM) and City Technology Colleges (the forerunner of academies). It is those models which could form the basis of the Education Reform Bill in 2010. The hope is that such sweeping reforms will be in place in time for these freedoms to be implemented by September. Legislation will be announced in the Queen's Speech on 25 May 2010.
It appears that structural reform will be based on an extension of the academy movement:
- existing education providers will be given the opportunity to run schools as academies by September 2011 when those schools have been in special measures for over a year;
- schools rated "outstanding" by Ofsted will be given an automatic right to become academies;
- all schools will be given the right to convert to academy status, including primary schools;
- all schools will be offered the chance to enjoy "academy style freedoms" to liberate heads and teachers;
- introduction of "free schools" into the education sector with proposals brought forward by parents, teachers, charities, faith groups and other interested parties;
- new Technical Academies will be created to increase diversity for 14-19 year olds.
Reform in some areas will be greater than in others - it takes time to establish an academy or a school as there are consultation processes to follow under existing education legislation - and what of the role of local authorities in the school commissioning process? Does reform means removal of those issues?
The more interesting area is the transfer of outstanding schools to academy status or the giving of academy freedoms to schools. What does this mean and does it include primary, secondary and special schools?
At the moment we just don't know, but it could take various forms. It could be seen as a "trust school plus" model taking into account a trust school's freedoms around land, staffing and admissions but with greater freedoms linked to a revised curriculum or removal of the restrictions imposed by the School Teacher's Pay & Conditions Document.
It could go further and take the school out of local authority control altogether and replicate the funding arrangements for academies (coming from central government). If funding follows that pattern, we clearly would have gone back to the future and created an updated and modified version of the grant-maintained school for this century - Genetically Modified GM Schools?
Or, it could build on the "existing school sponsoring an academy" model using a school company to run the school on an academy basis, funded directly by central government.
For all these options, timing is the key. Current school organisation legislation requires at least two periods of public consultation to change category to trust or close a school and replace it with an academy. Time periods of 12 weeks plus are required for the process - if all runs smoothly…..and with no more than 16 weeks until the start of the next academic year it is going to be a rather intensive exercise.
Another link back to the 1980s is the re-emergence of the Department for Education to replace the Department for Children, Schools and Families. There is clearly a sound reason for this given the trouble the Conservatives were caused by minors during that decade!
Richard Freeth, our education lead, has experience of advising on academies, trust schools and school organisation issues and education generally. If you would like to have a further discussion around the potential opportunities, please contact him on 0121 214 3710 or richard.freeth@anthonycollins.com.