Grammar to Academy Status

In 2010 the government announced that schools would be given the right to apply to become academies. The academies would cease to be under Local Authority control, manage their own budgets, have the right to negotiate staff contracts and opt out of teaching the National Curriculum. Funding would also increase because Academies would receive the monies used by the Local Authority to provide educational services, in addition to the budget already allocated to the school.

It should be noted that this type of academy status differs entirely from the “sponsored academies” that were introduced by the previous Labour government, which were changes of status given to failing schools in an effort to improve standards.

The opportunity to move to academy status was initially given only to schools that were rated “Outstanding” by OFSTED (the Office for Standards in Education), although other schools were able to express an interest. As of 3 December 2010, the Department for Education (DfE) had received 2,280 expressions of interest from schools.

Of those expressions of interest, 1,137 were from schools designated as “Outstanding” by OFSTED, and 1,143 from other schools. By the end of 2010 there were 158 new academies from the “Outstanding” category. These included 18 grammar and partially selective schools . The figure of 158 has been quoted by opponents of the scheme as proof that it is a failure.

The academy scheme has been controversial, not least because there is concern that creaming off the funds used for central educational services to academies would deprive other, more needy schools of resources.
There were also initial suspicions that grammar schools might lose the statutory protection of requiring a parental ballot before they are turned into comprehensive schools. These fears were denied by the government, which claimed that there would be no change to the selection arrangements for grammar schools that chose to convert. These fears seem to have abated, although some grammar schools may have stepped back from the brink while they wait for more clarification.

Supporters of the scheme claim that it puts control back in the hands of those who know best – the Heads and Governors of successful schools.

Schools that have converted to academy status

This is the latest list of Grammar schools that have converted to Academies as at April 2012, including three partially selective schools (noted with a *).