By Lucy Phillips
30 July 2010
The government has published a list of more than 150 ‘outstanding’ schools in England that have applied for academy status.
The list includes around 100 secondaries, 45 primaries and a number of federations that cater for both age groups. All 153 have been rated as outstanding by Ofsted, allowing them to fast-track to academy status and opt out of local authority control.
Many of the schools are expected to begin operating as academies at the beginning of the new academic year in September after the Academies Bill became law earlier this week.
But Education Secretary Michael Gove came under fire from unions after recently claiming that some 1,900 schools had expressed interest in becoming academies.
Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: ‘One has to question why the secretary of state felt the need to exaggerate and mislead the public in this way.’ She said the NUT would continue its campaign to try to persuade school governing bodies to remain under local authority control.
Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, added: ‘Interest in becoming an academy seems to be rather a damp squib.
‘We remain concerned that many of the schools which have applied won’t have carried out any form of consultation. Democracy will not be well served if children, parents and staff first learn of their schools plans to become an academy from the media.’
