It would cost the government at least £6.7bn to bring the school estate in England up to a satisfactory standard, a review by the National Audit Office has highlighted.
The small team of civil servants responsible for performance managing academies and free schools cannot do so effectively and could be putting children’s education at risk, the Local Government...
One in five sponsored academy chains are performing “significantly below” the national average for attainment by disadvantaged pupils, according to a report by the Sutton Trust.
Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw has said greater autonomy for schools should be matched with strong intervention in cases of failure, to ensure they don’t “wither on the vine”.
All schools are due to become academies by 2022, yet arguments still rage over their effects on standards, their financial management and whether they provide value for money
Theresa May has indicated that the government will expand the powers of police and crime commissioners following this year’s elections and could be given powers to set up free schools.
David Cameron has provided details of how the government will meet its target to open 500 new free schools to 2020 after the first 18 were approved by ministers today.
The government is planning a further expansion of its academies programme, but it is not clear there is capacity in the system to transform all these schools
Government plans to intervene in ‘coasting’ schools must include an expanded role for councils to hold academies and free schools to account, the Local Government Association has said.
Five years of radical changes in education policy have created thousands of academy and free schools. But have financial management and governance kept pace?
Free schools should be given priority to use vacant public sector land or buildings as part of a plan to expand the number of the institutions, which are funded directly from government and...
‘Freedom’ from council control does not mean an abdication of responsibility. Academies and free schools need to improve their approaches to both governance and financial probity
As the new term starts, Michael Gove’s education revolution continues apace. But where’s the evidence that academies and free schools will benefit the majority of pupils?
