EPI report recommends local authority takeover of underperforming academy chains

EPI report recommends local authority takeover of underperforming academy chains

A new report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) recommends that the Government should allow high performing local authorities to take over schools from underperforming academy chains.

The School Performance in Academy Chains and Local Authorities – 2017 report states: "If the academy system is to function effectively there needs to be a better understanding of where failure may happen in future and ensuring capacity is available in other trusts before it occurs."

"The government should therefore identify those academy chains where there is a significant risk of failure and build sponsor capacity in those geographical areas that are at risk from chain failure before it occurs."

The report examines the impact of academy chains and local authorities on pupil attainment, by comparing school performance in these groups.

By the end of the last academic year, over two thirds of secondary schools and over a quarter of primary schools had academy status.

Using the latest data, School Performance in Academy Chains and Local Authorities – 2017 looks at the performance of academy chains and local authorities at primary and secondary level.

To accurately assess school quality in these school groups, the research measures how each group fares with pupil improvement and, for the first time, takes into account characteristics such as pupil prior attainment and levels of disadvantage, as well as the historic performance of a school. This allows for a clear measure of performance, undistorted by schools’ differing pupil intakes.

Academies represent one of the biggest changes in English education over the last two decades. By the end of the last academic year, over two thirds of secondary schools and over a quarter of primary schools had academy status.

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