Hinds and Agnew host celebration to mark academy milestone

Celebrating the milestone that 50 per cent of pupils in England are now studying in academies and free schools, the Education Secretary Damian Hinds and Academies Minister Lord Agnew hosted a celebration with academy heads.

The celebration was attended by leaders from top academies and free schools, including the Harris Federation, Co-op Academies Trust and STAR Academies.

Hinds thanked attendees for their dedication to improving education for children and driving up school standards in some of most disadvantaged areas of the country.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said: "The overwhelming majority of academies – that’s more than 8,000 schools – tell a positive story. I see and hear about this every day in my job, and we’ve come a long way in the past eight years thanks to the hard work and dedication of teachers and school leaders across the country – including all of you.

"Many of you run schools in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the country that were previously underperforming – that is no longer the case and parents now have the choice of a good school.

"The fact that more than half a million children are now in Good or Outstanding sponsored academies that were previously underperforming demonstrates that when schools come together, as part of a multi academy trust, they can achieve far more than they can on their own.

"I want to take this opportunity to thank you for helping to drive up standards for the next generation – the challenge now is to continue to transform education and encourage other school leaders to do the same."

More than 8,300 schools in the country have become an academy or opened as a free school.

The academies programme was introduced by the Blair Government in 2000 with the aim “to improve pupil performance and break the cycle of low expectation”. By 2010, there were 203 academies – mostly in inner cities.

The 2010 Academies Act gave all schools in England the freedom to choose to become an academy and now over 50% of pupils in the state funded education system are taught in an academy or free school.