April 2016
Teachers and school leaders are the best people to decide how schools should be run. That’s why Government is committed to seeing all schools become academies.
For years, local-authority-maintained systems have allowed some schools to deteriorate. The academy system allows us to tackle underperformance much more swiftly, and empowers head teachers to improve their schools with the support of a strong sponsor.
Following feedback from Parliamentary colleagues and the education sector, Government will continue to require underperforming schools which are failing young people to convert to academy status. Whilst ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ schools will not be required to change, Government will continue to encourage them to seize the opportunities of conversion.
In addition to this, Government will legislate that all schools within a local authority area are converted if the local authority can no longer viably support the remaining schools, or where a local authority is consistently failing to meet a minimum performance threshold and is unable to bring about meaningful school improvement.
These are sensible steps to ensure every child has an excellent education.
