Marketisation - academies and free schools

Dept for Education re academies and free schools

• Allow schools to take direct responsibility for their own destiny

• Teachers can run them for the benefit of pupils (free schools)

• Allow for professional development

• Increase opportunities for pupils and teachers

Academies

• Funded directly by state/govt, independent of LA

• Own control over curriculum

• Run by private businesses

Academy trust

• Charitable company that runs the academy school

• Multi academy trust (MAT) runs multiple schools, often under the same academy name but not always

  • E.g. Harris, Leathersellers Federation runs the Prendergasts

Academies - 2010

• Schools encouraged to become academies

2020 - % of secondary schools that were academies

• 78%

Change in focus of academies

• Originally NL policy that targeted disadvantaged schools and areas

• Coalition govt allowed any school to academise

  • Removal of focus on inequality

Free schools

• Funded by state/govt, independent of LA

• Own control over curriculum

• Run by parents/faith/businesses

• Give ‘power to parents’

CRITICISM of free schools - Allen (2010)

• 🇸🇪 - 20% of free schools are free schools

  • International educational ranking fallen post-introduction

• Only benefit children from highly educated families

• Socially divisive

• Have lower standards

CRITICISM of free schools - charter schools - 🇺🇸

• Appear to raise standards but actually just strictly selective and very harsh

  • High numbers of exclusions

CRITICISM of free schools - Green et al (2015) - 🇬🇧

• Take fewer disadvantaged children

• 12% of children FSM in free schools, 24% in surrounding schools

CRITICISM of academisation and free schools - Ball (2011) - increased fragmentation and centralisation

• Academisation and increase in free schools has increased fragmentation and centralisation of control over educational provision in 🇬🇧

• Fragmentation

  • Comprehensive system Patchwork of diverse provision from private providers etc. → increased inequality

• Centralisation of control

  • Central govt has power to allow academisation/free schools

    • As funded directly by govt has led to lesser role of LA in education

CRITICISM of academisation - Hall (2011), Marxist

• Academies = handing public services to capitalists