Mark Lehain

Gove’s schooling revolution is irreversible

With our continued Brexit obsession, one could be forgiven for thinking that there was little else of significance going on in public policy. Not so, however, in the world of education.

New statistics, published this morning by the Department of Education, show the full extent of ‘academisation’ – the quiet revolution originally started by Michael Gove and continued by his successors. The numbers show that more than half of England’s children are now educated in academies – state schools run by independent charitable trusts but funded and overseen by central government. That’s a staggering rise: from only 200 such schools in 2010 there are now 8300 – and 50.1% of pupils attended one last autumn. This number is rising too (see the chart below) even though the government has announced it will no longer force all schools to academise.

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Around 1000 schools a year currently opt to make the change.

Written by
Mark Lehain

Mark Lehain is Head of Education at the Centre for Policy Studies, former education Special Adviser and the founding principal of the Bedford Free School.

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