Trades Union Congress demands review of academy schools

The Trades Union Congress today questioned the impact of academy schools on education standards.

In a report, the TUC said the government should appoint an independent panel of experts to review its approach towards secondary schools and analyse the contribution of academies, which are independent of council control.

The study, carried out for the TUC by the Children’s Services Network, which represents local authorities in their children’s services function, also called for academies to be more accountable to parents, staff and communities, and eventually returned to council control.

It also called for a review of the kinds of organisations that can sponsor academies, and thereby gain control over their governing bodies.

Meanwhile, new government figures show exclusion rates for academies were more than double the average for all secondary schools in England last year.

Academies permanently excluded 5.5 pupils in every 1,000 compared with 2.4 pupils in all secondary schools in 2005-6.

Related information: