Learning Exchange: news centre
Follow us on Twitter
Mainstream schools, academies, free schools, charter schools, chain schools, faith schools, specialist trust schools, studio schools... how many more could there be? And what's the difference between all these? What lies ahead for extra-curricular activities and extended services as new types of schools emerge into the UK education landscape? We're watching the space - this page lists news items, articles and comment about changes.
The arguments for and against academy schools, free schools and charter schools are complex and have been heated at times. Then there are 'chain schools'.... and now, studio schools! So here's round-up of articles, BBC video clips, and various blogs to help you work out what is what in the ever-evolving school landscape in the UK.
- Latest news
- Research, views and comment
- Academies
- Charter schools
- Free schools
- Studio schools
- Chain schools
- Trust and Foundation schools
- General information about schools in the UK
- Background and history: Extended schools/Community Focused Schools/Integrated schools
Latest news
- 4 May Academies and the 'town hall': Thoughts of former Ofsted Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert
- 18 April Free schools: Is there enough money in the pot? In this Guardian Mortarboard Blog, Jeevan Vasagar urges Michael Gove not to let the head of steam built up around the establishment of free schools fizzle out.
- 13 February: Latest Free school applications Soldiers, Christians and top private schools propose the latest free schools.
- 25 January: Swedish company to run Suffolk free school A profit-making Swedish company, IES UK, has won a £21m contract to run the IES Breckland free school for 10 years.
- Independent schools branching into the state sector Toby Young, founder of the West London Free School, talks about his recent visit to the annual HMC meeting where he asked the private schools present to become more involved in setting up free schools and academies.
- Free schools: early days yet... An analysis of how free schools are distributed so far shows they are mainly middle-class, suburban, and largely white... so far. But, a Department for Education spokesperson says considering that around 1,500 residents live closest to where the first free schools will be based, half of the schools will be in the 30 per cent most deprived communities in England. (31 August)
- Free schools: proving grounds lie ahead From Comment is free in the Guardian, Mark Lehain talks about the experience of setting up a free school in Bedford and the challenges that lie ahead.(31 August)
- Free school parents encouraged to make donations (28 July)
- Conservative MP turns against academies (21 July)
- Michael Gove talks about academy conversions Radio 4's Today programme interviewed the Secretary of State about his plan to convert 200 primary schools and recent reports of budget calculation errors. (16 June)
- Update on groups that have applied for Free School status: Round one
- Eight free schools to open in September (10 June)
- Football clubs in talks to start free schools (10 June)
- Academies to avoid new pay rules for headteachers (13 May)
- Free school applications not meeting standards The government has had to turn down 90 per cent of first stage proposals. (11 May)
- A third of secondary schools are becoming academies (10 May)
- Free schools must be allowed to make a profit, says think tank
- Academies: scanning the horizon Only around 19 per cent of schools are against changing into academies... Could clusters of academies offer economies of scale?
- Academy funding The battle goes on.
- Is academy status being foisted on schools? Warwick Mansell talks to parents in Lincolnshire who are campaigning against changes that they insist are happening with little approval.
- Icy 'free school' Check out these Canadian children…
- A blot on the landscape and an affront to teachers: a Manchester headteacher takes issue with free schools.
- Mike Baker chaired a panel debate at the Independent Academies Association annual conference; the result of a discussion about academies was... interesting.
- Free schools and consultation: The furore that occurs when a proposed free school's consultation processes go awry (Susanna Rustin tells the tale in The Guardian, 31 January).
- Some private fee-paying schools now want to be free schools.
- Division over proposed banker-backed academy in Wandsworth
- Schools start to question rush towards academy status
- List of free schools at business case and planning stage
- First Hindu Free School offer meditation
- Survey shows free schools are not wanted, says NUT
- Pisa report says inter-school competition does not achieve better results
- First parent-led free schools considers building housing twenty charities Council has made no decisions yet.
- Primary school 'David' fights all-through academy 'Goliath' Transition for younger pupils to secondary school can be fraught with angst or can be made easier in many ways (often through out-of-school-hours initiatives that foster relationships between secondary and primary feeder schools). But how would pupils fare when transitioning through their educational stages in an all-through school? The drama unfolds on Portland Island in Dorset, where a giant 'all-through' academy is set to replace the primary school.
- Step forward if you want to set up a 'free school' The Secretary of State for Education invites groups interested in setting up a new school to come forward and start developing their proposals.
- Norwich Free School attracting interested parents The school opening next September will have 120 places but there have already been 150 requests for a prospectus.
- Free school told they do not need QTS teachers The Discovery New School, a Montessori free school, was told during its approvals that it did not need to employ teachers with Qualified Teacher Status.
- For-profit companies shy to take on free schools At a conference for independent schools, it was made aware that many firms do not feel the financial rewards are high enough.
- Free schools set out priorities Co-ordinators at some of the sixteen new free schools explain what their aims are and why they applied.
- Businesses and charities prepare for chance to run free schools Around 60 groups have applied to start their own, while many more plan to assist in their management.
- Premier League looks into setting up free schools The footballing institution hopes the system can allow them to increase the training of young footballers to 20 hours per week.
- Goddard Park Primary School prepares for academy status Headteacher Michael Welsh says the school will work through the summer to become one of the first primary academies.
- Barnet secondary school is refused academy bid The Department for Education has raised concerns about whether it would be able to support its neighbouring schools. MP Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet is lobbying the Secretary for Education to change his view. (Hendon & Finchley Press, 29 July)
- Remember what went around? Well, it's come around again - sort of... Read Mike Baker's article Gove's academies: 1980s idea rebranded? (1 August 2010) about the origins of the academy schools idea.
- Oustanding schools expressing interest in academy status Note: this list may change
- Non-outstanding schools expressing interest in academy status Note: this list may change
Back to top
Research, views and comment
- A can of worms Lawyer David Wolfe's fully comprehensive resource for those with legal questions about free schools and academies.
- Free schools: preparing for the new school year The TES speaks to several excited and optimistic teachers who are readying themselves for the opening of their free schools this September.
- How many academies can we afford? Cathy Newman from Channel 4 News looks at the projections and tries to find answers.
- Is the academy programme the answer for failing schools? Channel 4 News's FactCheck tries to look past the rhetoric and find concrete evidence for the government's claims.
- Academies: Research into the leadership of sponsored and converting academies This report covers the results of a project which looked at leadership in acadmies and how it is different from other schools. Among its many findings, the project showed that leaders of converting academies focus more on continuity and tend to be successful schools anyway, while leaders of sponsored academies are engaged in refocusing their schools' visions overall and are engaged in improving their schools from relative positions of 'believing they couldn't be high-achieving' to being outstanding all-ability schools.
- Free schools: revolution or retreat? Channel 4 News' FactCheck looks at whether the new schools are in keeping with the originally stated intention to benefit deprived areas.
- Listen to people who are already setting up free schools The challenges, the highs, the lows, the benefits
- The importance of early intervention: an interview with Graham Allen MP Amelia Gentleman (The Guardian) interviewed Graham Allen about his early intervention report. Allen insists that all parties need to co-operate to ensure that early interventions aimed at solving intractable social problems have a chance of working. And, against the tide, he recommends setting up a new quango, an 'Early Intervention Foundation', and wants the private sector to invest in early intervention programmes.
- Schooling for Money: Swedish Education Reform and the Role of the Profit Motive A free market think tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs, says in its latest research paper that the profit motive in schools allows more children access to schools that will improve their educational achievement, creates the competition between schools that drives up standards because the supply of schools increases, and that for-profit schools have the greatest effect on pupils from poor socio-economic backgrounds.
Local Schools Network: £13m for Wandsworth free school site despite outstanding local school 1 mile away (2 December). - School choice for those who have no choice Harry Brighouse and Adam Swift advise the Conservatives what to do if they really want a Swedish-style voucher system to help at least some of the most deprived children.
- Are free schools a disaster? Phil Beadle takes his usual wry stance - the comments on the article are heated...
- For or against academies Read the views of two headteachers (BBC 26 July 2010)
- Michael Gove can earn the gratitude of a generation Read the latest Janet Daley piece on the Telegraph website. It's causing a stir.
- Letters to the Guardian (28 July) Read some 'takes' on the Academies Bill and on the Pupil Premium
- Will academies leave pupils unprepared for 'real' life? The Campaign for Science and Engineering thinks so.
Back to top
Academies
- Changing School Autonomy: Academy Schools and their Introduction to England's Education Amongst other findings, this report from the Centre for the Economics of Education says academies generate beneficial effects on performance in neighbouring schools.
- Academy funding Fair, unfair? (A consultation is underway on the principles and rational for the reform of school funding. See Consultation on School Funding Reform)
- Thinking of becoming an academy A series of TeachersTV videos where well-known academy headteachers explain how the status effects different aspects of running a school.
- Summary of academy funding Find out how the new academies will be paid for and how the sums are calculated.
- Montrose42's Blog Detailed blog on individual clauses in the academies bill and their impact
- ADCS suggests all schools become academies The Association of Directors of Children's Services believes this would prevent creation of a two-tiered system.
- Find out which schools have applied for academy status so far By 7 June, 1,114 schools had applied for academy status. 626 of these have been judged 'outstanding' by Ofsted. 273 are primary schools and 52 are special schools. More are signing up.
- Academy map View the Guardian's Datablog map of where academies are across England.
- Useful summary Confused about the differences between academies, foundation schools, voluntary aided schools etc? Download a useful pdf from Warwickshire that explains the ins and outs.
- Academies Bill: Download the Bill, its explanatory notes - and watch its progress from the House of Lords to the House of Commons
- Can Sweden really teach British schools a lesson? Newsnight's Liz MacKean's report from Sweden on the independent school system.
- Listen to what Michael Gove and the head of an academy in Manchester say about academy schools.
- Hear what makes academies different.
- Opt-out for outstanding schools
- BBC Q&A: Academies and 'free' schools
- BBC: Spreading the message
- A giant leap forward for privatisation? The private sector has already made significant inroads into State-funded education. Peter Wilby of The Guardian scopes a range of views, including those of Professor Stephen Ball of London University’s Institute of Education and author of Education plc, about where the free school road might lead to. (Education Plc: Understanding Private Sector Participation in Public Sector Education (Paperback) is available from Amazon.co.uk)
- Inside an academy A visit to Petchey Academy in east London to see how it is improving prospects for it pupils.
- Academies: an issue that's not clear cut
Back to top
Charter schools
- BBC: Trick or treat...
- Charter schools: winning tickets?
- The Boston school system
- Charter schools: parents protest
- Read about how Wall Street is doubling its money by investing in charter schools - and what it's doing to the schools
- Why are some charter schools more effective?
- Good data for charters, but some urge caution
Back to top
Free schools
- Free schools: fewer children on FSM Rachel Gooch of @Schoolduggery fame on Twitter, surveyed the 24 already-established free schools to see how many children on free school meals were enrolling at each. Her results show that, though many are in deprived areas, these schools are taking in lower number of deprived pupils than their neighbouring schools, on average.
- Free schools enrolling FSM pupils: follow the online spat Read some interesting reactions to the @schoolduggery blog about FSM pupils at free schools.
- Free... but secret? FOI requests made to the Department for Education about the establishment of free schools have met with limited success. Janet Murray (Guardian) looks at why.
- What impact will free schools eventually have on the UK education system? Free schools (and academies) are here – and probably to stay. They’re part of a ‘market-driven education system’, but are they going to raise standards? Some studies say they will, some say they won’t. And do huge financial problems lurk up ahead? What’s the verdict? Listen to Hugh Muir leading this discussion in a Guardian Focus podcast.
- Who wants to work in a free school? The BBC's Daily Politics Show talks to some of the teachers who will be working in Langley Hall Primary, a free school in Berkshire.
- Private Toby Young ducks incoming fire Are you a left-wing enemy soldier aiming your irritable fire at free schools and exclusive high fee-paying private universities?
- Why we are setting up a free school Mark Lehain puts forward his case as he prepares for his school's launch in September 2011.
- Admissions policy at the West London Free School Toby Young, Fiona Millar and Francis Gilbert of the Local Schools Network debate how admissions are going to work at the much-publicised free school.
- Every Teacher Matters A new research report from the Reform think tank. The Summary of existing arrangements, government plans and Reform think tank proposals listed in a table on page 40 is illuminating.
- Why we're setting up free schools Two free school pioneers describe their aims and hopes.
- Premier League looks into setting up free schools
- Schools white paper due in autumn
- What will make a school 'free'?
- Hello free schools, goodbye hopes of better schools Fiona Millar expresses her views on 'free schools' in www.guardian.co.uk's Comment is free.
- Free Schools: the funding issue is a red herring Toby Young's blog on www.telegraph.co.uk
- Swedish lessons: are new free schools the answer? The devil may be in the detail, writes Hilary Wilce (Published by The Independent on 8 Jun 2010)
Back to top
Studio schools
Back to top
Chain schools
- New not-for-profit private school chain is a class apart
- Chain reactions: What are chain schools and what does leadership look like in them. Jeremy Sutcliffe reports for ldr, the online magazine for leaders of schools, children's centres and children's services.
Back to top
Trust and Foundation schools
Back to top
General information about schools in the UK
- Schools in England
- Schools in Northern Ireland
- Schools in Wales
- Schools in Scotland
- Independent School Council
Back to top