Businesses have snubbed repeated government pleas to sponsor academies, figures obtained by TES reveal.

The figures also show that only two universities and one independent school - sectors the government is relying on to increase the number of good school places - have applied to become sponsors since September 2013.

When the first academies opened under Labour in 2002, the government encouraged businesses to sponsor them, bringing in outside expertise to turn around failing schools. The plea has been echoed by the Coalition and the current government.

However, figures released to TES following a freedom of information request show that, out of 576 applications to become academy sponsors since 2013-14, only 10 came from the business sector with a further 12 from education businesses.

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner described it as “yet another failed Tory policy”. She added: “Businesses are ignoring all the Conservative pleas to sponsor academies, and the response from universities and the independent sector is even more woeful.”

Businesses ‘fear damaging their reputation’

In the period since September 2013, 80 per cent of sponsorship applications have come from either academy converters or prospective academy converters. The proportion coming from other sectors fell from 24 per cent in 2013-14 to 15 per cent in 2015-16.

Matthew Wolton, a partner specialising in academies at law firm Knights, attributed the low number of business sponsor applications to the risk of reputational damage, adding that academies sponsored by businesses or public schools received “a great deal more scrutiny from people with an agenda, compared to other people doing it”.

A Department for Education spokesman said that regional schools commissioners would continue to encourage more sponsors to come forward, “including high-performing schools, strong grammar and independent schools and universities, as well as other leaders and businesses”.

He added: “Sponsorship is not, however, the only option. For instance, the Academy Ambassadors scheme has appointed over 400 business people on to the boards of academy trusts as non-executive directors to share their expertise and innovation so every child has the excellent education they deserve.”

This is an edited article from the 24 February edition of TES. Subscribers can read the full article here. This week’s TES magazine is available in all good newsagents. To download the digital edition, Android users can click here and iOS users can click here

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