An independent review into Oak National Academy has been delayed until next year, the government has confirmed today.
The probe of the government quango, which will assess its “efficacy” as a public body, was originally estimated to conclude in September 2024.
However, in the review’s terms of reference and process documents released this morning, it was confirmed that the review has only started this month and will now not finish until “early 2025”.
Oak was relaunched by the government in September 2022 as an arm’s-length body. At the time, the DfE committed to review it within 24 months.
The review is being led by Lara Newman, chief executive of LocatED, who was given a £40,000 bonus for her work at the DfE’s property company, according to the latest company accounts.
LocatED is a non-departmental public body that was established in 2017 to provide property advice to the education sector.
Oak’s support for teacher workload due to be assessed
Ms Newman will consider four key areas in her review: efficacy, governance, accountability and efficiency.
This will include assessing whether Oak has a clear mandate and remains relevant, and if there is a clear rationale for why the function of the arm’s-length body needs to continue.
The review will also look into how Oak supports teachers and schools, and what impact this support having on teacher workload and the quality of curriculum planning.
Oak’s evaluation report released this month revealed that the number of Oak lessons being accessed by pupils dropped by more than two million last year, but overall teacher use of the site is increasing sharply.
Schools minister Catherine McKinnell is responsible for this review.
She will receive initial findings and recommendations from Ms Newman halfway through the review process, and will decide the direction of the review for the second half.
Ms McKinnell will determine the government’s response to the review, and the final timing and manner of publication of the review’s findings.
The Department for Education will be considering the market impact of Oak alongside the review, and this assessment will also be completed by early 2025. The department is inviting edtech suppliers to provide feedback on how Oak’s free resources have impacted the market.
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