Schools that remain within local authority control continue to perform better in Ofsted inspections than those that became academies, according to a new analysis.
The Local Government Association (LGA) says it provides a powerful argument for restoring the right for councils to open new maintained schools, which was abolished in 2012.
The report, which analysed Ofsted inspection outcomes by school type, found that 93 per cent (9,873) of council-maintained schools were rated “outstanding” or “good” in January 2023, compared with 87 per cent (5,713) of academies that were graded since they converted.
The Department for Education, however, said that the analysis was “completely misleading”.
The research also reveals that 72 per cent of council-maintained schools (1,417) rated “outstanding” in August 2018 retained the same rating in January 2023.
During the same period, 73 per cent of 1,443 academies remained “outstanding”. However, some academies were using “inherited” grades obtained when the school was local authority (LA) maintained.
Removing this “grade inheritance” factor excluded 480 academies from the scope of the analysis, meaning just 60 per cent (573) of the academies that did not inherit grades were rated “outstanding” in January 2023, 12 percentage points lower than LA-maintained schools.
Since 2012, it has been a legal requirement that all new schools be established as free schools. This means councils aren’t able to build new schools, even though they have the responsibility to make sure there are sufficient school places for local pupils, as a previous report from the LGA explains.
The LGA, which commissioned school software and analytics provider Angel Solutions to complete the research, is also calling for councils to be given powers to direct all schools to admit pupils without a school place.
Councils are currently unable to require academies to do so.
Commenting on the research, Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said the findings “demonstrate the value of a democratically organised and supported school system”.
She said: “The LGA’s recommendations are sensible and important. Allowing local authorities to open new maintained schools would boost their ability to respond to demographic changes by opening quality provision.
“There is also a pressing need for greater local democratic oversight and coordination of admissions. Giving councils the power to direct all schools, including academies, to take in pupils would make our system fairer and more equitable and help ensure vulnerable pupils’ needs are met.”
She added: “The findings also highlight the inherent harm of the government’s push to full academisation within multi-academy trusts (MATs).
“This agenda is not at all evidence-led but relies on misrepresentations about the performance of academies compared to maintained schools.
“Academisation has created a fragmented and wasteful school system, with huge duplication of roles and money wasted on centralised MAT bureaucracy.
“It would be a step in the right direction if the LGA’s recommendations are enacted by this or any future government that is serious about improving our school system and making it fairer and more equitable.”
Councillor Louise Gittins, chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Our research is a reminder of the superb performance of council-maintained schools, and yet further evidence of why councils should be allowed to open their own schools again.
“Academisation can be the right choice and a good choice for some schools, and we fully recognise the positive progress schools that have become academies have made.
“Councils want to ensure that every child gets the very best education and schooling in life. That is why it is vital they are given a central role in providing education and that government recognises councils as the excellent education partner they are.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: “Academy reforms have played a major role in increasing the proportion of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ schools from 68 per cent in 2010 to 88 per cent last year.
“The best academy trusts transform outcomes for pupils, particularly the most disadvantaged, and deliver improvements in schools and areas where poor performance has become entrenched.
“Sponsored academies are usually former local authority-maintained schools which were transferred to an academy trust in order to drive improvement following a poor Ofsted outcome, which is why these figures are completely misleading and wilfully ignore the real progress that academy trusts have made.”
