Schools’ “financial fragility” is partly behind the “biggest interest in academisation since 2018”, a senior civil servant has suggested.
The Department for Education’s South West regional director Hannah Woodhouse also said that interest is being driven by trusts “making a case” that academisation can improve staff development and pupil outcomes.
Interest from schools looking to become academies is at its highest point in five years, Ms Woodhouse said.
And the number of single-academy trusts (SATs) has halved over 18 months, with more trusts merging, she added.
The DfE was unable to confirm these figures when approached by Tes.
Speaking at the Westminster Education Forum’s “Next steps for England’s schools system” webinar last week, Ms Woodhouse said: “We have got the biggest interest [in conversion] certainly since 2018”.
Schools that have been rated “good” or “outstanding” by Ofsted can voluntarily opt to convert and become academies.
These schools can either form a single-academy trust or request to become part of an existing multi-academy trust (MAT).
“There is quite a lot of interest, I think partly driven by trusts making a case that it is in the interest of schools to join and certainly for staff development and outcomes for children,” Ms Woodhouse told attendees.
“But also, potentially, there’s a lot of financial fragility and questions around the viability of small schools, for example, and the diocese also working quite hard to support schools into trusts where they are fragile,” she added.
The Church of England is ”convinced that small schools will only flourish as they work together in structural partnerships”, a spokesperson told Tes.
Single-academy trust numbers down
Ms Woodhouse also said during the webinar that the number of SATs had more than halved in 18 months, falling from 2,500 to 1,000.
There was, she said, “much more consolidation” of small trusts coming together and SATs joining MATs, especially in the South West.
And she said that, while 1,000 SATs “sounds like a lot”, it is “down quite significantly”.
“There used to be 2,500 SATs until 18 months ago,” she said.
‘Meaningful’ support
Confederation of School Trusts chief executive Leora Cruddas said the benefits of being part of a trust were becoming “increasingly clear” as the school trust system matures.
Trusts can “help support and develop schools, teachers and the wider sector in more meaningful ways than standalone schools”, she added.
But Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said that, while some members in MATs had reported benefits, other local authority schools were yet to be convinced.
He said interest in academisation dipped during the pandemic owing to the challenges faced by schools, and many may still see a focus on structures as “an unnecessary distraction at a time when they are grappling with really pressing issues like recruitment and retention, funding, inspection and the crisis in SEND provision”.
Election worries
Rob Robson, the Association of School and College Leaders’ trust leadership consultant, said there could be a “number of factors at work” causing an uptick in conversions, including school finances.
This was particularly the case “with small schools that are close to being unsustainable because of very low government funding rates for primary education”, he said, possibly leading to some “seeking the security of being in a MAT”.
But Mr Robson said that MATs themselves are under “huge financial pressure” and “the action that is really needed is an improvement in government funding”.
He also suggested that schools may be “getting in applications [to convert to academies] now ahead of a general election next year” to avoid possible delays.
The DfE has been contacted for comment.
