[holding answer 19 March 2007]: The decision was informed by the large body of evidence which shows that academies are an effective way of improving performance in underperforming schools and that despite the overall rise in education standards over the last decade there will remain a significant number of schools beyond the initial target of 200 academies which are underperforming and would benefit by becoming an academy.
The percentage of pupils getting five good GCSEs including English and Maths in academies improved last year alone by 6.2 percentage points—six times better than the national improvement rate of one percentage point—and all 21 academies which had students who took GCSEs in 2006 are above the floor targets; 18 of the 24 predecessor schools they replaced were below.
Academies are making dramatic improvements at key stage three—above the national average—with rises last year of 8.1 percentage points in English, 9 percentage points in Maths and 10.5 percentage points in Science compared to previous validated results.
Sixteen academies have had full Ofsted inspections. Key to the future success of the academies is their leadership and management. On this indicator, Ofsted has classed two academies as outstanding, 10 as good, three as satisfactory and one as inadequate.
Academies are popular with parents. There were three applications for each academy place in September 2006. Almost all academies were oversubscribed on opening and each year afterwards.
There is growing support from local authorities. For example, Manchester city council has ambitious plans for eight academies across the city—strategically targeting underperforming schools in disadvantaged communities and forming part of wider programmes of regeneration.
Last year's independent PricewaterhouseCoopers evaluation of academies found strong pupil and teacher support for academies. It included a survey reporting that 81 per cent. of pupils thought their school work had improved since joining the academy and that total attendance in academies had risen and at a faster rate than the national average.
All of the above were factors in the decision to expand the programme to 400. The case has since been reinforced by the positive findings of the NAO report on academies published last month, which found that academies are
“on track to deliver good value for money”.
The NAO concluded that academies are improving performance compared with predecessor schools, and that the improvement is faster than in comparable schools.