Commenting on the Sutton Trust report Chain Effects
2018, published today, Dr Mary Bousted, Joint
General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“The foundational myth of the academies programme – that it would
boost educational attainment among young people from
disadvantaged backgrounds – must now be laid to rest as just
that: a myth.
“This report conclusively shows that the expansion of
Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) under the academy programme has not
delivered on what it was supposed to. In fact it’s done the
opposite, with two-thirds of academy chains performing below the
national average for disadvantaged pupils.
“The haphazard efforts by successive governments to build some
sort of structure to support academies has resulted in the
entirely ineffectual but bloated bureaucracy of the regional
schools commissioners (RSCs). This report concludes that there is
little evidence they are having any success in bringing about
improvement and yet their budgets increase year on year, with
over £30 million spent on their staffing last year.
“The Government should reflect on what impact their dysfunctional
system is having on children, parents and schools staff across
the country. Now is the time to admit failure and move on. It is
time to stop focusing on trying to find new sponsors for schools
when clearly the system of MATs is not working. A first step
would be to allow schools who have been failed by academy trusts
to go back to their local authorities when they choose. But what
is needed in the long run is a wholesale return of schools to a
system of democratic oversight and support.”
