NAHT comments on the NAO Academies report

Russell Hobby, General Secretary NAHT comments:

“NAHT welcomes the timely publication of the NAO report on Academies. We are pleased to note the educational benefits gained by Academy pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and commend the school leaders, teachers and support staff working to deliver those benefits.

However, the proportion of disadvantaged children at academies is falling, and they tend to benefit less from the academy than children from more privileged backgrounds. This hardly invalidates the principle of academies but it is a trend that must be halted. Fundamentally, it shows that we haven’t cracked the ‘attainment gap’ and that changes to school structures are not the sole, or even the most important, answer. What happens outside the school still matters deeply and the value of supportive and engaged parents cannot be underestimated.

The involvement of external sponsors is secondary, and the connection to the private sector unhelpful. There is no necessary connection between an academy and the private sector. However, unless the profession and the not-for-profit sector step in and start steering their development, the private sector will indeed fill the vacuum, and this would be a damaging step. Academies will only be the first step on the road to the fragmentation and privatisation of the state education sector if the profession allows it. And I don’t think we will.”