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The Coalition’s Academy Plans backfire

A new report shows that the Coalition’s education policy of allowing all schools to become Academies has seriously backfired. The stated aim was to raise standards across the board, particularly in our most socially disadvantaged areas. A new report published by the Centre for Economic Performance shows that the majority of schools who have become Academies in 2010 are those based in wealthy areas. In other words, these plans have simply given extra funds to schools which are already doing well and are in locales of social advantage. It’s clear then that the Coalition’s plans have simply strengthened the social and academic divisions which are already very visible to see: the children from wealthy backgrounds have gained significant advantages while those from poorer ones have been left behind. This report makes a nonsense of the government’s stated aims and does not bode well for their future policies. More than ever we need to bring Local Authorities — or some kind of “middling” authority — back into the picture so that schools can equitable funding and fairer admissions’ procedures.

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