UK

Labour and academies

Kevin Courtney proposes some reforms to school structures that an incoming Labour government should introduce.

JUNE 26, 2024

LABOUR HUB 

An incoming Labour government has to decide what to do about the school structures that they will inherit. Many schools are now in multi-academy trusts (MATs), but more remain in local authorities. 

Labour has said it doesn’t want to concentrate on school structures but on other matters directly relevant to the classroom.  But it’s worth noting that the school system in England is very much an outlier amongst education systems in the developed countries. 

State schools here exist in a much more marketised system than elsewhere – even than in the United States. This doesn’t mean a private market where schools are run for profit, but a system of market-type incentives that have been built into the school system in England.

This development started under Margaret Thatcher with the introduction of SATs and league tables alongside the notion of Local Management of Schools and money following individual pupils.

This system has been around so long it almost feels natural. But it’s unlike the system in most other comparable jurisdictions. 

And that market-type system has had rocket boosters put under it by the introduction of academies, free schools and multi-academy trusts.

Think about this. How do you improve the standard of education in a school?

There is lots that can be done from outside the school – introduce Sure Start, fund the school better, reduce unemployment in the vicinity of the school. All those would be likely to improve the exam results in the school.

But what about measures at the level of the school? What steps could you take that would improve the exam results?

Well, very broadly speaking, there is a hard way and an easy way.

The hard way is for example: investing in Continuing Professional Development, supporting your teachers, involving them in improving teaching and learning, working together on improving behaviour, etc.  There is a whole literature and lots of experience about such methods of ‘school improvement’.

That’s the harder way to improve exam results. What’s the easier way?

Change the children! Find ways to remove children who are from disadvantaged backgrounds and replace them with children who are better off. This lifts the results at your school.

But just to emphasise the point, this doesn’t raise standards of education overall. The disadvantaged children are now at a different school and you’ve got the advantaged children from another school.

So overall standards haven’t risen. But you got results to go up at your school. You moved up the league table. You got a better Ofsted result.

And maybe – you used these facts to make an argument that as a multi-academy chief executive you did a good job and you deserve a pay rise?

Now, you can change your pupil population in a variety of ways. Set a catchment area carefully to exclude a working class estate. Set a ‘fair entrance’ exam and advertise it heavily in middle class areas. Hold quiet conversations with parents saying, “this school is too academic for your child, they would be better off down the road.”  Pitch your home school contract to dissuade parents who are a bit less engaged. 

Is this just speculation? Aren’t there ways of stopping schools off-loading disadvantaged children?

Well, according to the Education Policy Institute, “Our research in this area has found that larger MATs (those with at least ten schools with secondary pupils) all have above average rates of unexplained exits. “

And, “Nationally, the latest figures indicate a very high rate of exits from schools: as many as 1 in 10 pupils (10.1 per cent) in the 2017 cohort experienced exits at some point during their time at secondary school that cannot be accounted for.”

These are very real effects from school structures that have these negative effects.

But there are some suggestions for immediate changes that Labour could make which would make the system more coherent, reduce wasteful duplication, reduce teacher losses and make education for children better.

Clearly there are other things to address over Ofsted, tests, curriculum and improvements in teacher and support staff pay and conditions. But here are some suggestions that Labour could implement quickly, mostly without legislation.  What do you think?

National rules and freedoms

Freedom

All state-funded schools should have significant autonomy over their curriculum. The national curriculum should be a core entitlement curriculum.

Regulation 

All state-funded schools (including academies and independent special schools that are funded through taxpayer/council tax-payer) should follow national terms and conditions; these should include terms and conditions for executive heads and Chief Executives.

Local rules and freedoms

Freedom 

Local authorities should have authority to build new schools, which can be local authority schools.

Regulation 

Local authorities should control the admissions, exclusions and appeals process for all state-funded schools in their geographical area, including in schools that are parts of a MAT which covers a wider area. Local authorities should provide facility release for elected trade union officers to represent members in all schools in the district.

School-level rules and freedoms 

Freedom 

Academy schools will have the freedom, following governing body resolutions and full consultation with parents, to revert to local authority status or to leave the MAT that they have been placed in.

All schools should have the freedom to have their own governing body.

 Regulation 

There should be increased regulation and guidance on state funded schools contracting with organisations that have strong relationships with governors or senior staff at the school.

MAT-level rules and freedoms

Freedom

All schools in a MAT should have the freedom to have their own governing board.

Regulation

MAT boards should elected by those governing boards.

Each MAT should provide facility release for union reps from recognised unions to representative staff in negotiations with the MAT.

Kevin Courtney is a former joint General Secretary of the National Education Union and writes in a personal capacity.

Image: Teachers marching through London, March 15th 2023, c/o Mike Phipps