Academies FAQs

The city’s Building Schools for the Future programme includes the proposal for five new Academies. But what are academies and how will they operate? Below are some frequently asked questions parents, teachers, governors, and of course, pupils will want answered.  If you have a question that is not answered here, please write an email to bsfenquiries@stoke.gov.uk and we will do our best to help you.

What are academies?
Academies are publicly funded independent local schools that provide free education. They are schools for pupils of all abilities established by sponsors from business, faith or voluntary groups.

Why involve sponsors in running academies?
Sponsors challenge traditional thinking on how schools are run and what they should be like for students. Sponsors can give extra focus and sharpness to the management of Academies.

How will an Academy improve education for the children it serves?
The unique combination of independent status, governance arrangements, sponsorship, leadership models, buildings and any specialism adopted all help to give students the broadest possible education.  An Academy will also provide a curriculum designed to suit each young person’s needs.

What about collaboration with other schools?
The expectation is for Academies to work with other schools as part of the family of schools envisaged for the city. We are therefore proposing that all sponsors of Academies undertake to sign a charter which outlines the principles on which the Academy is to be based.

Why can’t we just have a new school?
Academies offer increased choice for parents, new ways of educational thinking, and challenges. They will also play a key role in helping the regeneration of the city.

Who pays for the upkeep and maintenance of an Academy?
The Department for Children, Schools and Families funds an Academy, although it operates as an independent school.

Are Academies bound by the same OFSTED rules and regulations as local authority schools?
The DCSF has an agreement with OFSTED that they will carry out a monitoring inspection of new Academies in their fifth or sixth terms with a full published inspection within the third academic year.

Who runs an Academy?
The governing body and the headteacher have responsibility for managing the academy. The private sector or charitable sponsor always appoints the majority of governors.

Who sits on an Academy's governing body?
Like other state funded schools, Academies have stakeholder governance.  That is to say they all have a parent governor, a local authority appointed governor, and the Academy Principal. Academies may also have a teacher governor, a staff governor and can include community representatives.

How are Academies accountable?
The governing body of an Academy is accountable to the Secretary of State through the requirements of the funding arrangement. Academies must prepare and file annual accounts to the Charity Commission and ensure their accounts are independently audited.

Are sponsors responsible for providing new buildings?
No. The Academy building programme forms an integral part of the Building Schools for the Future programme. The condition of school buildings varies, so BSF involves a combination of rebuilds and refurbishments and Academies form part of this pattern.

Do Academies have to deal with lots of bureaucracy?
There is a commitment to freeing Academies from unnecessary bureaucracy.

What about children with special educational needs?
Academies must have regard to the SEN code of practice and statutory guidance on inclusion. Research has shown that Academies admit higher proportions of pupils with SEN compared to the proportions living in the local postcode districts.