What will happen when my school becomes an academy?

If your school has recently become an academy, or is about to become one, you might be wondering what effect it’ll have on your day-to-day life. Read our advice on academies for students to find out more…

What is an academy?

Academies are state schools where the teachers and governors have more choice about the way they are run.

Academies get their money directly from central government rather than the local council. This means they have more freedom to spend their money in the way they want.

The headteacher is still responsible for the day-to-day running of the school but they are overseen by an academy trust. Academies often work in groups and some of them also have sponsors (like businesses or faith groups).

How long have academies been around?

They were actually introduced ages ago when the Labour party last ran the government. The first academies opened in 2002, but they haven’t really taken off until recently.

Originally the plan was for academy sponsors to help turn around schools that weren’t doing very well and by 2010 there were 200 academies.

But in the last few years, it’s all changed dramatically because the Conservatives embraced the idea of academies when they took over power.  

Now all schools have been invited to convert to academy status. It’s quicker and easier if a school is ranked as outstanding or performing well by Ofsted, the school inspectors.

As of July 2015, there are more than 4,700 academies, many of which aren’t schools which need to improve, but are high performing ones.

How long does it take for a school to become an academy?

It can take as little as three months, including the summer holidays.

Will anything change when my school becomes an academy?

Yes – but in all likelihood, not much that you’ll really notice day-to-day. You’re likely to see more changes if your school wasn’t doing very well before it got changed into an academy.

School name: Your school’s name may change. The most common change is to add the word academy – so if your school was called, say for example, Hogwarts High School, it could change to Hogwarts Academy.

Lessons: There’s been lots of talk about how academies don’t have to follow the national curriculum, which gives your teachers more freedom over what you learn. You might find you are offered a different range of subjects in the future. However, academies still have to meet a lot of requirements set out by the Department for Education, and their results still go into performance tables, so it’s unlikely that you’ll see major changes.

Changes to school hours and holiday dates: Academies can set their own term times and even what time of day school starts, but in practice, many haven’t made any big changes. When one school did, back in 2013, it even made the national newspapers!

School uniform: Some pupils wonder if they’ll get a new uniform but, again, many schools don’t change this (although they’ll change the logo on your uniform if the name changes).

Rules: As your school is changing, your teachers might take the opportunity to change some rules as well. However, academies have to follow the same rules on things like admissions and exclusions as other schools, and they still get inspected by Ofsted.

Free school meals: If you already get free school meals, you'll still receive them.

Will it make my school more likely to close?

No – this doesn’t have any effect on the risk of your school closing.  

So what’s the point of academies?

The government says that academies drive up the standards of schools by giving more power to the headteachers and cutting bureaucracy.

Academies can decide how much to pay staff, change the curriculum to suit their pupils and control their own budgets. The government hopes that pupils will do better at school and get better grades in their exams thanks to this extra freedom.

People have started doing research into academies and have found that some are better than the schools they replaced, but others haven’t improved or could even be worse. Critics argue that academies are a way of privatising and making profit out of education in the UK.

Either way, the government is committed to academies so you can expect to see even more schools converting over the next few years, and lots of reports about it in the newspapers and TV news, as new information comes out about what impact they’re having on education.   

Are you a secondary school pupil considering your next steps? Have a look at our careers advice section for inspiration on your future work and study options.

By Natasha Boydell