UCL Institute of Education has studied the benefits of school acdemies (David Jones/PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)Forcing failing primary schools to join multi-academy trusts makes no difference to their performance, a new study suggests.
The report from the UCL Institute of Education calls into question the Government’s plan to make all schools join a multi-academy trust by 2030.
Researchers found that “stuck” primary schools with a long history of poor Ofsted reports do not benefit from joining a trust and there are only “small positive effects” for secondary schools.
Dr Mary Bousted, of the National Education Union, said: “The researchers’ findings demolish the Government’s claim that joining a trust will improve schools’ outcomes. They found that there is no positive effect or negative effect for primary schools joining a trust. Ministers must recognise that a change of a school’s governance is not the magic solution they claim it to be.”
Researchers from the UCL Institute of Education and the Education Policy Institute analysed 580 “stuck” schools that had more than 15 years of poor Ofsted inspections.
The report found that these schools often end up in a vicious cycle of challenging circumstances and limited improvement.
It concluded: “These findings show, yet again, that academisation is not a silver bullet to deliver school improvement and the government should consider these results to help inform its future policies.”
