Should all schools be academies?

A decade since Michael Gove passed legislation allowing all schools to convert to academy status, academies make up just under half of all schools in England. The rest are regulated as maintained schools, meaning two parallel systems – with resulting confusion, gaps, and misalignments – now exist. Neighbouring schools can have different rules around admissions, special educational needs provision, or the use of the national curriculum. In a paper for the Institute for Government, Sam Freedman has argued that high-quality multi-academy trusts (MATs) can be the bedrock of the English system, and that it is time for the Department for Education to map a process for moving to a fully academised system. This event explored the proposals in the new education white paper – the first time since 2016 that the government has set out a vision for the future of the system – and what the future schools system should look like, as well as exploring the benefits and drawbacks of making every school an academy. On our panel were: Sam Freedman, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government Joe Hallgarten, Chief Executive Officer at the Centre for Education and Youth Natalie Perera, Chief Executive Officer at the Education Policy Institute The event was chaired by Emma Norris, Director of Research at the Institute for Government. #IfGacademies