Academy sponsors build 'branded' school empires

Wealthy academy backers are building education empires by opening chains of branded schools.

Seven of the eight London academies launched today are part of chains run by sponsors including the Church of England, Carpetright boss Lord Harris and financier Arpad Busson.

These networks can benefit from sharing knowledge, according to Schools Minister Lord Adonis.

But teachers criticised the development for handing power to large, "unaccountable" groups.

The trend emerged as ministers opened 180 new or refurbished schools across England and announced that 45 universities had signed up to sponsor academies.

Lord Adonis told the Standard: "Academies are making a huge difference to the quality of education in London. These eight new academies are in addition to 34 already open.

"The growth of these 'chains' is an exciting element of the academies programme. Chains are increasingly seen as strong 'brands', reflected in their names, uniforms, leadership and curriculum. They can harness the expertise and lessons learned in one school and apply them to other schools in the chain."

Lord Adonis said GCSE results in academies in London were improvingfar more quickly than in ordinary comprehensives. But teachers' leaders condemned the decision to hand state education to private, unelected consortia.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT union, said he was concerned academies were not "solving the problems the Government intended".

Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, added: "The best that can be said about academies is that the jury is still out. They are an experiment which is being run potentially at the expense of all the children in them."

The privately-sponsored schools were set up to replace failing comprehensives in poor areas. Most of the costs, running to billions of pounds, are met by government.

TEACHING CHAINS AND THEIR BACKERS

HARRIS FEDERATION

Founded by Carpetright boss Lord Harris, it runs seven academies in the capital. The newest, Harris Falconwood Academy in Bexley, will cost £25 million and specialise in science, sport and enterprise.

ABSOLUTE RETURN FOR KIDS

Set up by hedge fund millionaire Arpad Busson, has six academies in London. Three began teaching this month. Evelyn Grace Academy, in Brixton; Wembley Park Academy; and The Globe Academy, Southwark, cost £25 - £30 million each.

CORPORATION OF LONDON/ CITY UNIVERSITY

Second City academy, £25 million budget for new buildings, opens in Islington today.

OASIS COMMUNITY LEARNING

Set up by Baptist minister Steve Chalke, runs nine academies in England, one in Enfield. Newest is £18.4 million Oasis Academy Coulsdon, in Croydon.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Adding to its schools empire with the Wren Academy in North Finchley, budgeted at £23.4 million.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in