29th January 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
A report by the Academies Commission called ‘Unleashing Greatness’ states that the increasing number of Academy schools in England could be promoting social segregation. Academies are still a relatively new addition to education in the UK and can be described as independent schools that are financed by the government. However, the report suggests that the Academies Commission has evidence that some of the more popular academies are attempting to select the pupils they want while excluding those they do not.
At the start of this academic year, the number of academies had risen by 203 since May 2010 numbering them at 2,309. While this increase could be seen as a triumph for the Academies Commission, they are worried that it could see a further escalation in what has been termed as ‘admissions inequalities’. This is particularly important as academies have a greater autonomy than most state schools over their own admissions.
All state schools are required to adhere to an admissions code, which instructs them to admit all pupils in an unprejudiced and legitimate manner. Schools must not interview potential pupils or parents, or give priority to children whose parents propose to provide financial support. However, the commission claims that it has obtained a number of reports which suggest that this is not the case. By organising social events for prospective parents and pre-admission meetings, or by selecting pupils based on extra information they have acquired about their families, academies are carefully dodging around the barriers in place through the code.
The commission is calling for academies to provide mandatory socio-economic data about the students that apply to their schools, and the ones who are offered places. Such information would be made available to all, and scrutinised by the Office of the Schools Adjudicator so that any segregation might be identified and dealt with. Furthermore, this would hopefully demonstrate a school’s fairness and accessibility to all students it admits.