What does academy mean in the UK?
An academy school in England is a state-funded school which is directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local authority control. The terms of the arrangements are set out in individual Academy Funding Agreements. Most academies are secondary schools.
What is considered a academy?
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning, research, or honorary membership.
What is the difference between a primary school and academy in UK?
A school is administered by local government, whereas an academy is directly under the control of central government. Both are publicly funded, but the way in which they receive and manage their funds are very different. An academy is registered as both a charity and a limited company.
Why were academies introduced in the UK?
The programme was initiated under the 1997–2010 labour government when strong concerns were being expressed that schools in particular local authorities (usually those serving disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods) were not delivering pupils a good enough education.
How many academies are there in the UK?
There are currently 1,170 Multi Academy Trusts in England that manage at least two schools. 29 MATs have 26 or more schools, 85 have between 12-25 schools and 259 have 6-11 schools.
Why would a school become an academy?
Academies have more control over how they do things, for example they do not have to follow the national curriculum and can set their own term times. Some schools choose to become academies. If a school funded by the local authority is judged as ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted then it must become an academy.
Why is a school called an academy?
An academy receives their funding directly from the government – rather than filtered through a local authority like a “traditional” state funded school. This means that an academy is directly accountable to the Department for Education. They are however, still inspected by Ofsted.
Why does a school become an academy?