Weeks after Academies Act passed, 142 schools to convert to academy status

Michael Gove, Education Secretary, today announced that 142 schools have accepted the Government's offer to become an academy since the Academies Act became law just over a month ago. These schools have made a commitment to work with other schools and share their expertise. This is the first wave of converters in a rolling process that allows schools to convert at any stage.

The running total of schools that will become academies this academic year is 216 so far. The current breakdown is as follows:

142 schools converting to become academies: 32 are opening this week and a further 110 schools have had Academy Orders signed which means they are on track to convert to academies over the coming months.

Of the 142, there are 7 primary schools which become the first ever primary academies to open. The Government has said that special schools will also be allowed to become academies from next year.

64 new academies replace failing schools this September plus a further 10 opening by April 2011. This is record progress; it took five years for 15 city technology colleges to open, and four years for the first 27 academies to open.

Michael Gove said:

This Government believes that teachers and head teachers, not politicians and bureaucrats, should control schools and have more power over how they are run. That's why we are spreading academy freedoms. This will give heads more power to tackle disruptive children, to protect and reward teachers better, and to give children the specialist teaching they need.

This year's GCSE results saw academy pupils improving at nearly three times the historic rate of state school improvement.
A full list of all schools becoming academies for this September term is available to download here. http://bit.ly/bZNmoP

For further information and responses from Heads of new academies, read the full press notice.

The list below gives the number of academies opening each year under the previous Government:
3 opened in 2002
9 opened in 2003
5 opened in 2004
10 opened in 2005
19 opened in 2006
37 opened in 2007
47 opened in 2008
70 opened in 2009
3 opened in January 2010
Total: 203

DfE 01/09/10 http://bit.ly/bZNmoP