Children's Secretary Ed Balls has confirmed that there will no longer be a financial requirement for sponsors of academies opening from September 2011.
Instead, sponsors will be selected on their "educational track record, their skills and leadership and their commitment to working with local parents, teachers and pupils," he said.
The government has made the move in a bid to double the number of academies. So far 200 have opened.
Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) said: "It's a sign of desperation in terms of the number of sponsors who are prepared to be involved in running schools."
She also reiterated the NUT's opposition to the academy system, which it wants to see halted.
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