Academy schools have been forced to bat off a number of damagingallegations over the years. But their biggest fan, Prime Minister TonyBlair, has never wavered in his support for the programme.
Two months ago, Blair announced plans to double the number of proposedacademies from 200 to more than 400. The move - seen as central to thePrime Minister's legacy on education - will cost around 5bn. Itwill mean that more than 10 per cent of secondary schools becomeacademies.
The Prime Minister justifies this expansion by pointing to initiallyencouraging exam results from the small number of city academies thathave opened. But at what cost? New figures obtained by Children Nowsuggest that the good results achieved by some academies may be becausethey are excluding high numbers of children. With pupils from deprivedbackgrounds and those with special educational needs (SEN) more likelyto be excluded, the figures raise serious questions about whetheracademies are really serving their purpose of helping children fromdisadvantaged backgrounds.
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