Over the last two decades, the school system in England has evolved from a local authority (LA) led-system to a system in which today nearly half of all schools have been academised. This NFER report provides insights into the current MAT landscape by investigating how the mainstream school system has evolved so far.
The report also considers the considerations and challenges in either pursuing an all-MAT (Multi-academy trusts) system or in maintaining the current status quo and explores the role of LAs within the current school system and their views on the recent academisation policy proposals.
According to the report, just under half of all mainstream schools in England have academised. About 53 per cent of all mainstream schools remain LA maintained. Only two-fifths of primary schools are academies compared to four-fifths of secondary schools. More than half of academies are in trusts of fewer than ten schools. This is despite the fact that trusts have grown in size in recent years - since 2015/16, the proportion of schools in trusts with at least ten schools has more than doubled, while the proportion of schools in single academy trusts has shrunk by almost two-thirds.
Most underperforming schools have now been academised. About 14 per cent of schools in MATs have an inadequate or requires improvement Ofsted rating, compared to around seven per cent of LA maintained schools. This reflects the fact that most underperforming schools have now been moved into MATs as per Government policy.
There are currently less than 300 LA maintained schools who meet the criteria for intervention, albeit more schools may become eligible over time.