Press Story

“The government is arguing that England’s schools need more autonomy in order to match the best in the world. But England already has the third most autonomous school system in the world, while it lags in 23rd place on pupil performance. Fixating on giving schools independence is unlikely to generate any improvement in education standards”.

Contact

Sofie Jenskinson, s.jenkinson@ippr.org, 07981 023031
Lester Holloway, l.holloway@ippr.org, 07585 772 633

Notes to Editors

Our report ‘A legal bind: The future legal framework for England's schools’ argues that as the number of academies continues to expand, this report asks whether the present system of contractual funding agreements with individual academies and academy chains is the best means of governing our school system and ensuring both autonomy and accountability for our schools. See: http://www.ippr.org/publications/a-legal-bind-the-future-legal-framework-for-englands-schools

Our report ‘Whole system reform: England's schools and the middle tier’ makes the case for appointing regional schools commissioners, responsible for commissioning schools and ensuring high standards, as a means of making the increasingly fragmented schools system better coordinated and more accountable. See: http://www.ippr.org/publications/whole-system-reform-englands-schools-and-the-middle-tier