The one-sentence dismissal of academies reform by Labour-leaning think thank –and why this is so disappointing

My jaw hit the floor on learning of how the Institute for Public Policy Research had considered possibly the most significant education reforms of the past 20 years.

Badged as a “case study,” within a 54-page document produced by the Labour-leaning think tank on “how to rebalance our school system to work for people, economy and society,” staggeringly the academies policy – the way nearly half of schools in England are now of course organised - was given only five paragraphs’ consideration.

The first four summed up the policy’s history and the academic results of what are legally state-funded independent schools, against those achieved by the local authority maintained sector. This document was right to point out that the academies policy has not led to any great advantage for such schools over the maintained alternative they have been billed as replacing. This report’s one-sentence conclusion was that we should therefore not look at changing the academies structure-for the coming “decades”.

So, because of this stalemate in results between the two sectors, said the report, “policy makers should avoid focusing on structures in seeking to improve school outcomes in the coming decades”.

I found this profoundly disappointing. So I wanted to set out here a few reasons why.

Strange logic