The Secretary of State has outlined the number of schools which have shown an interest in becoming academies following the Department for Education announcement of the intention to expand the programme.
Regarding the schools that have shown an interest in becoming academies, Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove said:
I believe that headteachers and teachers know best how to run schools, not local bureaucrats or politicians. That’s why last week I wrote to every school in the country inviting them to take up academy freedoms if they wished to do so. The response has been overwhelming. In just 1 week, over 1,100 schools have applied. Of these, 626 are outstanding schools, including over 250 primary schools, nearly 300 secondary schools (over half of all the outstanding secondary schools in the country) and over 50 special schools.
Total number of schools who have applied for academy freedoms: 1,114
- non-outstanding schools: 488
- outstanding schools: 626
Of the outstanding schools that have applied:
- primary schools: 273
- secondary schools: 299
- all-through schools: 2
- special schools: 52
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