Part of the June 2015 education briefing. A focus on the potential key themes for the next five years in schools and academies.

1. Key themes for the next five years

3. Conservative Party Manifesto 2015

4. Our predictions for the next five years – four key themes
• increase in school improvement interventions
• increase in powers of Regional School Commissioners
• increase in MATs
• increase in academies.

5. Increase in powers of Regional School Commissioners
System introduced September 2014 to address the ‘middle tier’ issue and
restore some local accountability
“an important shifting of operational decision making”
DFE appointed eight commissioners to act on behalf of the SoS and providing a
link between the DfE and academies and free schools.
RSCs responsible for approving new academies and intervening in
underperforming academies and free schools in their area NB no remit in
relation to maintained schools
RSCs are accountable to the national Schools Commissioner, Frank Green
Each RSC supported by a HTB of 6 to 8 experienced academy headteachers and
other sector leaders – elected, appointed and co-opted

6. RSC regional network

7. RSC’s – latest developments
15 June 2015 – Lord Nash writes to Directors of Children’s Services
From 1 July RSCs will be given additional delegated powers extending their
remit so that they can intervene in under-performing maintained schools and
convert them into academies under a sponsor.
“Now that RSCs are embedded, this is a logical extension of their role, given
the responsibilities they already have for academy conversion and open
academies. This change represents the next step to creating a more
regionalised system. Decisions will be taken locally by RSCs, with the advice
and challenge from the experienced professional leaders represented on their
head teacher board… I urge you to work with them in a spirit of cooperation
so that we can all ensure that young people in your local are receive the high
quality of education they deserve.”

8. Increase in MATs

9. Increase in MATs

10. Increase in MATs
• MATs will be required to have a regional focus based around the defined
RSC regional areas – new ‘cross RSC border’ MATs are unlikely to be
allowed.
• very big MATs may, as a minimum, be required to reorganise into sub-
MATS defined along RSC region lines
• there will be no cap on MAT size but growth of MATs will not go
unchecked –a risk system put in place
• in terms of rate of expansion for MATs, ‘steady growth’ will be between
one and ten conversions per 12 month rolling period
• the rate of transfer of academies between MATs will increase.

11. Increase in MATs
• many more MATs are going to be required to ‘house’ new convertors
• new convertors may be required to convert as ‘empty MATs’ –
converting as a single academy may become difficult
• MAT projects may not be incentivised by the sort of grants that have
been offered in the past.
• rather DFE/EFA expectation is that schools must recognise that MAT
arrangements are a necessity for their future financial survival in terms
of achieving efficiencies.

12. Increase in academies
DFE will target doubling academy numbers to c 10,000 over the next
parliament – approximately half of all schools – tipping point?
‘Academies are just one part of the picture, and their work is
complemented by thousands of excellent schools in the maintained
sector.’ - Nicky Morgan, August 2014
But see RSC KPI 3ii:
“The percentage of eligible schools issued with an academy order,
where in this case an ‘eligible’ school is defined as one: that is not
already an academy, free school, UTC or studio school; that is not
below the floor; and that is not in Ofsted inadequate category.”

13. www.education-advisors.com