Birmingahm's education chief has hit back at ‘misleading’ Government claims that 41 struggling primary schools have improved as a direct result of becoming sponsored academies - pointing out that many had not converted when results started to improve.
Last month the Department for Education published a list of 41 Birmingham academies whose Key Stage 2 exam results, those taken by 10-year-olds had picked up in the last two years.
The figures were used by Education Secretary Michael Gove to vindicate his policy of championing sponsored academies, schools run by outside institutions or companies, and free schools.
But in a scathing rebuke, Birmingham’s Labour cabinet member for education Coun Brigid Jones said Mr Gove and his staff had not ‘got their facts right’.
She said that according to the council’s own analysis that four of the 41 schools have not even converted to academies yet and are still run by the Local Education Authority, while one school converted only last month.
Another 15 only converted after February 2013, meaning that their 2013 key stage two results were not largely affected by academy status, and finally one is an infant school which does not teach children to key stage two.
She added: “Of the 22 academies that became sponsored academies prior to February last year, while 11 have improved results, seven are still below the floor target and four had a dip in results in 2013.”
The council’s figures show that only a quarter of the schools can be accurately claim to have improved since becoming academies.
Coun Jones said: “I would suggest that the Secretary of State checks his facts before making unsubstantiated and highly misleading claims about education in this city.”
The Department for Education said that it had listed some of the country’s weakest performing primary schools that had either converted or were on the road to converion to academies.
And emphasised that as a general rule sponsored academies do better.
“This was a list of schools that have or are going to turn into academies so they get the help they need to improve,” a spokesman said.
“We believe the best way to turn around a school is to bring in a sponsor,” he added.
