Faith groups run some of the best
schools in the country, including in some of the most
disadvantaged areas.
Current rules mean that religious free
schools are only allowed to offer 50% of places to pupils based
on faith. Some providers say this cap discourages them from
opening new academies.
To make sure as many children as
possible can access the quality school places religious schools
offer, we're launching a consultation on whether to lift
the faith cap to support faith school providers to open new schools.
The consultation is open to
anyone who wants to have a
say, and will last for 7
weeks. You can access it here on
Gov.uk.
We've launched it alongside proposals
to open new special faith-based academies to create more places for children with special
educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
This is because faith school providers
often deliver high quality education and run some of the best
performing schools across the
country.
What does the consultation
mean for faith schools?
Currently, the 50% faith cap means
that if a new faith or church free school is
oversubscribed, it can only prioritise pupils based on faith for
half of the places. This means that at least half of the school's
available places must be allocated without reference to
faith-based admissions criteria.
As a result, some faith groups have
felt unable to open new free schools and discouraged about
bringing existing schools into academy
trusts.
The consultation will look at lifting
this cap meaning new free schools would be able to offer more
places to pupils based on faith.
Building on our work to improve standards, the consultation will
also explore how faith providers can use their expertise to open
special faith-based academies for the first time.
This will support faith school
providers to open more schools across the country, creating more
places for all children.
How will our plans help SEND
schools?
We want to make sure that all children
and young people who need specialist support have access to it,
so it's important that all strong providers, including faith
schools, can open schools for children with SEND to help meet the
need for places.
Currently, faith-based providers can't
open special schools. The consultation will look at how we could change this to
maximise the benefits offered by high quality academy trusts,
including by opening special faith-based
academiesfor children with SEND
for the first time.
These schools would admit pupils on
the basis of their need, not their faith.
Changing our policy to allow special
academies to be designated with a religious character would
encourage high quality faith school providers to apply to
establish new special academies and free schools within their
multi-academy trusts, helping us to meet the increased need for
places for children with SEND.
What is an
academy?
Academies are state-funded
schools.
However, unlike other state-funded
schools, they're independent from local authorities, and are
instead run by academy trusts. Trusts are not-for-profit
companies and can be multi academy trusts (MATs) – which run
several academies – or single academy trusts that run just
one.
They have more flexibility around what
they teach, teachers' pay and conditions, the length of the
school day and term dates.
Some academies used to be local authority-maintained
schools,
and while and
others are brand new schools known as
free schools, which are established to create more school places
in a local area.
New data shows that over half of state-funded schools are now
academies.
How are academies helping to
raise standards?
Our analysis shows that, on average,
academy schools improve standards quicker than equivalent local
authority-maintained schools.
Being part of an academy trust helps
to improve standards because the best leaders can take
responsibility for supporting more schools. This develops great
teachers and allows schools to focus on what really matters –
teaching, learning and a curriculum that is based on what
works.
A survey found more
than 75% of recently converted schools reported that the overall
impact of joining a multi-academy trust was positive. Around 9 in 10 of these felt that the
positive impact either met or exceeded their
expectations.
High quality multi-academy trusts have
been key to the increase in standards in schools since 2010. The
best trusts have transformed the life chances of their pupils,
including thousands of children from disadvantaged
backgrounds.
