Which type of school performs better – academies or local authority schools?
This is a tricky question to answer. Much of the published material on the topic calls to mind the old adage about lies, damned lies and statistics.
This report from the government – unsurprisingly – has come down on the side of academies, citing the fact that underperforming LA schools tend to improve their Ofsted ratings after academisation.
But a recent report from the Local Government Association has – equally shockingly – come down on the side of LA schools. This analysis point to figures showing that LA schools are more likely to have good or outstanding Ofsted ratings than academies.
Both of these points are true. But we can pick holes in both of them.
