Nursery World - 200 failing primary schools will re-open as academies

Hundreds of underperforming primary schools will be forced to convert to academies under plans set out by education secretary Michael Gove.

In a speech at the National College of School Leadership in Birmingham, Mr Gove will say that 200 primaries will become academies and 500 other primary schools will be earmarked for academy status if they fail to improve.

The recent White Paper brought in new minimum standards that primary schools must meet – ‘a floor standard’. This means that 60 per cent of pupils should achieve a Level 4 in English and Maths at the age of 11, or make an average level of progress between seven and 11.

There are around 1,400 primary schools below this level. Around 200 schools that have been below the floor level for more than five years will re-open as academies in September 2012 and the Government is currently looking for new academy sponsors to take over the running of them.

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