More than a third of schools are now academies

More than a third of all secondary schools in the West Midlands are now academies, latest Government figures show.

A total of 142 secondaries across the region have already converted, or 36 per cent of the total number of schools.

Meanwhile 45 per cent are either already open as academies or have applied to become one in the future. It comes after the Department for Education (DfE) revealed that more than half of all secondary schools across the country have now turned into academies.

Two schools in Wolverhampton and one in Staffordshire applied for the status only last month, the data shows.

Deansfield Community School and Woden Primary School, both in Wolverhampton and Rawlett Community Sports College in Tamworth are the latest to apply.

It is claimed academies benefit from greater freedoms to raise standards with the ability to set their own pay and conditions for staff and greater flexibility around the delivery of the curriculum and term times.

Schools Minister Lord Hill said: "In academies, head teachers – not politicians or bureaucrats – are in charge of what happens in the school.

"A recent survey shows that hundreds of academies have already adapted the curriculum to raise standards, and a third are changing, or are considering changing, term times.

"With greater freedoms, these state-funded schools can truly meet the needs of local parents and pupils."

Across the country 1,776 academies are now open. In May 2010 the number open was 203.

As a result, around 1.45 million pupils now attend an academy.

During March, the DfE received more than 140 applications to convert – the biggest month for applications since May 2011.

It was revealed earlier this month that St Peter's Collegiate School in Compton Park, Wolverhampton, is bidding to become an academy. Only 34 primary schools across the West Midlands are academies, which is two per cent of the total number of primaries.