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20 April 2026

Tag: PFI

Academy facing closure over ‘crippling’ £21 million PFI costs

A struggling academy is facing closure because of “crippling” PFI repayments – with the council set to pick up the outstanding £21 million debt. The government has agreed “in principle” to close The Kingsway Academy, in Wirral, following two-year discussions over its viability. Northern Schools Trust, which took on the academy in 2014, said low […]

Norfolk council rakes in £500,000 from academy conversion fees

Schools in Norfolk have paid more than £500,000 in “conversion costs” to their local authority to become academies, Schools Week can reveal. The charges cover almost the entire estimated cost to the council of legal and financial work during the conversion. But in other parts of the country schools paid far less, or nothing at […]

Newham schools consider suing council over £500k PFI costs

Two schools are considering high court action to settle a row with their local authority over a disputed PFI bill they claim has stalled their academy conversion. Rokeby School and Lister Community School, in the London borough of Newham, want to convert and form a multi-academy trust, with plans to take over the Newham Collegiate […]

Ofsted sticks school in special measures, criticising ‘messy’ talks over academy status

A school whose academy conversion hit the buffers over its controversial PFI deal has been put in special measures. Noel-Baker school, in Derby, has been rated inadequate in every category with inspectors blaming “messy” talks over academy status having a “negative impact on vital school improvement work”. The local authority-maintained school was built as part […]

PFI costs scupper Staffordshire academy takeover – despite DfE’s £1.5m deal offer

An Ofsted-rated outstanding Staffordshire academy has pulled out of taking over a struggling school because of its costly private finance initiative (PFI) contract, despite being offered an “unprecedented” £1.5 million sponsorship sweetener. Governors at St Joseph’s college, Stoke-on-Trent, have backed out of the planned sponsorship of nearby Birches Head academy after deciding the financial risks […]

Academy contracts are not fit for purpose – so how do we change them?

Academies have been given different freedoms depending on when they signed a funding agreement or what they managed to negotiate with a government minister. Suggested reforms from an IPPR seminar would not threaten school autonomy. Instead they would allow the government to set out a more consistent set of freedoms — and help to reduce bureaucracy in […]

If I were education secretary…

As the chief executive of a multi-academy trust, my team of three executives and myself spend nearly all of our time trying to make sure that the trust and the schools within in are following all the rules. But it is impossible to be 100 per cent compliant. Not only is there a ridiculous amount […]

Land sharing: it’s going to be difficult to resist

The DfE cannot compel academies to share their land, but changes to funding agreements will make it difficult to resist Amid concerns about the shortage of pupil places at primary schools in England, the Department for Education (DfE) has introduced new provisions into the model funding agreements of academy schools. These are designed to enable […]