Public Policy

What's happening in our schools?

There are currently two major government initiatives that encourage and enable private sector participation in providing better education for secondary school children - the Academies programme and the Specialist Schools programme. Both build on the model of City Technology colleges, which the previous Conservative government piloted as a way of improving science, technology and vocational qualifications in secondary schools.

What's 'new' about these new schemes?

A couple of things. First, they must integrate more closely with local communities and participate in LEA admissions arrangements. Academies and Specialist Schools are free to choose from arange of specialist areas. Academies however may also cater for primary school children and tend to be based on new or redundant sites, whereas Specialist Schools are modifications of existing secondary schools.

How can companies be involved?

Private sector backers can strongly influence the specialisation of an Academy, as long as this complements existing specialist schools in the area and suits the site and locality of the proposed Academy. Corporate sponsors of Specialist Schools have less say over the curriculum, focusing more on the provision of educational facilities.

In both cases, sponsoring businesses can participate in the governance and running of the schools (for Academies, corporate sponsors are entitled to a majority on the Trust board and governing body). Companies are also encouraged to build relationships through employee volunteering, mentoring and work placements for students.

How much does school sponsorship cost?

Academies demand a higher level of financial commitment from sponsors since they are usually built from scratch. As such, Academy sponsors are required to contribute £2m. Specialist schools, meanwhile, only need to raise £50,000 of private sponsorship.

How do you choose a school to sponsor?

In general, schools wishing to gain Specialist School status must find sponsors themselves. In the case of Academies, however, potential sponsors must contact the DfES. LEAs assess the facilities in an area, and, if they are able to locate a suitable site, will then communicate the need for an Academy to the DfES.

It then falls to the DfES to direct companies to suitable opportunities for sponsoring an Academy. A company then submits a formal expression of interest to the Secretary of State, who funds the feasibility phase of the project if the expression is accepted. When the feasibility phase is complete, sponsors sign an agreement with the DfES and make a financial commitment.

And the £2.2bn?

Yes - let's not forget this! The £2.2bn relates to another new scheme - Building Schools for the Future - launched on February 12. The scheme aims to introduce a new model for the design, procurement and building of secondary schools. A new body, Partnerships for Schools, will work with each LEA and a private sector partner to develop the so-called "local school estate" concept and construct, maintain and operate the new facilities.

For more information, see: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk">http://http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk

Corporate Citizenship Briefing, issue no: 74 - March, 2004

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Corporate Citizenship Briefing, issue no: 74 - March, 2004