The role of church schools in academies plan revealed

The ‘Memorandums of Understanding’, published by the Department for Education (DfE), have set out guidelines and rules for the way church run schools will work in the new academy landscape.

Referenced in Education Secretary Nicky Morgan’s white paper ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’, the Memorandums of Understanding’s state that the Church will have a final say on whether schools convert to academy status.

The ‘Memorandum of understanding between the Catholic Church and DfE’ states that ‘the DfE remains committed to securing the religious character and ethos of every Catholic school and to preserving the diocesan family of schools’ and that ’the DfE respects the statutory right and requirement for Diocesan and Trustee consent, to allow a Catholic school to become an academy’.

The same was said for the Church of England, which states: ‘The department respects the statutory right and requirement for the consent of various diocesan bodies to allow a church school to become an academy’.

However, when it comes to sponsorship, Catholic schools will retain more control over who takes over any schools found to be underperforming, whereas for Church of England schools the ‘expectation’ will be for another diocesan or ‘strong church school-led’ trust to sponsor underperforming schools. However, if there are no suitable church trusts then the regional schools commissioner ‘may look to’ a non-Church sponsor.