Conceived of in the 1990's under Labour and later further advocated under the Conservatives, what are now referred to as Academies - or perhaps more specifically an English state funded Schools that would operate outside of Local Authority control, having direct funding from Central Government, more direct governance and be freer to determine their own directions and specialties - have grown significantly in number. At the time of writing Academy Schools represent around 80% of all Secondary Schools and approximately 40% of all Primary Schools across England

It’s interesting to note here that there is quite a disparity in terms of the number of Schools that have converted to, or been established as, Academies relative to the total number of Schools across each region.

Notably from the table above, figures for the highest and lowest % of Schools being Academies are:

- The lowest being 26% of all Schools in the North West

- The highest being the South West with 55% of all Schools

Interestingly though this is reversed when combining the regions into areas of the country. With 40% of all Schools across the South, 41.6% across the North of England and 50% of all Schools across the Midlands being Academies.

There are, of course, both political and historical reasons for some of the regional variations. Not least of which being 24% of Schools in the North West and 14% in London are Voluntary Aided Schools.

You can see a full live report on the numbers of academies by area and Trust membership here

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