Playing fields and political football: the case of forced academisation

The recent ‘budget’ announcement that all schools in England should become academies by 2022 has sparked a flurry of public concern. Academies have been called “unpopular”, are said to lack evidence of success and fall short in accountability. Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) have been accused of steering and disproportionately benefiting from the privatization of education. For me (and many other sociologists and educational researchers) the recent announcement to roll out the academies programme was neither unexpected, nor did it feel ‘new’. Here Goldsmith’s Christy Kulz pre-warned of its accelerated nature back in 2014. More importantly, our research shows how the academy reforms have already been experienced at force and for a good number of years by some of the most disadvantaged communities in England. My home town is one of these, here’s our story.