Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

The DFE have published summary notes on the proposed changes to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. 

Below are some key sections taken from a summary from The Key - visit The Key to read their full summary (note this is for Key subscribers only)

Establishment of new, non-academy schools

Currently, LAs are only able to propose new schools that are academies. This bill would allow LAs to invite proposals for other types of school, including voluntary, foundation (or foundation special), as well as proposals for an academy or an alternative provision academy.

It would also allow LAs to put forward their own proposals for a community, community special, foundation or foundation special school, or pupil referral unit (PRU), alongside other proposals received.

The secretary of state would then consider the proposals and make a decision, although in practice, it's likely that this would be delegated to regional directors (senior civil servants who work across children's social care, SEND and schools/area-based programmes).

An end to automatic forced academisation for schools causing concern

This measure would change the current duty to issue academy orders to underperforming maintained schools into a discretionary power.

The secretary of state would have greater flexibility to decide on the most appropriate course of action to drive school improvement, rather than the automatic conversion to a sponsored academy under the current system.

It's expected that in cases involving the worst performing schools, the secretary of state would still issue an academy order, but in other cases school improvement could be supported through other means such as deploying a regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) team, which the government committed to in its manifesto.

The Bill had its second reading on 08 January 2025 so is still not statutory.  It will have to pass through more legislative processes but I’m keen to help Heads and Governors recognise the proposed changes and consider if they may impact on their strategic plans.