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George Osborne announced in his budget speech on 16^th March 2016 that all schools will be forced into becoming academies by 2022. This may sound like a long way down the road but by 2020 schools must have started or be already undergoing the conversion process. Many schools have already converted to academies, however, there are many that have not. The national picture shows that approximately 60% of secondary schools have already converted but only 15% of primary schools. Locally in Norfolk the figures show that 40% of secondary schools have already converted and only 17% of primary schools. There is therefore likely to be a large number of schools that will have to move fairly quickly to convert or face the wrath of The Department for Education (“DfE”) and George Osborne. As many working in the education sector will already be aware there are many differences between schools under local authority control and academies, just some of these being: The process that schools will need to follow to become an academy is not the most straightforward, although it has thankfully been simplified as time has gone on. The process involves jumping through a number of hoops with the DfE whilst also considering a number of legal issues such as: For those schools who have already become an academy there is an underlying push from the government and DfE for those academies to join forces with others and become multi-academy trusts (“MATs”), which may well be rolled out in the not too distant future.

• As an academy you are a free standing company;
• Academies are independent schools who report directly to DfE;
• Academies receive their funding directly from the DfE and not through the local authority;
• Academies do not have to follow the national curriculum;
• Academies can set their own pay structure for teachers and also change their length of term and term dates.

• Employment law – transfer of staff from local authority to the academy;
• Contract law – how to transfer existing supplier contracts;
• Company law – how to set up an academy as new legal entity;
• Property law – the land on which the school sits may belong to a landowner, the church or local authority and will need to be transferred to the new academy; and
• Funding/education and governance will also need to be considered.

It is important for head teachers, senior leaders and governors to plan ahead and put in place their plans to convert as a single academy, convert with a sponsor or join together with others to form a MAT. Whichever route your school takes you should seek advice. Our specialist team of lawyers has already helped a number of schools with the conversion process and we can provide step by step guidance and ongoing support to make sure you avoid the legal pitfalls. We provide practical advice on the options open to you and we also help provide schools with ongoing legal support to deal with future legal issues. If you would like to discuss any of the issues mentioned above, contact Gareth Stevens on 01603 281159.