New challenges for the new academies?
Summer 2011
Almost 400 schools have converted to academy status since the policy was announced a year ago. Now new research is pinpointing the unique challenges of leading recently converted academies and established 'sponsored' academies. Robert Hill outlines the findings, while three new academy heads share their thoughts on the process in exclusive extracts from their diaries.
What is it like to lead an academy compared with a maintained school? How different is it leading an old style ‘sponsored’ academy from leading one of the new ‘converting’ academies? These were among the questions that a group of PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) researchers were asked to investigate for the National College.
We found that the freedoms and autonomy that accompany academy status are fundamental to leading an academy. But through surveys, visits and in-depth group discussions they were also able to dig much deeper and identify significant differences in the focus, experience and challenge of sponsored academies compared with converting academies.
This is not surprising given the different contexts of sponsored and converting academies.
For example, sponsored academies have a strong focus on school improvement while the first waves of converting academies have all been assessed by Ofsted as high performing. Sponsored academies are generally located in areas of deprivation while this is much less likely for converting academies. Sponsored academies mostly cover the secondary phase whereas converting academies are embracing all school phases – including special schools.
“Leaders of converting academies are much more focused on continuity.”
The report describes how these differing contexts are shaping the operation and leadership of academies at four levels.
Sponsorship and governance
Sponsored academies on the whole value the contribution that comes from having a sponsor. In particular they identify sponsors with helping to establish the ethos of the new academy, bringing a sharper business focus to governance and exercising a more demanding scrutiny of performance.
Leaders of converter academies are not against the concept of sponsorship but they do not think it should be a requirement and, perhaps because they are not familiar with how sponsorship is operating in practice, tend to equate sponsorship with just gaining access to additional finance. However, converting academies do start from a strong position in terms of the skills and attributes of their existing governors.
Strategic leadership
Leaders of sponsored academies have seen academy status as an opportunity to rethink the vision and day-to-day operation of a school in order to challenge previous practices and expectations and to raise aspiration and attainment. Setting up an academy provides a break with what has gone before. As one academy leader put it: “[My mission] is to create an outstanding all-ability community school…to do that is about having high expectations and high aspirations for youngsters... Previously the school believed that they couldn’t achieve.”
In contrast leaders of converting academies are much more focused on continuity. Their school is already high achieving – they view academy status as a means of safeguarding this and providing a platform for further improvement and, in some cases, expansion. As one put it: “All our values have carried through to the academy. Our practices are outstanding and we are determined to maintain the good things. Academy status presents the opportunity for growth with continuity.”
This difference of emphasis also reflects the tightly compressed timescale that converting academies have to prepare for academy status. Most of the lead time is spent on administrative tasks related to conversion – whereas sponsored academies have generally had a longer preparatory period to devise an educational model from first principles.
Organisational leadership
It is not uncommon for senior leaders of sponsored academies to adopt a more directive style of leadership in an initial phase of an academy’s life in order to drive school improvement. However, the researchers also found that this approach was combined with a strong emphasis on developing middle leaders and giving them greater responsibility and accountability for teaching and learning strategies.
Sponsored academies that are part of a ‘chain’ of academies are developing innovative leadership structures involving executive principals and CEOs. This can bring a leaner model as leadership responsibilities are organised across phases, pairs or clusters of schools.
“Converting academy leaders rate financial management and budgeting skills more highly than 'sponsored' academy heads.”
Leadership structures in converting academies tend to be more traditional, for example with a headteacher supported by one or more deputy and assistant heads, and with a number of middle leaders working together in a single school. However, a wider range of leadership models or structures may emerge as time goes by – particularly as a number of converter academies start to use their academy freedoms to the full and/or incorporate other schools into their academy trust.
Operational leadership
Academy leaders were asked to identify the skills that were more important in the context of leading an academy than a maintained school. Sponsored and converting academy leaders agreed on four of the top five skills: financial management/budgeting skills; political/diplomatic skills; dealing with accountability; and change management skills.
However, there were also differences between the two groups of leaders.
Leaders in sponsored academies rated risk-taking, creative and decision-making attributes more highly than converting academy leaders.
In contrast when it came to financial management/budgeting skills, converting academy leaders rated this as being more important by a margin of 68 per cent to 52 per cent. However, this may reflect the short-term need for converting academy leaders to come to terms with a new financial regime and increased financial autonomy.
There is much more detail in the full report – including information on academies’ relationship with local authorities and the impact of academy status on support for other schools.
The National College will be using the findings to help shape its work for developing and supporting academy leaders. 
Robert Hill is an associate of the National College and was a member of the PwC research team for the academies’ project.
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