Academies

Academies are state-funded schools that are not run by the local council. They are independent from local authorities. 

The day to day running of the school is managed by the head teacher or principal. They are overseen by academy trusts. These trusts provide advice, support, expertise, and a strategic overview.

Academies can decide on their own curriculums, term dates, school hours, salaries, how to spend their budget, and much more.

Oversight

Educational and financial oversight for academies is run by the National and Regional Schools Commissioners and the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Individual academies are still subject to Ofsted inspections and ratings in the same way as council run schools.

In North Somerset, all mainstream secondary schools are academies, along with almost all the mainstream primary, infant, and junior schools.

Multi Academy Trusts (MAT’s) are charities that have responsibility for running a number of academies. As a charity, they cannot be run for financial profit. Any surplus must be reinvested in the trust.

By working in partnership with each other, the schools within a trust can share

• staff
• curriculum expertise
• effective teaching practices
• work together to deliver the best outcomes for pupils.

Academies can trade with third party providers. All academies in North Somerset currently trade with us for our school admissions service. 

Some academies delegate part of the admissions process to us, while other academies delegate the entire admissions process to us. 

If an academy trades a service to a third party, the academy and their trust are still ultimately responsible.