Related Press Release For The South East - GMB

Monday 8 th July 2013
7% OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS & 45.6% OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE SOUTH EAST HAVE
APPLIED TO BECOME ACADEMIES
It is our experience that support staff are frequently the first group of school staff to have their
jobs and terms and conditions threatened says GMB
A new analysis of official data by GMB, the union for school support staff, shows that by June 2013
that of the total of 2,599 state primary schools in the South East 182 of them have applied to become
academies. This is 7% of the total.
The same analysis also shows that of the total of 478 state secondary schools in the South East 218
of them have applied to become academies. This is 45.6% of the total.
By comparison for England of the total of 16,784 state primary schools 1,497 of them have applied to
become academies. This is 8.9% of the total. For state secondary schools in England out of the total
of 3,281 some 1,396 of them have applied to become academies. This is 42.5% of the total.
Set out alphabetically by local authority in the South East region are the figures for the numbers of
state primary and secondary schools that had applied to become academies by June 2013.
Number of schools and applications for academies by local authority in the region
Total schools Number of
in local
application to
authority become academy
% of total
schools
ENGLAND Primary 16,784 1,497 8.9
Secondary 3,281 1,396 42.5
SOUTH EAST Primary 2,599 182 7.0
Secondary 478 218 45.6
South East Local Authority
Bracknell Forest Primary 31 0.0
Secondary 6 1 16.7
Brighton and Hove Primary 54 0.0
Secondary 9 0.0
Buckinghamshire Primary 181 11 6.1
Secondary 34 23 67.6
East Sussex Primary 152 1 0.7
Secondary 26 9 34.6
Hampshire Primary 425 9 2.1
Secondary 70 26 37.1
Isle of Wight Primary 41 3 7.3
Secondary 6 1 16.7
Kent Primary 448 50 11.2
Secondary 100 52 52.0
Medway Primary 79 7 8.9
Secondary 17 10 58.8
Milton Keynes Primary 88 8 9.1
Secondary 12 7 58.3
Oxfordshire Primary 232 32 13.8
Secondary 35 22 62.9
Portsmouth Primary 52 4 7.7
Secondary 10 1 10.0
Reading Primary 37 1 2.7
Secondary 7 5 71.4

Slough Primary 29 9 31.0
Secondary 11 8 72.7
Southampton Primary 60 12 20.0
Secondary 12 6 50.0
Surrey Primary 300 17 5.7
Secondary 53 28 52.8
West Berkshire Primary 66 0.0
Secondary 10 5 50.0
West Sussex Primary 230 14 6.1
Secondary 38 6 15.8
Windsor and Maidenhead Primary 45 4 8.9
Secondary 13 4 30.8
Wokingham Primary 49 0.0
Secondary 9 4 44.4
Paul Maloney, GMB Regional Secretary said, “GMB as the union for school support staff is
closely monitoring the steady stream of Academy conversions as we are always concerned for
our members when schools leave the State system.
They are being forced to do this by government policy and it is leaving schools in the hands of
individual head teachers and boards of governors with no accountability to the local
community, they do not have to listen to the public or parents.
Too often with conversions to Academies, support staff are viewed as an educational 'luxury',
despite their vital contribution to education and learning outcomes and the day-to-day running
of a school.
It is our experience that support staff are frequently the first group of school staff to have their
jobs and terms and conditions threatened. GMB strongly defends all school support staff and
believes they should be more highly respected for all that they do.
GMB is committed to doing it all it can to ensure that attacks from Michael Gove Secretary of
State for Education do not translate into targeting the most vulnerable members of the school
community.”
Ends
Contact: Mark Wilkinson, GMB Senior Organiser on 07802 984267 or Paul Maloney, GMB Regional
Secretary on 07801 343839 or Avril Chambers, GMB National Officer on 07974 251766 or GMB
Press Office: 07974 251823 or 07921 289880.