Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of converting schools into academies in (a) Coventry and (b) the West Midlands.

Edward Timpson

In light of the new money announced in the Budget to support our plans, we are currently considering how best to consolidate and improve the support available to schools as they convert to become academies. New guidance will be available soon which will ensure that the available funding has maximum impact to build capacity and help schools make the most of the opportunities of becoming an academy.

There will be a range of help available to support schools to become academies and secure the associated benefits. Pre-opening support grants are available to all schools, which contribute towards the costs of conversion incurred by schools in establishing the academy. In addition, other grants support a range of different models and phases of academy development, including the sponsor capacity fund and grants which are targeted to help groups of primary schools to either come together in new trusts or join existing ones.