Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons her Department did not accept the offer from a sponsor to take over control of Baverstock Academy.

When considering solutions for underperforming schools which require sponsors, my department assesses conditions at the school including the state of leadership and governance; the school’s financial health; building conditions and pupil numbers, alongside any other issue that the school may be dealing with. We also consider the current and prospective performance and financial health of any sponsor and the relative benefits of the various options available to enable children to get a good education. All these factors can be relevant to whether the performance of the underperforming school can be substantially improved.

Officials approached five sponsors to negotiate the rebrokerage of the Baverstock Academy. All but one felt that the academy posed too great a risk to the performance and financial health of the schools within their trust. This sponsor submitted a proposal to sponsor the Baverstock Academy. After completing a review of the conditions at Baverstock, and the various options available, the department judged that the academy could pose too great a risk to the overall performance and financial health of the potential sponsor, and the chances of them improving the performance of Baverstock Academy substantially were very uncertain. Given the circumstances, closure and locating to another school was a better option for the pupils at Baverstock Academy. This judgement led to the announcement of the in-principle agreement to terminate the funding agreement.