Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, shat assessment has his department made on the impact of Oak National Academy becoming a public body on (a) teacher autonomy and (b) educational resource innovation.

Converting Oak National Academy to an arm’s length body will have significant benefits for teachers, providing optional support which evidence suggests can reduce their workload and increase their curriculum expertise. As part of an evaluation carried out by ImpactEd, published at: https://thenational.academy, it was found that Oak National Academy made a significant contribution to decreasing teacher workload. Oak National Academy improved the workload for 42% of users, on average by 3 hours per week. The evaluation also found that 50% of teachers surveyed increased their confidence in curriculum design.

As an integral part of the process to set up Oak National Academy as an arm’s length body, the department also produced a business case which included an assessment of the benefits for teachers, as well as potential market impact. This business case will be published shortly. Monitoring market impact will be a priority throughout Oak National Academy’s lifetime and will be factored into the body’s ongoing evaluation and two-year review.