In May 2010 the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, announced proposals for new legislation, which became The Academies Act 2010. This Act allows the Secretary of State to approve applications from schools that wish to become Academies.

The Act enables more schools to benefit from Academy freedoms and flexibilities which will help schools to innovate and raise standards. This year the Academy programme has been opened up and extended, allowing other Primary, Secondary and Special schools to apply to become Academies whether alone or as part of an Umbrella Trust or similar arrangement.  

The Academies Team

Wilkin Chapman LLP’s Academies team are the leading advisers on Academy Conversions in the region, providing expert advice and guidance to schools that wish to become Academies.

Our Academies team has been at the forefront of advising on the Academy conversion process since the legislation came into effect.  We have worked closely with the Department for Education and we provided advice for one of the first schools to convert in the UK, which converted to an Academy on 1 September 2010.  We have also worked closely with Ecarda, an established education consultancy, which has experience in Academy formations. Since this date we have advised on a number of Academy conversions and demand from schools for this new structure is increasing.

The key stages to becoming an Academy

In brief terms, to become an Academy, each school must follow the process below:

Stage 1 - Obtaining the Academies Order

The Governing Body will need to complete an 'Application to convert' form, including a resolution from the Governing Body of the School approving conversion and, if appropriate, the agreement of the School’s Foundation Trustees/Diocese. The Secretary of State will then make an Academy Order.

Stage 2 - Consultation

Governing Bodies of Schools that wish to convert to Academies are required, by the Academies Act 2010, to carry out a consultation process with appropriate stakeholders such as staff, parents and unions before converting to an Academy.

Stage 3 - Completion of legal formalities

The School must form an Academy Trust which is a limited company.  The current Governing Body becomes Directors of the Trust.  The following documents are required:

1. Memorandum and Articles of Association. These are the constitutional documents for the Academy Trust and set out the rules on how the Academy Trust will operate. They deal with issues such as governor (director) and member appointments and how meetings are conducted.
 
2. The Asset Transfer Agreement. This document transfers to the Academy Trust, all of the assets and contracts currently held or entered into by the Governing Body or the Local Authority, including the equipment and fixtures and fittings of the School.
 
3. The Funding Agreement. This document sets out how the Academy Trust receives annual grant and funds from Government.  Academies receive the same level of per-pupil funding as they received from the Local Authority as a maintained school, plus additions to cover the services that are no longer provided for them by the Local Authority.  However, under the new regime, Academies have greater freedom over how they use their budgets to best benefit the school.  The Funding Agreement stipulates the date when the Academy will open and the Local Authority will cease to maintain the School from that date.  All staff will transfer under TUPE.
 
4. Land Transfer Agreements. This document will deal with the transfer of the land and buildings.  Where the land is owned by the local authority, the land will be transferred on a 125 year lease for a peppercorn rent.  Alternative options are available where the land is owned by other parties, such as: Foundation Trustees, Church, etc.

Stage 4 - Pre-opening

All matters must be finalised in preparation for the opening date.  As the Academy Trust is a separate legal entity in law, the existing contracts to which the School is a party must be transferred to it.

Our Expertise

Our Team is able to provide expert legal advice on each stage of the Academy conversion process.  These include:

• Preparing proposals for the Secretary of State

• Incorporation of the Academy Trust

• Negotiating the Funding Agreement

• Negotiating the Transfer Agreement

• Dealing with Land issues

• Providing full after-care and support for Governors, Headteachers and teaching staff

Meet the team

Headed by Ian Sherburn, our specialist Academies team brings together collective expertise from across our commercial, employment, commercial property and public law departments.  The team has extensive knowledge of working within the education sector and on the Academy conversion process.

You will find details of the team in the your contacts section on the right.