Inside The Academy School Revolution

Zoe Williams steps inside Education Secretary Michael Gove's academy revolution to find out if removing schools from local authority control is really a magic formula for success.

More than half of England's secondary schools have already converted or are in the process of converting to academy status, gaining greater control over curriculum, length of school day and how they spend their money. Many are adopting innovative teaching techniques from abroad.

But teachers unions and other critics warn that academies are democratically unaccountable and that this 'privatisation' of the education system will lower teaching standards and divide communities.

Zoe Williams spends time inside two flagship academies sponsored by the charity ARK. Does their 'depth before breadth' policy of focusing on core curriculum subjects provide a rounded education? She finds out how pupils and teachers respond to a longer school day and challenging targets. And she talks to ARK's co-founder, hedge fund manager Paul Marshall, about his reasons for getting involved in sponsoring schools, and his concerns that academies may need closer supervision.

Zoe also visits academies where staff and sponsors have struggled. St Aldhelm's in Dorset achieved the worst exam results in England in its first year as an academy and Sir Robert Woodard in West Sussex was placed in special measures after an Ofsted inspection found teaching standards to be inadequate.

And can success be bought by academies with wealthy sponsors? The head of a US-based sponsor of an academy about to begin operating in the Midlands says his organisation will do whatever it takes to ensure the school, and others they plan to sponsor, are successful.

Producer: Brian King

An Above The Title production for BBC Radio 4.

Zoe Williams turns school inspector to put a range of academies to the test.

Zoe Williams steps inside Education Secretary Michael Gove's academy revolution to find out if removing schools from local authority control is really a magic formula for success.

More than half of England's secondary schools have already converted or are in the process of converting to academy status, gaining greater control over curriculum, length of school day and how they spend their money. Many are adopting innovative teaching techniques from abroad.

But teachers unions and other critics warn that academies are democratically unaccountable and that this 'privatisation' of the education system will lower teaching standards and divide communities.

Zoe Williams spends time inside two flagship academies sponsored by the charity ARK. Does their 'depth before breadth' policy of focusing on core curriculum subjects provide a rounded education? She finds out how pupils and teachers respond to a longer school day and challenging targets. And she talks to ARK's co-founder, hedge fund manager Paul Marshall, about his reasons for getting involved in sponsoring schools, and his concerns that academies may need closer supervision.

Zoe also visits academies where staff and sponsors have struggled. St Aldhelm's in Dorset achieved the worst exam results in England in its first year as an academy and Sir Robert Woodard in West Sussex was placed in special measures after an Ofsted inspection found teaching standards to be inadequate.

And can success be bought by academies with wealthy sponsors? The head of a US-based sponsor of an academy about to begin operating in the Midlands says his organisation will do whatever it takes to ensure the school, and others they plan to sponsor, are successful.

Producer: Brian King

An Above The Title production for BBC Radio 4.

Zoe Williams turns school inspector to put a range of academies to the test.