AN academy sponsor in the city has been judged to be “failing” to improve the prospects for disadvantaged children.

A report by national educational charity The Sutton Trust identified the Diocese of Oxford as one of 23 secondary school academy “chains” which do not meet the same levels of attainment as state-maintained schools.

The diocese is one of the sponsors of Littlemore school The Oxford Academy which was put in special measures last year.

But the diocese has said it is not a “chain”, rather an “organisation working in partnership with other sponsors, to serve communities in challenging circumstances”.

The school was told it was making “reasonable” progress towards coming out of the rating.

Last summer, the Oxford Academy saw the percentage of pupils achieving five A* to C grades at GCSE including English and maths rise from 26 per cent in 2012 to 39 per cent. The school expects results to continue to go up when results are released next month.

More than 53 per cent of pupils at the school are eligible for free school meals, against a national average of 28.2 per cent.

In the report, the Sutton Trust analysed the diocese as being in the bottom tier of performance – significantly below average – in six out of the 12 categories. It was only “significantly above average” in one area – expected progress in English.

Anne Davey, the diocese’s director of education, said: “The Diocese of Oxford was one of the first organisations to respond to the then Labour Government’s call for academy sponsors to support schools in areas of deprivation where schools had consistently underperformed.

“We are committed to and proud of our track record working in these poorer areas.

“Working with different local partners in different areas we have supported three academies.

“In all three cases academic attainment in those academies is considerably better than in the predecessor schools.”

She added: “Each of the sponsored secondary academies with whom we work has seen significant improvements since we became involved and we are working hard with our partners to provide even more long-term, sustainable increases in attainment and progress, and therefore improve the life chances for pupils.

“I am proud the Church of England is working so hard to serve some of the poorest communities in England.”

Ms Davey added: “I would call on the Government to ensure that the ways we have of measuring the progress of these academies actively encourages more philanthropic investment in education in deprived areas.”

The report’s recommendations include making sure new chains are not allowed to expand until they have a “track record” of success in bringing about improvement in the first academies.

Attainment was measured by analysing results in the eight best GCSE subjects, progress in English and maths, and the English Baccalaureate, as well as the benchmark of five A* to C GCSEs including English and maths.

The research was carried out as the trust felt the issue whether academies were improving results had not been covered.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.

Our top stories