Have you ever considered marketing specifically to academy schools? If you haven’t, I recommend you do! Academies have a lot of financial freedom which means they bring lots of exciting opportunities for you to secure new business.

In this blog post, I’ll unpack everything you need to know about academy schools including how they work, how they’re funded, and why they’re a great type of school to connect with – especially if you’re keen to expand your education reach and ROI.

You’ll be able to use your newfound knowledge to create high-converting campaigns and generate more leads in academy schools. So let’s get stuck in!

What are academy schools and how do they work?

Academy schools are state-funded schools run by charitable trusts. They’re independent from local authorities which means local councils don’t manage them and they have more control over how they operate.

All school types including different school phases can be academy schools e.g. special schools, primary schools, secondary schools, and colleges. They can also have sponsors, so businesses, organisations, universities, charities, schools, as well as other groups can sponsor academies and support the trusts running them, to help improve their education performance.

What are academy trusts?

Academy trusts are charities, so they’re not-for-profit. There are single academy trusts (which just look after one academy school) or multi-academy trusts known as MATs (which look after multiple academy schools).

In an academy trust, there are:

• Members – They monitor how the trust is performing and appoint a single board of trustees.
• Trustees – They’re responsible for the management of schools within the trust.

How are academy schools funded?

They get their funding directly from the government, and their budget is allocated by the Education Skills and Funding Agency (ESFA).

The government uses the National Funding Formula (NFF) to allocate funding to local authorities for academy schools (this is the same process as for local authority-maintained schools).

But for academy schools, the local authority then submits the funding allocation information to the Education Skills and Funding Agency (ESFA) which then issues the budget allocation directly to the schools.

Do Ofsted inspect academy schools?

Yes. Ofsted inspect academy schools the same way they inspect other state-funded schools.  

Why do schools choose to join a multi-academy trust?

There are lots of benefits to becoming an academy school and joining a MAT. Here are a few:

• Easy access to high-quality learning materials: Schools within a trust can share learning resources and materials with other schools to improve the quality of education they provide.
• Flexible teams: Schools within a multi-academy trust can share education staff too.
• Freedom over spending: They’re not restricted by the local authority in terms of how they spend their budgets and which suppliers they choose to work with – so they have a lot more autonomy over their finances!

And lastly, if a local authority-maintained school is rated ‘Inadequate’ by Ofsted, they have to become an academy school by law to improve their education provision.

Are the subjects and exams the same in academy schools as other schools?

Yes, academy schools just have more freedom over the curriculum, but the core subjects are the same and pupils take the same exams as other state-funded schools.

How many academy schools are there and where are they?

There are over 10,000 academy schools in England according to recent government statistics, with over 680 schools in the process of converting into academies (as of April 2024).

And, according to an article by TES published in March 2024, there are over 1,300 MATs in England.

Academy schools are only in England – not Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Do academy schools spend more than local authority maintained schools?

Academy schools get a similar amount of funding to local authority maintained schools, but they have more freedom over how they spend. The amount they have to spend will depend on factors such as the number of pupils in the school, where the school is located (e.g. if in an area of high deprivation), the number of pupils on free school meals and other factors.

Why should you start marketing to academy schools?

As mentioned above, academy schools have a lot more freedom over how they operate. This autonomy means they can choose which education suppliers to work with and how much to spend!

Below are some of the areas academies have more freedom over:

• The national curriculum – they can choose whether to adapt it.
• School hours and term dates – they can set their own schedules.
• Expenditure – they can choose how to spend their budgets on educational products and services.

Ready to get marketing to academy schools and win new business?

Now that you’re familiar with academy schools, and how they operate, it’s time to get planning your strategy.

We’ve got a range of academy school marketing packages designed to help you build long-lasting relationships with your chosen schools.

We can supply you with a list of academy schools so you can create your own targeted academy schools database from 9,829 and 2,322 academy trusts. Or, if you’re keen to tap into our creative expertise, our copywriters and digital designers are on hand to create a series of eye-catching email campaigns that help you generate more leads and secure new business.

Get in touch today to get started!