Schools
Academies
The are State schools, set-up with the aid of private sector funding / sponsorship. They are designed to replace "failing" schools (initially in inner city areas - hence their original name of "City Academies" - but also in rural areas).
Although
mainly government-funded (each school is
initially expected to
cost around £25 million - excluding land costs), private organisations (which can be businesses,
religious organisations, private individuals, trusts and so forth) contribute around £2
million to each school. In return for this money, the private organisation
effectively takes-over the running of the school from the Local Education
Authority - although the school still has to operate within the
National educational framework (such as
following the
National curriculum, for example).
The 17 Academies currently (January 2005) in existence are expected to grow to around 200 such schools by 2010.