IPPN

Published: 23 October 2011

The Government has handed over more than £18.6 million to schools to help them turn into academies, figures show.

Union leaders said it was a "waste of taxpayers' money" while one MP said the figure was "astonishing". The Department for Education (DfE) said the costs reflect the success of the academies scheme.

The academies programme was first established under Tony Blair's Labour government to boost standards in poorer areas. Last year, under the new coalition Government, Education Secretary Michael Gove opened up the scheme to allow all schools to apply for academy status.

Academies are semi-independent state schools, free from local authority control, that receive their funding directly and have more freedom over areas such as the curriculum and staff pay and conditions.