Downhills’ fate won’t apply to all schools below f

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Downhills’ fate won’t apply to all schools below floor standards

17 August 2012

This week, Downhills School’s judicial review failed when the High Court ruled that Michael Gove’s decision to convert the school an academy was rational.

Downhills were issued with an academy order after being put into ‘special measures’ following an Ofsted inspection.

There are limited circumstances in which a school is eligible for intervention. These include where a school has been put into special measures or requires significant improvement following an Ofsted inspection or where the school has failed to comply with a warning notice issued by the Local Authority (LA).

The LA decides whether to issue a warning notice but there is a risk that, where a school is not performing well, the Government may put pressure on the LA to do so, to allow intervention. Appeal against a warning notice and judicial review are options for a school and the court will decide each case individually.

Downhills’ case was decided on its facts and does not mean that all schools below floor targets are will be subject to intervention.

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