News10th January 2013

FT rates ARK Schools best performing academy group

The Financial Times has analysed the relative performance of different academy groups in raising the attainment of children with low, middle and high prior attainment when they come to secondary school. The FT has conducted a detailed analysis and concluded that ARK academies have the greatest success in raising the attainment of those pupils who start secondary school furthest behind. The FT concludes: “All in all, it appears that among the multi-school academy chains, ARK is the best.” You can read the analysis here (http://blogs.ft.com/ftdata/2013/01/07/academy-performanc/) (registration required).

This extract from their article makes their case

“When the FT takes family circumstance into account, ARK looks even better. Using a simple model, you can work out how much better school chains perform once you also add in the ethnicity, deprivation and special needs of their pupils.”