Academies Act 2010

Academies Act 2010

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make provision about Academies.
Citation	2010 c. 32
Introduced by	Lord Wallace of Saltaire
Territorial extent	England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent	27 July 2010
Commencement	29 July 2010, 1 September 2010, 1 January 2011[1]
Other legislation
Relates to	Education Act 1996, School Standards and Framework Act 1998, Education Act 2002, Education Act 2005, Education and Inspections Act 2006, Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, Children, Schools and Families Act 2010
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Academies Act 2010 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Academies Act 2010 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It aims to make it possible for all publicly funded schools in England to become academies, still publicly funded but with a vastly increased degree of autonomy in issues such as setting teachers' wages and diverging from the National Curriculum.^[2] The Act is inspired by the Swedish free school system.^[2] Journalist Mike Baker described it as a "recreation of grant-maintained schools".^[3]

It was among the first government bills introduced in the 55th United Kingdom Parliament by the Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition government. The bill was presented by Jonathan Hill, Baron Hill of Oareford in the House of Lords, where it had its third reading on 13 July. It was read a third time in the House of Commons on 26 July. The Act received Royal Assent on the following day and was brought into force in the most part on 29 July.

Angela Harrison, education correspondent for the BBC, has said that the Act "could be the most radical overhaul of schools in England for a generation".^[4]