Birmingham to get seven academies

Seven schools in Birmingham are to be revamped as academies under the biggest deal of its kind to be struck between a council and the government.

Deals with sponsors for five schools have just been signed, with education charities Ark and Edutrust investing £4m and running two academies each.

The fifth will be run by a business consortium led by property developers Richardsons Capital LLP.

Academies are privately run but state-funded schools.

Birmingham Academies St Alban's CE Academy - Ark Harborne Hill - Ark Heartlands High - Edutrust Shenley Court - Edutrust Kings Norton High - Richardsons Capital

Leader of the city council Mike Whitby said the council had a vision to transform education across the city using £750m from the government's Building Schools for the Future programme.

Making seven schools academies was a central part of that, but a further 68 secondary schools across the city would also receive funds under the BSF scheme.

He said: "Academies are an integral part of this programme of renewal.

"We are now, by some margin, the highest achieving major core city in Britain for our GCSE results."

Cadbury

"We believe our new academies model will help build on this success and create new centres of excellence for learning.

"Birmingham is a young, vibrant and diverse city and our schools and academies need to reflect that," he added.

Household names BMW and Cadbury will be working alongside the official sponsors of the academies, as well as local academic partners from the University of Birmingham and University Hospital Birmingham.

And two representatives of the city council will have places on the governing body of each school.

The sponsors of the further two schools in the city to become academies are to be announced in September.