More than 400 state-run nursery schools could ‘disappear at a stroke’ under the Government’s plan to turn all schools into academies, a leading early years specialist has warned.
The concerns were raised after chancellor George Osborne set out in his Budget the radical plan to force all schools in England into the academy system.
Leaders from across the education sector have been voicing alarm at the potential impact of compulsory academisation, which many believe will not offer the improvements that Mr Osborne has claimed.
Beatrice Merrick, chief executive of Early Education, said, ‘If all schools are to become academies by 2020, Government will have to tweak the law so that nursery schools – which are currently excluded from the legislation – are allowed to convert. Otherwise, they will be left in an anomalous position with local authorities which will no longer have the infrastructure to support them.
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