Academies 'have not lived up to promise', claims expert

Sir Mike Tomlinson, a former chief inspector of schools, said the privately-backed academies had not lived up to their promise to be beacons of "innovation".

Tony Blair has championed the independently-run state schools as Labour's answer to the low standards of education still found in many inner cities.

More than 80 academies have been opened and the Government is planning up to 400 by the end of the scheme.

But Sir Mike said there was no evidence the schools had transformed traditional methods of teaching.

"They are still using pretty much the same timetable as was in use in the Sixties" he said.

"And very few of them have used their freedom from the national curriculum to introduce anything radically new, or their freedoms to change teacherspay and conditions.

"I think there is a degree of conservatism in the academies, which is slightly disappointing as they have these freedoms to experiment and they should have been powerhouses of innovation," he told the Financial Times.

His comments came as a report showed that white, working-class boys do worse than children from ethnic minorities with similar economic backgrounds.

The study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found nearly half of those leaving school with no or limited qualifications were white males.

By contrast it said Chinese and Indian pupils were most likely to succeed. The report also found that the results of African-Caribbean pupils were improving faster than average.

"The great majority of low achievers - more than three quarters - are white and British and far more are boys than girls" the report said.

"They come mainly from disadvantaged backgrounds, but many students from the same background succeed. The girls come from the same families and mostly go to the same schools, but do much better."

The report's author, Robert Cassen of the London School of Economics, said: "Disadvantaged children are behind educationally before they enter school and need more pre-school help.

"Improvements could be made to identify and support children who are late in learning to read and write at primary school and to address their problems before they become entrenched.

"It is expensive - but even more expensive not to do it."

According to Professor Cassen, nearly five per cent of state school children - 28,000 - got no GCSE passes and almost 25 per cent - 146,000 pupils - obtained nothing better than a D grade.