Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an estimate of the cost of converting all remaining community schools to academy status.

The current academisation rate is 46.2% of all state-funded schools, which represents 9,990 academies and free schools compared to 11,623 local authority maintained schools. Of these academies, 54% are in trusts with fewer than ten schools and fewer than 7,500 pupils.

The average costs of converting community schools to academy status, and of forming trusts of at least ten schools or 7,500 pupils, will vary significantly. This is because the cost depends on the circumstances of each school and trust at the time, such as whether the school is converting via the sponsored or converter route.