Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the average cost of converting a local authority maintained school to an academy.

The costs of becoming an academy vary from school to school. Schools that become academies each receive a standard pre-opening grant relative to their particular circumstances.

Currently, these tariffed grants contribute towards the costs of conversion incurred by schools in establishing the academy. These may include legal fees, as well as costs associated with transfer of land, transfer of software licences, HR and TUPE advice, setting up an Academy Trust and paying for school improvement capacity.