The government has dropped plans to force all schools in England to become academies in the face of opposition from teaching unions, Tory MPs and councils.
The U-turn by Education Secretary Nicky Morgan comes after a backlash to the proposal to take schools out of local authority control by 2022.
Last month, Dawn Butler, Labour MP for Brent Central, vowed to lead a fight back against the plans as two primary schools converted to academies.
Ten governors from primary schools in Brent had signed a statement arguing there was no evidence that academies will improve the quality of teaching and learning, they will remove local democratic accountability of schools through the local authority and will further destabilise schools already affected by new curriculum and assessment demands and problems of recruitment and retention.
Ministers still hope that a large number of schools will choose to convert to academies, but the plan is now an “aspiration” rather than a compulsory policy, the Department for Education said.
Every secondary schools in Brent is now an academy but not all the borough’s primary schools.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here