Written ministerial statement by Michael Gove on industrial action 30 November 2011
The Education Secretary announces the number of school closures due to industrial action.
Industrial action today has had a severe impact on schools across the country and has caused disruption to children’s schooling and to parents and employers. At the same time, we know that many dedicated professionals have worked hard to keep schools open where they could.
The Department for Education has collected data about school closure from local authorities, academies and Free Schools to assess the impact of today’s industrial action.
There are 21,476 state-funded schools in England (maintained schools, academies, Free Schools, University Technical Colleges and studio schools). 13,349 (62 per cent) were reported to be closed. 2951 (14 per cent) were reported to be partially open and 3351 (16 per cent) were reported to be fully open. The situation with a further 1825 (8 per cent ) has not been reported to us or the local authority did not know.
Of the 20,027 maintained schools, 12,526 (63 per cent) were reported to be closed, 2536 (13 per cent) were reported to be partially open and 3140 (16%) were reported to be fully open. The situation with a further 1825 (9%) was not reported or was reported as unknown.
Of the 1449 academies (including Free Schools, University Technical Colleges and studio schools) 823 (57 per cent) were reported to be closed, 415 (29%) were reported to be partially open and 211 (15 per cent) reported to be fully open. There are 24 Free Schools, of which 4 were reported closed, 1 was reported partially open and 19 were reported to be fully open.
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