HALF of the first wave of Tony Blair’s flagship academies are failing their pupils, according to internal reports released under freedom of information laws.

They show that at eight of the 14 academies, which have cost on average £25m each to build, pupils are failing to achieve the GCSE results that would be expected given their ability.

The so-called “value-added” measure is seen as a more accurate picture of the effectiveness of a school than raw league table examination results. The data undermine the claims by ministers that poor results from the academies can be attributed to the deprived background of many of their pupils.

“Value added” measures whether a child’s GCSE results match the ability they displayed at 11. In eight of the schools, they fell back, two produced better results than expected and the other four performed as would be expected.

The data have been disclosed in performance and assessment reports, known as Pandas, by the schools inspection service Ofsted. It produces a similar analysis for every school in England but it is rarely circulated to parents or the public. The Sunday Times obtained the information from Ofsted despite the academies’ previous claims that they were outside the remit of freedom of information laws.

The academies have been promoted by Tony Blair and Lord Adonis, his former education adviser and now the minister responsible for them, as beacons for transforming inner-city education.

They are designed to break the mould of traditional comprehensives, bringing in business sponsors and, according to Blair, embracing the “idea of genuinely independent non-fee-paying state schools”. They have, however, been drawn into the cash for honours scandal amid allegations that sponsors have been offered peerages in return for paying up.

The latest figures show, however, that this year only 21% of pupils in the first 14 achieved grade C or above in five GCSEs including English and maths — less than half the national average.

According to the Pandas for 2005, five academies had worse GCSE results than the “failing” schools that they replaced; four had only marginally improved; and five had improved their GCSE results by more than 5%.

In the worst case — Unity city academy in Middlesbrough — only 6% of 15-year-olds managed five good GCSEs that included English and maths. Its GCSE results were worse in 2005 than the two schools it replaced in 2002.

Inspectors blamed the lack of experienced teachers and an over-reliance on temporary staff. Educationists identify good heads as critical to the success of schools but in three years Unity had three head teachers.

It also suffered one of the highest truancy rates in England with absences running at 16% and in 2005 not a single child got a grade C or higher in science.

Tracey Seaman, 35, a nursing assistant, whose 11-year-old son Jack attends Unity, said: “My son has had nothing but trouble. He has been bullied. He had a safety pin stuck in his arm and PVC glue rubbed in his face. They have tried to sort the school out but they need to try harder or the problems will get worse.”

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