Academies 'will have 500,000 pupils in six years'

Nearly half a million children will be taught in privately run academies within six years, the Evening Standard can reveal.

A report from the Department for Children to the Commons Education Select Committee said 387,000 would be in academies by 2014.

But a separate forecast from officials running the academies programme suggests the figure could be as high as 480,000.

Academies are semi-independent state schools which are free to set their admissions policy, curriculum and ethos. They were established to bring private sector sponsors to the aid of failing comprehensives.

About 50 protesters are expected to gather today at the London headquarters of Absolute Return for Kids, the education charity founded by hedgefund millionaire Arpad Busson which has six academies open in London.

Ken Muller, from the Anti-Academies Alliance and a former teacher at Islington Green School which is now an academy, said: "The fat cats of Wall Street and the City have shown they are incapable of running their own institutions. They are certainly not fit to preside over our children's education."

ARK rejected the criticism, saying policy over academies was a matter for the Government.