Proposals to merge two schools were already controversial, even before the news thay could be replaced by a city academy. Nick Morrison looks at the Government's flagship education policy - and why it isn't popular with everyone.

THEY are the future of education. Gleaming palaces of learning, run by managers given free rein to put their beliefs into practice and full of happy and fulfilled children. Raising standards, tackling underachievement, motivating pupils - when it comes to secondary schools, whatever the question, city academies seem to be the answer.

Academies are the flagship of the Government's education policy for 11-16-year-olds. They were introduced by then-Education Secretary David Blunkett in 2000, but it was a slow start and by August this year there were just 17 in the country, including two on Teesside, the Unity Academy and The King's Academy, both in Middlesbrough.

But ministers have made expanding the number of academies a key objective. Last month another ten joined the list, including the former Macmillan City Technology College, also in Middlesbrough. A further 38 are in the pipeline, including one in Newcastle, and the Government has set a target of 200 academies by 2010.

And one of this new generation of schools could be in Darlington. Proposals to merge Hurworth and Eastbourne schools had already proved controversial, particularly among parents of pupils at Hurworth, anxious to retain a school in the village. And earlier this month the borough council risked even greater anxiety by revealing that the new school could be an academy.

Although a private sponsor has yet to be found - and is required before it can go ahead - the development has led some parents to set themselves even more firmly against the merger. But what are city academies? What difference do they make? Why does the Government love them? And why are some people suspicious, if not downright hostile?

Q What are academies?

A Academies are publicly-funded independently-run schools. Private sponsors - often businesses or charities - contribute up to £2m to build the school, with the Government making up the rest, usually around £20m. Running costs of around £5m a year also come from the taxpayer.

In exchange for their £2m, the sponsors are given effective control over the school, with the power to appoint the majority of the school governors, and hence the senior managers, and shape the school's policies. Academies do not have to follow the National Curriculum, are able to opt out of national agreements on teachers' pay and conditions, and are free from local authority control.

Academies are required to admit pupils of all abilities, but are allowed to select up to ten per cent of their pupils on the basis of their aptitude. The Vardy Foundation, the charitable trust which sponsors Emmanuel College in Gateshead and The King's Academy, has declined to exercise this right, as has the Unity City Academy.

Q Why is the Government so keen on academies?

A There is little doubt of the Government's commitment to academies. Education minister Lord Adonis is an enthusiast, and as a former education advisor to Tony Blair and former head of the 10 Downing Street Policy Unit, this has been taken as an indication of the Prime Minister's personal interest in the subject. Mr Blair opened both The King's and Unity academies, and his agent John Burton has given a vigorous welcome to the prospect of an academy to replace Hurworth School, in the Prime Minister's Sedgefield constituency.

According to Joe McCarthy, chairman of the trust which runs Unity Academy, one of their main advantages is flexibility. "They are a different way of working, with the flexibility in the curriculum, new methods of working, new infrastructure," he says.

This flexibility appeals to a Government which has made diversity of provision one of its guiding principles. The involvement of businesses is also attractive for ministers who believe business methods should be introduced into public services. A further advantage is that academies bypass education authorities, widely seen at Westminster as something of a hindrance to Government policy.

Q What difference do they make?

A As far as results go, the evidence so far is mixed. Out of the 17 academies open before September this year, 13 showed improvements in GCSE results, including The King's. But Unity was one of the four exceptions, and earlier this year became the first academy to be put in special measures after Ofsted inspectors found that it was failing to give an acceptable standard of education. Supporters argue that problems were only to be expected, with Unity replacing two schools, Keldholme and Langbaurgh, which had both experienced problems.

But Julian Phillips, governor at Langbaurgh for 18 years and at Keldholme for two, says both schools had been improving before their future was thrown into doubt, and both were performing better than the new academy.

There has also been concern over the number of pupils excluded by the academies, with critics suggesting this has helped to improve GCSE results, by removing problem pupils. A report to Middlesbrough Council last year revealed the two academies then in existence excluded more than 40 pupils between them, more than two thirds the figure for the entire town.

Earlier this year, the House of Commons Education Committee of backbench MPs called for the Government to rein in its expansion of academies until they had been properly evaluated, and questioned the £5bn cost of the scheme.

Q Do academies get more money than other schools?

A Academies have benefited from greater investment than is open to other schools. This has led to claims that the Government is bribing parents to support new academies, and even suggestions that local authorities have been blackmailed into promoting them, told the only way money for new schools will be made available is if academies are involved.

Mr McCarthy, of the Unity trust, says academies do have better facilities than most other schools, but denies this is a bribe. "The Government is saying they would like to invest £20m in your local community, but to do that you have to enter into the academy programme.

"They believe academies will make massive investments in the way that children achieve and learn, and the way they relate to the rest of the community, and so reduce anti-social behaviour."

Q What's in it for the sponsors?

A The Government's position is that academies provide an opportunity for businesses and charities to put something into the community, in an act of philanthropy. But many critics believe they would only put money in if they were getting something out. For businesses, such as Amey which sponsors Unity, this could be a chance to strengthen ties with the Government in an area close to the Prime Minister's heart; for charities and voluntary organisations, it could be a case of promoting their values.

Sir Peter Vardy, chairman of the Vardy Foundation, is an evangelical Christian, and the foundation has been accused of attempting to brainwash children at its schools, Emmanuel, The King's and a new academy in Doncaster. Two years ago, Emmanuel found itself accused of teaching the Biblical story of God creating the Earth in six days on the same level as evolution. Opposition among parents to what they saw as excessive religious influence was one of the key reasons why Doncaster Council was forced to shelve plans for a second Vardy academy in the borough last year.

Q What do teachers think of academies?

A The ability of academies to opt out of national agreements on pay and conditions is understandably the primary concern among many teachers, with fears it could create divisions among teachers.

"What we have found in certain academies is teachers are being asked to work longer hours for less pay," says Sue Percival, national executive member for Teesside on the teachers' union the Nasuwt. "If you want to raise standards, you need a happy workforce, and if you are dividing them by paying them on different scales then you will not get that."

She says teachers are also concerned that academies will cream off the brightest students, and their better facilities will lead to the creation of a two-tier system.

Q What happens now?

A Darlington Council has yet to reveal if it has found a sponsor, and without a sponsor the academy cannot go ahead. The Vardy Foundation is looking for other sites for schools, including one in Northumberland. Sir Peter has spoken of his schools eventually providing education for 10,000 pupils.