The Conservatives would like to see every school become an academy although they will not be forced to do so against their will, David Cameron will say.

In comments to mark the first 100 days of the Conservative government, the prime minister will say he wants to be more ambitious than ever about transforming the education system over the next five years.



He will say that a priority for this parliament would be helping schools convert to academies as all should be able to benefit from the status, which takes them out of local authority control.

“At a time when the Labour party is giving up on public service reform and appealing to its left-wing base, I believe it is a moment for a Conservative majority government to be bolder still,” he will say in an article published on Saturday.

“There is no better example than academy schools … This is something Labour used to understand and we have proudly expanded them, including the creation of entirely new academies as free schools. I profoundly believe this is the right direction for our country because I want teachers, not bureaucrats, deciding how best to educate our children.”

Signalling that a major expansion of academies is ahead, he will add: “When Labour leadership contenders say they want to phase out academies, I say the opposite. I want every school in the country to have the opportunity to become an academy and to benefit from the freedoms this brings.

“So we will make it a priority to recruit more academy sponsors and support more great headteachers in coming together in academy chains.”

The government has already brought forward legislation to force failing and coasting schools into academies, but now Cameron wants to see more good and outstanding schools take the opportunity to convert as well. Before the election, Cameron pledged to open hundreds of free schools across England by 2020 under a big expansion of the policy.

His latest move indicates Cameron has not lost his zeal for reforming education, despite having replaced his controversial education secretary Michael Gove with the more conciliatory Nicky Morgan last year.

It is also likely to anger the teaching unions, which are already unhappy about the way the government is forcing academisation on schools it deems are not doing well enough.

Christine Blower, the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, has said of the current changes that a difference in structure is “not axiomatically the path to school improvement [and] it is irresponsible to tell parents otherwise”.

Russell Hobby, the leader of the National Association of Head Teachers, has likewise said: “Parents who have campaigned against the opaque and centralised process of academisation will be dismayed to see themselves dismissed as obstacles to be eliminated.”

During the Labour leadership contest, Jeremy Corbyn, the frontrunner, has said he wants to rethink academies and free schools, suggesting they would move into public ownership. He has also proposed creating a national education service, modelled on what the NHS does for healthcare, with free lifelong learning.



Another leadership candidate, Andy Burnham, has more explicitly advocated handing control over all schools admissions back to local education authorities as part of a reform process that would see the eventual phasing out of academies and free schools.

To mark the first 100 days of the Conservatives in power, Labour released a list of some of the government’s actions so far, which include promising to cut tax credits, watering down the child poverty target, dropping NHS waiting targets, ending the green deal energy efficiency scheme, trying to relax the hunting ban, dropping plans for rail electrification in the Midlands, and tightening controls on trade unions.



Lucy Powell, Labour’s shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, said the last 100 days have revealed a Tory government “which is failing to put working people first”.

“We need a government which stands up for working people, which builds a productive economy and delivers world class public services,” she said.

“Unfortunately the Tories have spent the last 100 days failing to live up to this challenge. David Cameron made many promises during the election but he’ll be judged on actions, not words.”

Cameron has been on holiday in Portugal’s Algarve over the last week. He has been treated for otitis – known as swimmer’s ear – but Downing Street said he has made a full recovery.