The Big Question: What are academy schools, and is their future under threat?

Why are we asking this now?

Andrew Adonis, the main architect of the Government's flagship academy schools programme, has been moved out of his job, prompting claims from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats that the future of the project is in jeopardy.

But aren't ministers shuffled all the time?

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Lord Adonis is a special case. He was Tony Blair's education adviser in Downing Street before he became a minister at what is now called the Department for Children, Schools and Families. He first drew up the programme and took responsibility within the department for seeing it through. He took the trouble to meet every sponsor of an academy individually and took personal responsibility for visiting schools set to become academies to ensure a smooth passage for the programme.

There was speculation when Gordon Brown succeeded Tony Blair as Prime Minister that the Government's commitment to the academies programme would lessen. In the end, he has stuck with Mr Blair's target of setting up 400 – and even allowed Lord Adonis to hint that this figure would increase. However, Schools Secretary Ed Balls has introduced changes to the original concept of academies – insisting that they should have the support of local education authorities. Meanwhile the Conservatives believe the reshuffle is evidence of a further downgrading of academies.

What are academies?

They are privately-sponsored state-financed schools. Originally, each sponsor –be it a private company, philanthropist, faith-based group, university or independent school – had to cough up £2m worth of sponsorship in exchange for being given control over the curriculum and governing body. Academies were designed to replace failing schools in inner cities or set up new schools in disadvantaged areas. The theory behind the academies programme was that they would be given the same freedoms that independent schools enjoy – to run their own affairs free from government or local authority bureaucratic interference.

How has the scheme progressed?

There are 130 academies up and running with a further 55 planned, according to the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. The target was to have 200 up and running by 2010.

What are the principles behind the setting-up and running of academies?

The concept of the academies programme has changed since its inception. The £2million upfront sponsorship payment has now been waived – largely to help persuade universities and independent schools (whose fee-paying parents do not like to think of their cash going towards educating somebody else's children) – in favour of payment in kind. This could be setting up master-classes at universities for gifted and talented pupils or providing access to teachers of shortage subjects – such as the classics and modern foreign languages – by private schools to inner-city schools struggling to attract staff.

Another criticism of the original academies package was that it led to "cash for honours" under the Blair administration. The original sponsors included many millionaire philanthropists and city businessmen who won honours from the Prime Minister. Now it is faith-based groups (the United Learning Trust, a Christian education charity, is the biggest charity), independent schools and universities who are the majority sponsors. In the latter categories, around 20 have come forward. Private schools include Wellington College, Dulwich College and Winchester.

What success have they had?

Figures show that the academies are improving at faster rate than the average state school. This summer those academies with pupils of GCSE age (many build up from only admitting children a year at a time) showed a 4.9 per cent improvement in the percentage of youngsters getting five A* to C grade passes including maths and English. This is expected to be about twice the national average increase. It should be remembered, though, that these schools start from a very low base – they replace failing schools – so the scope for improvement is greater.

Alternatively, though, the majority of academies start from a point whereby they are well below the Government's target of getting all schools to reach a target of 30 per cent of pupils getting five A* to C grades – so they should not be written off as failures if they are still on the "hit list" of schools below that target. It takes time to improve.

There is a downside, and that is that one in four academies with GCSE students saw their results slip back this summer – adding fuel to critics who claim an initial bounce in results (because of state-of-the art new buildings) may not be sustained.

If Andrew Adonis is so crucial, why has he been reshuffled?

He says he has always been a rail enthusiast and had asked Gordon Brown to allow him to move to a fresh challenge. Neither of the opposition parties accept this – believing that he fell out with Schools Secretary Ed Balls and, as Conservative schools spokesman Michael Gove so delicately put it, has been "kicked out" of the education department. Certainly, it is true – as one teachers' leader put it – Adonis was more "gung-ho" about academies than Balls. It is unlikely that, if it had not been for the Balls/Brown axis taking power, the decision to insist that plans for new academies should be supported by their local education authorities would have been introduced.

How does education view academies now?

The teachers' unions are still opposed to them. They believe it is ceding control of the education system to undemocratic and unaccountable bodies. The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers has threatened strike action if there are attempts to steamroller academies through against their members' wishes. They are worried there may be a threat to their members' pay and conditions.

Academies tend to have a longer teaching week than the average state school. However, both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives have been won over to the academies movement.

The Conservatives would expand it – predicting as many as 5,000 academies being established under their control. In fact, they have gone as far as to offer a ministerial post in their government running the academies programme. He has remained silent over that offer. The Conservative proposals would include "free" schools established under the Swedish model where parents can set them up and be given vouchers to send their children to the school of their choice.

So they're safe under the Conservatives. What about Labour?

The Government has moved swiftly to reassure supporters of the academies movement that it stands by its programme. The worry that supporters have is that – now Adonis has gone – will there be the same enthusiasm for it, and was it Adonis' enthusiasm and dedication to the project that made the search for new academy sponsors go smoothly.

Are academy schools in danger?

Yes...

* The driving force behind the programme, Lord Andrew Adonis, is no longer at the helm.

* Teaching unions have long opposed the proposals and will feel emboldened by Lord Adonis's departure.

* More sponsors are needed if the Government is to open more than 100 new academies by 2010.

No...

* Despite Lord Adonis's departure, the Government insists that it continues to back the programme.

* The Tories and Liberal Democrats support the academies, so an election will not put the schools in danger.

* Early results show that GCSE results are improving twice as fast in academies as in state schools.