Commentary on Sections Part 10: Schools Schedule 13: Powers in relation to schools causing concern: England Section 204: Power to require LEAs in England to obtain advisory services
666.This section amends section 62A of the Education Act 2002. Section 62A currently gives the Secretary of State the power to require LEAs in England to obtain advisory services where:
	the LEA have schools in either of the categories “requiring special measures” or “requiring significant improvement”, and
	the LEA do not appear to be effective or likely to be effective in improving those schools or other schools in their area which may be placed in these categories.
667.The advisory services can be supplied by an organisation, school or named person, who would provide advice to the LEA for the purposes of school improvement.
668.Subsection (2) inserts an additional trigger for the Secretary of State’s power to require the LEA to obtain advisory services. The new trigger allows intervention when there are a disproportionate number of low-performing schools within the LEA’s remit and it appears to the Secretary of State that the LEA are unlikely to improve standards in those schools or in other schools in their area which may in the future become low-performing.
669.Standards of performance of pupils at a school are assessed by reference to the matters set out in new section 62A(1C), which provides that the standards of pupils when they joined the school and the standards achieved by pupils at similar schools may be taken into account.