THE head boy of Oxford’s Matthew Arnold School has criticised plans to turn it into an academy.

The school has confirmed that it is consulting parents, staff and students about whether it should become a academy, funded directly by the Government.

Plans by other city schools to become academies have proved controversial.

Head boy Jordan Hearne, 17, who is studying for his A-Levels, said: “This is a great school. I think a lot of parents have the attitude that ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it’.

“There also real concern about the lack of accountability, with academies having power to alter alter the curriculum.

“There is a real risk of biased values making their ways into the education system. We have a good head and governors but you have to think of the future.”

In a letter to parents, the school says that “after much thought and discussion, governors now believe the new academies programme may offer benefits which could support the school’s drive for continuous improvement”.

The school, in Arnold Way, off Cumnor Hill, is set to run a four-week consultation on the proposal, starting on Monday.