Sixth-form colleges across England are facing a dilemma: to academise or not to academise.

Many in the sector seem to think that becoming an academy is the only show in town. At the college I chair, Barton Peveril, we have yet to make a formal decision, but it is highly unlikely that we will be proceeding down the academy path. Let me explain why.

There have been two main arguments in favour of conversion. The first is economic. Not only would it mean annual savings of about £350,000, due to us not having to pay VAT, but there would also be reduced borrowing and pension costs.

The second is the alignment with government policy. From being something of a Cinderella sector, barely on the government’s radar, converting colleges would - to quote Sixth Form Colleges’ Association chief executive Bill Watkin - become “a family that’s ready to take on system-leadership roles, collaborating with universities and schools to raise standards for our young people”.

Benefits vs drawbacks

Our governors have pondered both arguments at length, with the benefit of independent legal and financial advice, as well as feedback from government officials. They have not been persuaded, for several reasons.

First, the college prizes its autonomy to discharge its obligations to students and the communities from which they come. Even as a single-academy trust, we could be compelled to change our status again through changes in the funding agreement.

Second, we value our flexibility, the ability to reshape ourselves and adjust to the quickly changing environment in which we operate - whereas academisation comes with a complex handbook that would limit our behaviour and operations financially.

Third, clarity of mission. Taking on an explicit improvement role for 11-16 schools risks blurring our role as a provider of high-quality, specialised sixth-form education.

Fourth, we are concerned about the implications for governance. The corporation believes that it has provided good strategic leadership and oversight over many years - one of the factors behind the college’s successful growth to more than 3,000 students. As an academy, we would need to adopt a two-tier structure of “members” and “trustees”. This would likely blur accountability for quality and performance without any compensating advantages.

This is all a distraction from agreeing what a world-class sixth-form experience looks like

Moreover, we would have to shed between a third and a quarter of our existing board, when we need a body of about 20 to ensure that our various committees are adequately populated in numbers and expertise.

Lastly, I have been astonished by how much time has already been absorbed by the academisation process, with no outcome or even clear timescale in sight. In the longer term, moving into the school sector (with closer regulation, greater intervention by the education secretary and responsibilities that go well beyond college sixth-form provision) would inevitably occupy more time for an already stretched leadership team.

Remaining independent will not prevent us from continuing to collaborate with our partner schools in areas such as quality assurance, joint staffing, CPD and use of resources, where it’s in our mutual interest to do so.

Ultimately, my feeling is that this is all a distraction; none of this effort would be needed if successive governments had taken account of the need for an adequate rate of funding for sixth-form work. Surely what we should be doing is reaching agreement on what a world-class sixth-form experience should look like - and seeing that it is available to all who can benefit from it.

Roger Brown is emeritus professor of higher education policy at Liverpool Hope University and chair of Barton Peveril Sixth Form College in Eastleigh, Hampshire