No.

It never ceases to amaze me that just because a 'system' may work in a country with a popultion around 5m, that people imagine it could work in countries with populations of 70m. There is no direct correlation.
I have doubts about the Australian points system, and I have doubts about the Swiss Canton system as well as the doubts about Icelands Banking system.

It never ceases to amaze me that as we have never had a completely unified education system, people in this country are so eager to trash one that works in another European country.
The UK has lagged behind the rest of western world in Education policy and outcomes for more than a century.
Why would anyone feel that this was a good enough state of affairs?
In an already grotesquwely divided educational system, how on earth is the addition of yet one more division of resources going to benefit the next generation?
What kind of education do we want for them? What kind of future are we prepared to accept for the majority of our nations' children?

Having had numerous family members who have worked or currently work as teachers, I have grave doubts that our education "system" is fit for any useful purpose, and that these changes will achieve anything but further inequality.

Back to school for you then Clem! ;o)

I just think that if this is about standards as Michael Gove says, then why not focus on improving the standards of the schools we already have?

This is a good article on the history of academy schools, the pros and cons etc.....
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2010/02/in-a-league-of-their-own/

From the page - " Other academies haven’t fared so well. The United Learning Trust (ULT), an Anglican charity, runs 17 academies and is the country’s largest sponsor. Last summer, three of its London academies were at the bottom of their local tables in GCSE results. In Sheffield, Ofsted recommended special measures for one of its academies and told another that “teaching and learning are inadequate.” In November 2009, ULT was told by the government that it couldn’t expand further until its existing schools improved".

Didn't an academy in Sheffield just have a long hard year of pointing fingers and lawyers fees because the head left...?? We need to be referring to the history of academies in this nation rather than elsewhere...!

Why are we still fighting on the political battlefield about our schools and education system? Surely what it is all about is actually educating the children to secure our future?

Mehdi, comparing Britain to Sweden is complete folly. I'm surprised you are using this source as ammo against the plans.