The paper is investigating the situation of disadvantaged students in the transformation of English secondary schools since 1997. The paper reviews policy documents, speeches of educational officials and related literatures to examine if the new type of secondary schools, namely the academies, did bring justice and benefits to disadvantaged students as they first claimed to. The paper makes four arguments in conclusion. First, keen competition and sanction on the schools that "fall behind" remain the major practice of the reform, despite the claimed objectives of social justice and equality of educational opportunities. Second, "pursuing excellence" and "helping the disadvantaged" are treated as synonymous values, so that transforming "underperforming schools" into academies is recognized as realization of social justice. Third, the New Labour Party and the Conservative Party share the idea to have academies replace comprehensive secondary schools, which in reality have provided more equal educational opportunities for all. Finally, when the academies are allowed to select part of their students based on abilities or aptitudes, social classes and family backgrounds still play vital roles in the determining the educational opportunities, hindering the realization of the objectives of the policy.
