The academy concept has recently been subjected to significant academic scrutiny. However, this research has focused on assessing the success of this reform drive with regard to its outcomes, as opposed to its implementation. On the basis of the extant research, this paper identifies several factors that could plausibly be linked to variances in the extent of academy uptake across local authorities in England. The paper employs Fuzzy-Set-Qualitative-Comparative-Analysis (fsQCA) to analyse the relationship between these potential explanatory factors and the outcome of interest across 150 local authorities in England, up to November 2017. The findings support the paper's hypothesis that higher levels of academisation are associated with different causal combinations, unified by the fact of both a 'promoting' agent and a conducive context being required to underpin reform in this respect. We conclude that those interested in pursuing academisation should broaden its appeal to a wider range of social actors.