Four Kent schools are poised to become among the first in the country to become part of a new generation of academies planned by the government.

The four have been told that if the legislation on creating new academies is passed this week, they will be able to convert to academy status this September.

It would mean them getting more power over admissions, pay and what they teach as well as the power to change the length of the school day and alter term times.

The schools given what is known as "early approval" are Canterbury High School, Dartford Boys Grammar; Fulston Manor School in Sittingbourne and The Hayesbrook School, Tonbridge.

County Hall ponders the impact of academy breakaway: read Paul's blog here>>>

The news comes as county education officials called on the Department for Education to explain how it would plug a £3.5m funding gap KCC could face if 15 outstanding schools in Kent became academies.

A report to county councillors suggests the government's own calculations indicate KCC would lose £736,000 in grants but that at the same time, the 15 schools interested in becoming academies would receive together an additional £4.2million.

It says the "inescapable conclusion is [that] we are not dealing with a level playing field."

Follow our political editor on Twitter>>>

One of the heads said the new academies would radically transform the educational landscape of Kent.

Phil Karnavas, principal of the 1,200-pupil Canterbury High School which is part of a joint application with Canterbury Primary School, said: "We do not see this as breaking away from the shackles of the local authority. I see this as the construction of a new landscape in which new relations will be formed for the benefit of all children."

He added that if the school secured academy status, it would not "stand in splendid isolation" but revealed that under the government's funding arrangements, the school could be as much as £300,000 better off based on the amount usually held back to pay for support services provided by the county council.

"It is our intention to work with other schools and with the local education authority to improve the quality of education across the area."

There was no immediate prospect of the school changing the school day or term times but that would not be ruled out further down the line "if we believed it to be of benefit to students and the community.

"We would like to be in the vanguard, shaping and leading the policy rather than following it."

He added the application had been broadly welcomed by those it had consulted.