About 80pc of people who took part in the official consultation on the future of the Hewett School expressed opposition to it becoming an academy, according to a consultant's analysis of the results.
A total of 357 people took part in the process, which was run by independent consultants HaslamDodd, and ran from June 3 to July 3.
The future of the school has been the centre of controversy since it was placed in special measures following an Ofsted report last November.
Ministers want it to become an academy, sponsored by the Inspiration Trust (IT), but have faced opposition from Norfolk County Council and a vocal community campaign.
The consultation report, published this morning, said: 'Of those participating in the consultation, the great majority was opposed to the Hewett School being converted into an academy and hostile to Inspiration Trust as the preferred sponsor.
'In the questionnaire overall, the arguments against academisation ran around 4:1, with higher proportions of opposition among parents and members of the local community.
'In some cases respondents to the questionnaire accepted the conversion to an academy but questioned the process, the lack of choice of sponsor, and a failure to communicate effectively why such decisions had been made. They also said that IT was the wrong sponsor.'
In total, 105 current Hewett parents completed the consultation, along with 56 parents with children at feeder schools, 15 Hewett teachers and 10 non-teaching staff, 108 members of the local community, and 106 'others', including some pupils.
Some people fell into more than one category.
The report said: 'The participants' issues relating to IT concerned a perception of the ethos of schools in the trust, the political links of the trustees, the governance arrangements and lack of accountability, and the experiences of other IT schools in such matters as staff retention, recruitment, school uniform, and the extension of the school day.
'Concerns were expressed that the Hewett would, under IT, become an 'exams factory' and a lack of trust provoked scepticism about a number of commitments. There was also opposition to any idea that the new IT free school, Charles Darwin Primary, should be on the Hewett School site.'
Other concerns included lack of choice over the potential sponsor, the decision being 'rushed', and the future of the Hewett's site.
However, it noted: 'Arguments in favour of conversion to an academy under Inspiration Trust included the need to make swift change to a failing school that had been let down in the past under local authority and Central Norwich Foundation Trust control. Parents with children at Inspiration Trust schools contributed comments about how the pupils had progressed.'
The report noted there were potentially more than 1,200 Hewett parents and carers who could have taken part in the consultation, but a 'substantial majority of parents or carers' did not express a view, and fewer than 100 parents attended the three main parents' meetings during the consultation period.
A recent consultation on Sewell Park Academy becoming an academy only garnered two responses.
Click here to read the full report on the Hewett School statutory consultation.
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