News

Academy trust spends £235,000 on one-day “celebration” event for staff and governors

27 March 2025

Cost revealed through FOI, as union tells Education Uncovered of plans to ballot members on strike action over lengthening of school day.

School which was forced into arms of England’s largest academy trust now facing crisis

26 March 2025

Holland Park School in West London has announced departure of its fifth headteacher in four years, while NEU staff members put together an explosive letter warning of "unsustainable" situation under United Learning Trust.

Furious headteachers and governors reject diocese’s move to propel them into church multi-academy trusts

25 March 2025

"Consultation" response from schools says diocese's move was "dictatorial rather than nurturing".

Commons hears call for nationwide measurement of children’s wellbeing in schools

19 March 2025

Lengthy report also suggested that impact of school behaviour policies on children's wellbeing should be tested.

Ofsted rates another Astrea secondary as good – in teeth of worst parental ratings of any major trust last year

17 March 2025

Controversial trust racks up a hat-trick of "good" inspection results, despite parent responses in Ofsted surveys.

Employment in the family: is this the highest number of related party transactions in an academy trust?

13 March 2025

Gorse Academies Trust has multiple declarations of employment of family members set out in its accounts.

Departing academy CEO received nearly £200,000 in pensions payments – or did he? UPDATE: no he didn't!

12 March 2025

Very high pensions contributions listed in 2022-23 accounts - only to be changed in following year's financial statements. It has now been confirmed that the figure published in the 2022-23 accounts was wrong.

No mention of the 168 people paid six figures at the Harris Federation – and other strange aspects of new Taxpayers’ Alliance report on academy pay

11 March 2025

TPA’s first report on academy leader remuneration, more than two decades after launch of the policy, is full of holes, despite garnering coverage in national media.

Half of England’s academy trusts lack elected or appointed parents in their governance

7 March 2025

Education Uncovered analysis also shows fewer than one in 25 MAT boards feature elected or appointed parents

Academy trust, where pay of its leader surged at least 14% last year, suspends union rep for speaking out about budget pressures

6 March 2025

Hundreds of people sign petition calling for re-instatement of teacher at Excel Learning Trust, formerly South Bank Multi-Academy Trust.

Harris Federation ends practice of paying Jamaican teachers as “unqualified,” regardless of their experience

4 March 2025

Move announced as strike action affecting 18 academies had been looming.

Revealed: How the list of £250k-plus academy leaders remains dominated by men

28 February 2025

First look at top academy pay rankings for 2023-24 shows 10 people received quarter-million salaries.

School subjected deaf member of support staff to disability discrimination and victimisation after requiring her to work on-site during pandemic, tribunal finds

26 February 2025

Charlotte Bentley wins employment tribunal verdict after protracted dispute with Oaks Park High School in Redbridge, north-east London

Strike action on the ballot at Harris Federation primary, controversially academised last term

14 February 2025

Former Byron Court primary in north London holding vote.

“Clear” that multi-academy trust should have been paying tax on its phonics product income, accounting expert states

14 February 2025

Wandle Learning Trust faces fresh questions over its Little Wandle product.

Did teachers at one controversial Astrea academy have to miss lessons to be on site at an Ofsted inspection at another?

12 February 2025

Astrea's use of external staff during inspections feeds into the multi-faceted current debate about Ofsted.

Revealed: the academy trust leader whose pay has trebled in 10 years

3 February 2025

The chief executive of England’s 11th-largest multi-academy trust saw his pay rise by at least £40,000 last year, or 13 per cent –meaning that his remuneration has trebled in the past decade.

Pay of leader of England’s largest multi-academy trust rose by up to 15 per cent last academic year

31 January 2025

The pay of the chief executive of England’s largest multi-academy trust rose by up to 15 per cent last academic year, newly-released accounts information has shown.

Academy trust which has generated income of more than £12m from phonics product starts “investigation into its tax status”

28 January 2025

A small multi-academy trust which has generated income of more than £12 million in three years from a phonics product faces a government fine after initiating an “investigation into its tax status,” Education Uncovered can reveal.

Church schools lead stampede to academy status ahead of deadline

27 January 2025

Church schools led a stampede of institutions towards academy status last month, as governing bodies rushed to take advantage of a �25,000 conversion grant before it was scrapped on New Year’s Day.

Biggest-ever strike against the practices of a multi-academy trust looms

22 January 2025

The largest-ever strike against the working practices of a multi-academy trust is in prospect, as teachers are consulted on industrial action at England’s second-largest chain.

Almost one in 10 teachers at some of England’s largest academy chains are unqualified, new analysis reveals

21 January 2025

Almost one in ten teachers working in some of England’s largest multi-academy trusts are unqualified, new analysis by this website of government data reveals today.

“I feel like a performing monkey:” staff survey at Astrea academy lifts lid on concerns about professional autonomy and alleged “culture of fear”

14 January 2025

Teachers at a controversy-beset academy in Cambridgeshire have spoken of living in a “culture of fear,” with two thirds of those responding to a union survey saying they did not feel valued in their jobs by management.

Privatisation of two primary schools called off in face of community campaign

10 January 2025

Plans to academise two local authority schools in Brighton and Hove have been shelved –to the delight of those in its community who voiced concerns in overwhelming numbers in the official consultation.

Outgoing multi-academy trust chief executive received six-figure sum for single term’s work

9 January 2025

The departing chief executive of a small multi-academy trust with a chequered history was paid more than �100,000 for a single term’s work, newly-published annual accounts reveal.

Outline of new “report card” structure for schools set out by England’s chief inspector

7 January 2025

England’s chief inspector of schools today set out the outline of a new “report card” structure for inspection reports, which will go out to consultation later this month and is expected to go live by September.

Ofsted inspector, chairing academy trust, led inspections of schools less than five miles away

20 December 2024

Ofsted is facing questions over whether it is policing possible conflicts of interest closely enough, after details emerged of an educationist having led inspections of academies less than five miles away from the headquarters of the academy trust which she chairs.

Conservatives try to block new law on school support staff pay and conditions from applying to academies

18 December 2024

Conservative MPs have been seeking to stop a new law, which aims to set national minimum pay and conditions expectations for school support staff, from applying to academies.

New children’s wellbeing and schools bill aims to bring to an end decades of high-profile academy freedoms

17 December 2024

Three freedoms which have been handed to academy trusts over the past two decades are to be scrapped if a new children’s wellbeing and schools bill, which was being introduced into Parliament today, become law.

Beleaguered chain of free schools appoints new interim CEO and announces “partnership” with local academy trust

12 December 2024

A chain of free schools which has been in turmoil in recent months has announced the appointment of an interim chief executive and plans for a “partnership” with another local academy trust, while a high-profile former Department for Education official has joined its board.

No links to the Cayman Islands, says academy trust’s leader. But its “sponsor” is registered there, published accounts state

10 December 2024

An academy trust chief executive has denied that the chain he oversees is “owned” by a US-controlled company –though in reality its governance structure is such that control sits with the latter.

Former academy executive headteacher found guilty of “unacceptable professional conduct”

9 December 2024

A prominent former academy headteacher has been found guilty of “unacceptable professional conduct” after having influence over the careers of a friend and her children but then failing to declare these relationships, and then stating that the friend had met all her professional objectives despite knowing that she had not.

English teenagers’ sense of “belonging” at secondary school among lowest in the world –and declining –new international survey reveals

5 December 2024

Hard-working, but not "belonging"? New TIMSS data poses more questions on English pupils' sense of wellbeing. Image (posed by model); iStock/Getty Images

“Phonics first, reading for pleasure after,” say most of the Department for Education’s “English Hubs”

5 December 2024

Some schools participating in the former government’s flagship programme to improve the teaching of phonics expressed concerns that it did not provide enough support to encourage reading for pleasure, a new Department for Education study has stated.

Consultant who works “in the academies sector” involved in consultation response for controversial academisation plans

4 December 2024

A consultant who has close ties to the academies sector has been appointed to collate community responses to controversial plans for two local authority schools to join a privately-controlled academy trust, Education Uncovered has learnt.

Contested academisation of two Sussex schools shines light on private control of taxpayer-funded institutions

29 November 2024

A federation of two local authority schools is poised to academise and join an organisation which is ultimately controlled by a for-profit private company operating in the United States, despite a fierce campaign in opposition by parents and its council.

Controversial academy rated “outstanding” by Ofsted despite survey responses from parents saying their child was unhappy there

27 November 2024

Ofsted graded a now-controversial academy as “outstanding” two years ago despite nearly one in four parents, who responded to a survey by the inspectorate, then telling it that their children were unhappy there.

Conservative MP expresses concern about drop in pupil numbers at comprehensive run by controversial academy trust

22 November 2024

A Conservative MP has raised concerns about falls in the number of pupils at a controversial academy trust’s large comprehensive in his constituency, in a sign that political pressure on the chain is continuing.

Controversial academy trust’s spending on six-figure packages for senior employees soared by nearly 40 per cent last year, document reveals

20 November 2024

A controversial academy chain increased the amount it spent on highly-paid managers by nearly 40 per cent last year, figures published on its website reveal.

Alleged “misuse” of research findings by Ofsted highlighted in new paper, which says inspectorate based conclusion about pupil motivation on study involving just four children

15 November 2024

A series of cases of Ofsted appearing to misrepresent research findings to back up what researchers argue was a pre-existing ideological line, as the inspectorate became “more closely aligned” with ministers, have been set out in a newly-published academic paper.

“We are just cheap labour”: another Jamaican teacher opens up on low pay at school run by large academy trust

13 November 2024

Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, from where some teachers have been recruited to work in English schools. Pic : iStock/Getty Images

The word “academy” featured only once in key Bridget Phillipson speech

11 November 2024

Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, used the word “academy” only once in a keynote speech setting out a fundamental new approach to schools reform last week.

“Knowledge-rich” approach backed at curriculum review events, its chair reveals

6 November 2024

Contributors to a roadshow of consultation events, held as part of England’s national curriculum and assessment review, have been backing “again and again” the recent emphasis on a “knowledge-rich” approach to what is taught, the review’s chair has said.

Questions asked about researchED’s governance, following furore about conference in Israel

28 October 2024

The governance arrangements of researchED, the high-profile organisation owned by opinion-dividing government adviser Tom Bennett, have been placed under the spotlight again after a furore around its decision to hold a conference in Israel.

Chief executive of controversial chain of free schools leaves her position

22 October 2024

Joanne Taylor, who is standing down as chief executive of Canary Wharf College Ltd, appearing at church service at one of the trust's schools last April (still from YouTube video).

Secondary academy calls on Labour government to review the free schools policy, after warning that new institution stands to leave it “half-empty”

21 October 2024

Plans for a new secondary free school on the north Cornwall coast, approved by the Conservative government and seemingly still going ahead, are being criticised by another local academy as a “waste of public money,” after the local authority issued a county-wide prediction of falling pupil numbers.

Involvement of chair of beleaguered academy chain with church which uses one of its schools revealed –prompting questions about undeclared conflict of interest

18 October 2024

Joanne Taylor, the chief executive of Canary Wharf College Ltd, appearing in Great Light Church's service on April 7th, 2024. (Still from YouTube video).

Graduate warns of having been placed in an “unsafe situation” by being asked to teach lessons without training at controversial academy

15 October 2024

A graduate who was hired to take her first steps in the profession at a controversial academy has told this website how she was thrown in to teaching classes in her second week, without what she said was even the most basic of training.