Traditionalist academy chain scraps its controversial extended day

“Silent corridors”, and an entirely white management team and board, face pupils at ethnically diverse protest school

Academy trust tells government it does teach RE – though pupil timetables show it as absent

National Tutoring Programme “rebranding pre-existing tutoring work under its banner”, tutor states, citing own experience

Academy trust removes exercises mentioning suicide from primary children’s textbooks, following coverage by Education Uncovered

Struggling free school has cost £20m in premises overheads alone, freedom of information response discloses

Parent asked seven times for controversial free school to send him minutes of governor meetings, without success, emails reveal

Charities offer little comment on textbooks asking children to imagine themselves as historical figures about to kill themselves

Revealed: primary pupils at former minister’s traditionalist academy chain receiving no computing or RE lessons and two per week for science  - but 19 in history, English and Latin

“Brought to you by the UK government”: Tory peer’s academy features in post-lockdown media advertorials. But reality very different, say insiders

Free school made “not at cost” payment to related company, run by prominent House of Lords member, for “teacher training”, accounts disclose

Ofsted plays down any problem around conflicts of interest involving school leaders who also inspect

Highest-paid leaders of single schools continue to see their remuneration rise

Harris leader’s pay and pensions package tops £525,000-as the chain warns of financial risk it faces from increasing teachers’ starting salaries

Academy chain consults on the future of its controversial extended school day

Government criticised for less “cautious” approach to school reopening in England than in other UK nations

Former Steiner free school sees pupil numbers fall by 36 per cent in nine months as trust board raises alarm about financial implications

Major academy trust spends nearly £600,000 on “golden goodbyes” for staff – and chromebooks for thousands of pupils, as it vows to move away from “traditional ‘one size fits all’ education”

Governing bodies agree to put controversial academisation moves on hold during lockdown, local authority reveals

Teachers being paid £200 per day to produce lessons for Oak National Academy, Oak tells Education Uncovered

National Tutoring Programme costing the taxpayer up to £100 an hour, as funding to tuition agencies in some cases vastly exceeds tutor pay

DfE adviser Tom Bennett’s firm sees assets increase, though its number of employees remains small for a company which was involved in a major government teacher training drive

Government’s new “Institute of Teaching” will receive £6 million special funding, and could change its name

Ofsted-outstanding primary, controlled by Conservative peer’s academy chain, poised to appoint its eighth headteacher in five years

Roman Catholic schools dominate list of academy conversions in recent weeks – as Westminster row rumbles on

Schools can retain their Ofsted-outstanding ratings for now, despite inspectors identifying failures in their safeguarding, inspectorate confirms

Exclusive: David Ross Education Trust again controversially furloughing staff

Government’s u-turn on school closures this month contributed to the food parcels row, multi-academy trust catering firm states

Insider paints picture of chaos at the Department for Education around coronavirus strategy, adding that civil servants “want Gavin to go”

Government moves to near-double scale of National Tutoring Programme – and to create a “sustainable tutoring market”

Academy which allegedly sought to block local authority from fully probing its safeguarding processes retains Ofsted “outstanding” rating

Exclusive: Boris Johnson appears to mislead MPs about the freedom schools had to offer vouchers, rather than parcels, to free school meals children

School applies to become an academy – the day before parents are told of its plans

Pay of Katharine Birbalsingh at Michaela free school rose at least 10 per cent last year, say trust’s accounts as they warn of risk of its teachers being harmed by pupils from other schools

United Learning Trust breaks the £500,000 barrier on “golden goodbye” pay-offs to staff in a single year

Major academy trust indicates that Black Lives Matter has spurred it to up its game on diversity

Number of academy trusts paying at least two people £100-£150k climbed by 29 per cent in three years, new accounts analysis suggests

Catholic diocese to respond to “distaste” for academies policy in many of its schools – by attempting to pressure them into academising

Academy with string of Conservative and Brexit connections hit with financial notice to improve

Academy chain, set to lose its largest school, hits out at government for way the process has worked

Griffin Schools Trust “to lose” Milton Keynes comprehensive which was failed by Ofsted

“Hordes” of children in London secondary school’s corridors before and after lessons, teacher warns, indicating colleagues are arriving late for lessons because of covid risks

Academies depart from Greenwich council advice that schools should close from tonight

Academy trust CEO writes to parents telling them to direct any complaints to the trust and its schools, rather than Ofsted

School improves Covid safety procedures following Education Uncovered reporting

Company owned by academy trust founders sees “shareholder funds” grow to approaching £800,000

Lord Nash’s academy trust takes on another school, despite facing multiple local and governance controversies

Two leading universities pull out of working with Teach First after charity gets power to recommend Qualified Teacher Status

Covid concerns at Future Academies’ flagship school “prompted visit from Health and Safety Executive”

Future Academies school seems not to comply with governance stipulations in its Articles of Association

How teachers’ pay has failed to keep pace with inflation and average earnings since 2010

Parents fume after school and incoming academy trust say they will offer no public comment in response to calls for its conversion to be put on hold

Griffin Schools Trust school handed “termination warning notice” by government

Concerns raised about Covid response of primary school within former minister’s academy chain

Doreen Lawrence calls for replacement of statue in memory of her son Stephen at West Country primary school

Future Academies board now appears to consist of its founder, his wife and former education or business associates

Future Academies governance rules seem to underscore the tight control of its board and management

“Large” contracts with school improvement firm linked to its founders were never put out to tender, academy chain admits

Companies appear to miss out on National Tutoring Programme involvement

What was the result of school’s consultation on academy status? We cannot tell you, it appears to respond, with academisation looming

Multi-academy trust planning to quadruple number of its primary schools – but parents at one told that their governing body will retain “accountability”. Really?

Last-ditch petition, seeking to halt school’s academisation, garners 500 signatures in a week

Academy trust partially backs down on introduction of school uniforms after parental uproar – but families say it is still going against its promise to them

Details of private firms lining up for involvement in government’s National Tutoring Programme emerge via their websites

Parents outraged after academy trust reneges on promise not to introduce uniforms at their children’s schools this academic year

DfE data show how academy headteachers are paid more than their local authority counterparts, but classroom staff earn less

Staff at primary school, facing a pivotal board meeting on its future today, told to wait weeks until its minutes are signed off before they can be informed what happened

Details of yet more DfE spending at three former Steiner free schools emerge

Local governors unclear that their power is diminished under a multi-academy trust structure, DfE-commissioned report suggests

Questions about primary school’s future go unanswered by Interim Executive Board, despite its stated commitment to openness

Fifty-five primary school parents write to regional schools commissioner, pleading with her to put on hold its academisation during Covid-19

Interim Executive Board apologises to parents for filling in school swimming pool without consultation

Primary school's academisation was put on hold in part because of reported higher fees charged by chains, compared to the local authority, confidential report suggests

Traditionalist educators line up as part of academy chain’s bid to offer “exemplary leadership” training to schools

DfE database suggests an Inspiration Trust academy permanently excluded more children in a single year than any other primary school on record

New Schools Network got two months' advance notice on free schools announcement, FOI reveals, as details of new contract to support the policy disclosed

Academy chain, running school where statue commemorating Stephen Lawrence was removed after getting damaged, now names Lawrence trust as its charity of the year

“Being Cromer”: Inspiration Trust principal takes controversial behaviour approach with him to new school, where “teachers don’t do half a job. They give it 100%”

Parents re-start campaign amid fears that unelected governing bodies are to impose academisation on two primary schools

Primary school to hold consultation meetings on academising under the trust now run by its former headteacher, despite coronavirus

Record of high-profile trust, to be handed up to £750,000 by the government to provide “exemplary leadership” training, invites questions

Statue in memory of Stephen Lawrence removed after it was damaged during controversial work to resurface playground, school told former governor

Academy trust, hit by rash of pupil departures following takeover of former Steiner schools, hands out advice on home education

Make teaching in England more “intellectually attractive” says OECD’s Andreas Schleicher

Full league table of academy sector’s £150k-plus leaders, published by Education Uncovered, shows more than a third have not had their details disclosed in annual accounts

Top-paid trust leaders in 2018-19: the full list

Stricken academy trust lifts the lid on its recent “crisis”, as it closes having reported a deficit of nearly £2.5 million

Number of academy leaders on £150,000 or more climbed by seven per cent last year, accounts analysis reveals

Male headteachers almost three times more likely to be paid six-figure salaries than women, DfE data show

Church of England diocese offers no answers in case of removal of memorial to Stephen Lawrence at one of its schools

Broadcaster criticises academy trust for fact that memorial statue to Stephen Lawrence is no longer standing at primary school

Parents vote with their feet after three former Steiner free schools lose their distinctive ethos

Anti-racism statue, put up in memory of Stephen Lawrence and unveiled by his mother, no longer standing at primary school once led by award-winning headteacher

Thousands of cases of school “scandal” have been documented by the media in past six years, researcher finds

Teachers’ extraordinary work during Covid-19 undervalued, says academic group, as it describes government’s September re-opening plans as “unrealistic”

Academy trust “scraps creative subjects mid-course”, at free school which was founded to emphasise creativity

Mystery over DfE’s decision to change the way academy high pay figures are reported, as it states that one in nine trusts has someone paid £150k-plus

Government pumped more than £1 million into takeover of three former Steiner free schools, while overall academy deficit write-offs nearly trebled in 2019-20

Clear-out of staff at former Steiner free schools leaves parents dismayed

Academy trust, under scrutiny for poor behaviour of pupils at one of its schools, appears in the effective control of only three people

Labour MP in extraordinary public attack on foundation trust which is warning of possible legal action in case of forced academisation school

School closely controlled by major multi-academy trust receives appalling Ofsted report

Local authority “may have lost chance of much-needed new facility for children with autism” through school’s move to academise

Thirteen free schools on list of government-funded refurbishment projects for 2020-21

Oak National Academy mentioned in DfE job advert as example of multi-academy trusts playing “key roles in school improvement”, as department presses on with academisation agenda

Ark Schools: paying our cleaners the London Living Wage would harm our students

Oak National Academy controversy: Council for Subject Associations sought DfE funding to “turbo-charge” support for home education early in lockdown, but got nowhere, correspondence reveals

Charitable trust refusing to grant academy chain access to school site, in forced academisation clash loaded with controversies

Oak National Academy “to be given key role in planning how the national curriculum could be taught”

Government confirms it is ploughing on with academy conversions, despite coronavirus

Harris Federation ended supply teachers’ contracts as coronavirus crisis kicked in

“Drop the union and you can have your face masks,” outsourced cleaning company appears to tell low-paid workers at large London academy

Academy trusts trimming staff bills by cutting supply workers during crisis, Education Uncovered investigation hears

Charity threatens legal action if school’s controversial academy sponsorship is approved today

Union members’ call for Harris Federation primaries to put off wider re-opening sparks angry response from chain’s leadership

Private schools group faces disquiet over move drastically to cut its teachers’ pensions and sickness benefits in light of “the current economic climate”

Combined wealth of richest 10 people in academies sector again estimated at more than £9 billion

Academy conversions continue despite coronavirus, DfE data show

Long-awaited curriculum review at three former Steiner free schools effectively kills off the educational approach on which they were founded

Government pre-pandemic planning advice to schools scaled back dramatically under Conservative-led government

Family asks why Steiner ethos of no formal literacy teaching in early years has been ditched, in former Steiner free school

Department for Education used little-known legal power to fund Oak National Academy

Primary to become the 15th free school to close outright

Put academisation on hold as it is undermining local authorities’ response to Covid-19, councils urge

53 schools became academies last week, DfE data show

School admissions code should be revised to combat youth violence, commission recommends

Academisation continuing despite coronavirus, DfE admits

UK behind most of the world in implementing school closures, UNESCO data confirm

Coronavirus: Council staff working in “parking” and “museum archives” seemingly included in local authority’s list of “key workers”

No post-election spike in the number of schools opting to take on academy status

Coronavirus: Partial closures of schools already widespread this week across one of England’s largest academy trusts

Large Derbyshire comprehensive closes as a result of coronavirus

Government puts school’s academisation on hold following local authority conflict of interest investigation

The £11m U-turn over town centre free school project

No room at the inn? Academy trust discussed not taking in SEND children

Academisation process undermining quality of pupils’ education, Ofsted reports in high-profile forced takeover case

A waiting game for “homeless” free school as trust is wound up

Catholic schools’ teachers win “David and Goliath” struggle against Bishop’s academisation plans

Government agrees £4 million deal for academy trust to do building work at free school which won architectural award only four years ago

Mystery of another successful headteacher’s sudden exit from school

Government operating “almost feudal”, dysfunctional system of oversight and influence over academy trusts, says ex-trust CEO

Investigation: how years of financial pressure at a small multi-academy trust appear to have culminated in the government writing off its £3.7 million debts

School, “thrilled” at forced academy victory, now says government should be listening to community voices

Chain of Christian free schools to be wound up

“Shadow state” operating in teacher education

First academy CEO pay league tables for 2018-19 reveal a top 20 monopolised by men

Ofsted training materials, getting into the detail of cognitive load theory, draw scepticism

Pay of largest free school chain’s CEO rises by more than that of teachers across England, to approaching £240,000

Head of government’s free schools property company awarded £30k-plus bonus, to take remuneration package to nearly £240,000

Disharmony at the Good Shepherd Trust in row over disappearing headteacher, as Foreign Secretary calls for “accountability”

Ormiston leader sees pay rise by 7 per cent, as number of its £100k-plus leaders rises by 40 per cent

Academy chain set up by minister now overseeing system sees little impact of government “crackdown” on senior pay

Another pay rise for husband-and-wife team running academy trust sees their combined remuneration now nearing £400,000 a year

Number of £150k-plus employees at Academies Enterprise Trust doubles in a year

Free nursery, provided by property finance charity in partnership with academy chain, “ratchets up” privatisation creep

Absolute return for someone: Ark Schools shells out £200,000 in non-contractual severance payment to anonymous former staff member

Government required incoming trust to launch review, on grounds of “financial viability”, which may close secondary sections of three small former Steiner academies

Free school saw parents “encouraged to home-educate” their children, inspectors conclude as they fail it

No sign of fundamental changes to notorious former academy trust’s constitution ever having been discussed with the Department for Education

Thomas Telford case underlines desperate need for more transparency over senior leadership pay in academies sector

Academy trust leader’s published remuneration jumps by more than five per cent

Minister’s letter confirms that schools can escape academisation following a “requires improvement” Ofsted rating – but only in “exceptional circumstances”

High-profile academy saw year seven to nine pupil numbers drop by 15 per cent after chain’s takeover – but no comment from inspectors in Ofsted report

Major academy trust reels as primary school rated inadequate – just as number of its £100k-plus employees doubles

Primary school facing forced academisation praised by pupils as “awesome”, in inspection report which lifts it out of special measures

Two of England’s top-paid academy leaders saw their reported remuneration drop in 2018-19

Anonymous donor gifting £1.5m to Harris academies to pay for subject support, as part of £1.6m a year fundraising windfall, board minutes disclose

Academy CEO who ran two trusts saw pay rise by at least 12.5 per cent, accounts disclose

United Learning Trust spent more than £400,000 on “golden goodbye” severance payments to staff last year

Legal firm describes as “shocking” former staff member’s claim that Michaela free school has still not paid out in her tribunal case

Pay of CEO of leading academy trust stays at £150k-plus, while second-highest pay jumps by at least 25 per cent, newly-published accounts reveal

Harris Federation wants its schools to follow Ofsted’s lead and ditch two-year Key Stage 3 – but only where “budget restraints” allow

Revealed: the top 10 richest people influential in England’s academy trusts (combined wealth: £9 billion)

Nearly 40 academy trusts failing to follow Department for Education “recommendations” on separation of governance powers

A look at the detail of alleged “over-scaffolding” of writing help to pupils – found not to have happened by government investigation – in high-profile forced academisation case

Multi-academy trust has doubled its number of schools since its first academy failed an Ofsted, Education Uncovered analysis reveals

Ofsted “inadequate” verdict on secondary modern over qualification entries likely to intensify debate over inspectorate’s crackdown on results “gaming”

Demise of London free school which had sought to echo its founder’s educational experience in 1980s Vienna

Conservatives ditch education commitments from 2017 manifesto, including promise of 100 new free schools a year, and fail to mention academies at all

Plans to move one-form-entry free school to £14 million former police station site blocked by council – six years after it opened in temporary premises

Academy sponsor Sir Rod Aldridge "has given £12 million to schools”  

“Wealth can be a force for good”: major academy trust listed alongside an apparently commercial business, among the interests of a “private family organisation”

Revealed: Conservatives have failed to meet a clear majority of the pledges on schools in their 2017 election manifesto

Academy “sponsors” among leading donors to Boris Johnson this year

New figures highlight DfE failing to intervene quickly in academies, despite saying it wants this for non-academies

Free school closure “left child curled up on the floor in the foetal position, sobbing”, says mother

Doomed free school cost £1,500 per pupil per year in rent costs alone, analysis of FOI disclosures suggests

Education’s new royal family: how control of England’s second- largest chain of academies will pass to the family of its founder upon his death

Businessmen in near-complete control of schools educating more than 100,000 pupils, new analysis by Education Uncovered shows

School which voted to join academy trust was led by headteacher who was working for that trust four days a week

Exclusive: Would-be Speaker intervenes in forced academy case to get DfE to put it on hold

How could a local authority primary school headteacher simultaneously be working as director of education for an academy trust?

Academy trust, lined up to take on forced academy primary, has never faced an Ofsted inspection

Government policies on autonomy, results and free schools contributing to “failing” special needs system, enquiry hears

Revealed: local authorities where there seems little appetite for academisation

Ex-minister’s academy chain scrambles to update its official governance information, after this website asks questions

Sponsor pulls out of takeover of state boarding school following community uproar

Tory donor’s academy chain in line to swallow up second Tory donor’s academy chain

Takeovers driving the expansion of England’s fastest-growing academy trusts

Ofsted confirms all schools’ right to request return visits from inspectors

New sign of academy numbers plateauing

Community unites in outrage over regional schools commissioner's “two-day ultimatum” to respond to her plan to transfer academy to new trust

High-profile free school was wrong to dismiss former office administrator for gross misconduct, tribunal found

Heavy emphasis on phonics in new Ofsted reports, while need for pupils to “know more and remember more” also features

Bitter new controversy opens over forced academy primary school

Founder of leading early years assessment provider was paid nearly £1.4m in dividends over four years

Large MAT’s proposal to “merge” two primary schools scuppered following scepticism from Headteacher Board

Government considered options over struggling title school of major multi-academy trust

DfE can point to no evidence of Headteacher Board discussions about forced academy takeover having occurred

Major academy trusts’ rate of spending on auditors is seven times that of largest local authorities, DfE and council data suggest

Chair of governors and local MP speak out after Regional Schools Commissioner renews move to force takeover of primary school

Academy chain defends eight per cent topslice

Academy chain poised to cut support staff jobs at one of its largest schools – despite £16m cash injection from government

Academy which broke away from town’s three-tier education system admits it got it wrong after parents showed their disapproval by voting with their feet

Latest chaotic free school saga sees institution facing possible closure, after DfE fails to get local authority to accept controversial planning application

10 free schools opened with 25 pupils or fewer last year, including one with only nine children

Harris Federation loses “perfect” Ofsted record, with school inspection report criticising pupil departures, behaviour policy and use of “inappropriate” qualification

Full list of academy sector’s highest-paid shows more than 150 people on at least £150,000

Top-paid trust leaders 2017-18: the full list

Revealed: string of free schools failing Ofsted inspections

Dramatic slowdown in number of schools opting to become academies

Mystery behind lack of minutes for key decision which triggered controversial academisation of Kent primary school

Two large academy trusts raise more than £1m a year in fundraising – and schools should consider selling playing fields to raise cash, newsletter suggests

Academies programme “widening inequality” through increased employment of staff without qualified teacher status, new analysis of government data concludes

Ark’s “transformational” English mastery materials come in for detailed criticism

Revealed: government requiring academy trusts to “promote” the policy in exchange for public cash to expand

Derision greets news of seventh advisory role for DfE’s favourite education academic

DfE buries new transparency requirement on academy trusts in small print of document spun as getting tough on local authority schools’ financial reporting

Academy trust “abandons” government-backed plans to redevelop primary school site for housing, following local uproar

Another high-profile trust seemingly not set up in accordance with Academies Financial Handbook

Primary school with six headteachers in recent years, and which went years under now-collapsed academy trust without inspection, quickly adjudged “good” by inspectors following takeover

Studio school pupil numbers grow 15 per cent in a year – but they’re still only half-full

Claims of bias in inspection system as Education Uncovered reveals how the past records of hundreds of academies mean they have avoided Ofsted for at least five years

Barrage of criticism for the DfE’s “healthy schools” initiative

More than 1,000 people sign petition against academy trust’s government-endorsed idea of selling off primary school site for housing

Set-up of three of England’s largest academies trusts appears not to follow new Department for Education rules

GCSE year group at controversial Great Yarmouth Charter Academy shrank by 22 per cent in two years

DfE says it has no date now pencilled in for Waltham Holy Cross primary school takeover

Exclusive: Government scheme to boost teachers’ professional development awarded more than half its cash to two connected organisations

Victory for anti-forced-academy campaign as controversial sponsor pulls out

Troubled MAT’s idea of selling off site of village’s only primary school for housing seemingly endorsed by government

Charities linked to Absolute Return for Kids awarded at least £50m over a four-year-period to run teacher leadership training courses, government data shows

Investigation: how does a largely taxpayer-funded teacher education body get to spend £5.5m on new London headquarters?

Incoming forced-academy trust has no elected parents in its governance structure, despite DfE rules saying this should usually happen

Ofsted inspects primary academy, but then immediately relegates its report to obscure section of its website, as it joins new trust and is therefore a “new school”

England’s largest academy chain to grow by more than a quarter in two years, including through taking on three smaller MATs

RSC opens meeting with anti-forced-academy campaigners by “stating that her mind is made up – despite not having visited school or trust in line to run it”

Government’s forced academisation projects now taking an average of at least 18 months, new DfE data reveal

Ofsted did not collect documentary evidence of curricula offered by 23 schools in its research on the subject

Tory manifesto pledge, to involve British Museum in developing “knowledge-rich” curriculum materials for schools, not met

So farewell, then, to the Institute for Teaching. But did you ever really exist?

Government-backed teacher education charity lifts lid on its “challenging year” – despite receiving £10 million from the Department for Education

Primary school faces forced academisation despite inspectors rating its teaching good, its curriculum “creative and challenging” and its parents “overwhelming positive”

Parents told that departed CEO was only on secondment, under-pressure Church trust says in statement

Academy chain CEO takes issue with education leader of England’s largest local authority over its “agnostic” stance on academisation

Forced academy school shuts classroom over asbestos concerns, after parents called in safety inspectors

Ofsted “redesigning” its survey of initial teacher education, following criticism

Headteachers of secondary schools in selective boroughs voice fears about the impact of grammar schools expanding

New insights into scale of government ambition on academies and free schools provided in DfE job adverts

Government “corrects” Headteacher Board minutes retrospectively, without explanation, removing reference to limits on academy chain’s expansion

Sixth advisory role for education academic as “same old names” feature on new DfE group

Governing body defies parents to press on with plan to join one of England's larger academy trusts

Academy trusts running two schools paid nearly £2 million over four years to companies owned by directors

Academisation stalling in London, DfE data reveal

Revealed: How DfE allowed collapsed academy trust, now in spotlight over related party payments, to be controlled by only two people 

More than two thirds of sponsored academy projects delayed, new DfE data reveal

“Complete curriculum programmes” to be made available to all schools in 2019-20, DfE says

Local authority “executive headteacher’s” pay rose more than 10 per cent last year, to £176,900

Nearly a quarter of teachers have experienced their schools “off-rolling” pupils, Ofsted survey finds

Former chair of governors at forced academy takeover school now acting chief executive at chain once poised to run it

“We took our eye off results and focused too much on the knowledge rich curriculum” academy superhead stated in board meeting

Primary school puts on hold plans to academise following legal challenge

Government seems not to rule out schools charging for “complete curriculum programmes”

Primary aspect of major government curriculum pilot led by only three schools, DfE announcement suggests

Teachers questioned rules and logistics behind government’s curriculum fund pilots, DfE document reveals

Familiar names on “expert panels” selecting “complete curriculum programmes” for DfE trial

DfE presentation reveals detail of “complete curriculum programmes” for schools

Parents lift lid on events leading up to academy conversion, and how Regional Schools Commissioner batted their concerns back to the body they were complaining about

Academy trust encouraged to increase the degree of separation between trustees and members

DfE property firm sets out example of a primary academy closing to make way for housing, in presentation stating school site sell-offs could raise up to £15 million

Harris academy chain outranks almost all councils in England for number of £100k-plus employees, new data suggest

DfE handed £38 million in loans to academy trusts, including £5m to now-stricken chain, FOI data reveal

Former chair of governors sought to challenge positive report on school by consultant, email shows

Academy trust advertised cleaning contract for incoming school – weeks before its governors approved it joining

High-profile traditionalist names added to Ofsted advisory group on teacher education

Critics still seeking answers over protracted primary free school project  

Ofsted opts to keep content of its subject advisory group discussions secret

“Shameful” Ofsted froze inspectors out of framework consultation, union claimed

Revealed: high exclusion rates at some Inspiration Trust schools

Former governor writes of unsuccessfully seeking answers from trust about exclusion numbers

Same old, same old: questions asked about list of advisers to new “graduate school”

Charity which supports children at risk of exclusion fears for its future

A look at how governance structures handed near-complete control of two groups of state-funded schools to wealthy academy sponsors

Groups who advised DfE on improving support for early career teachers selected for trials of new approaches-to improve support for early career teachers

How does he find the time? £125k-a-year academy chief executive currently serving in five advisory roles to government and its associated bodies, plus at least six boards

New parent-led free schools “increasingly rare”, concedes New Schools Network, as former group member offers detailed critique

SEND parents say Ofsted’s new inspection framework needs to make inclusion its top priority

Trust sponsored by Tory donor scales back its activities following Presidents Club investigation

Government moves to academise school under trust which only a month ago it strongly criticised

School in minister’s academy trust fails Ofsted inspection

Local MP intervened against seemingly popular local option in forced academy case, FOI disclosures show

Revealed: “exceptional” £150k-plus salaries are nearly ubiquitous for leaders of England’s 20 largest academy trusts

Revealed: familiar names on Ofsted’s list of individuals offering subject-by-subject inspection guidance

Huge differences in pupil numbers at trusts whose CEOs head our pay league table

Headteacher and governor in charge of school placed in special measures-then it converts into an academy chain they go on to run together

Ofsted criticised for speaking at expensive conferences discussing its new inspection framework

Academy trust loaned now-suspended headteacher and former CEO £55,000

Fresh questions likely over AET’s record after three of its schools fail inspections

Mystery of departing pupil numbers at school lavishly praised by Ofsted

Double-digit pay rise for CEO of trust involved in abortive forced academy move

Regional schools commissioner absent from the scene of academies controversies, new data suggest

Ark’s curriculum work “donor-funded”

Deficit at large academy trust swells by more than £1 million in a year as continued existence depends on government loans

Revealed: how minister Nick Gibb visited only 10 schools in non-academy state sector in three years

Pay of CEO of trust which asked for extra cash from the government rises at least 15% to approach £200k

Forced academy takeover a “risk”, minutes show government decision-maker conceding

Details emerge of former minister’s academy trust’s vision to “embed” knowledge curriculum in its primaries

Two free schools founder, including one for which the DfE spent £13.5m on start-up costs

Cuckoo Hall trust abandons “stage not age” ability group teaching-as accounts reveal its CEO pay rose at least 16 per cent last year

Academy chain CEO's pay increased by nearly 20 per cent last year, to beyond £200k

Ofsted fails school which academy trust helps run. Trust now running the school

Revealed: the schools which escaped academisation following “requires improvement” Ofsted judgements

Ex-minister’s academy chain appears not to have walked his talk on separation between members and trustees

Rolling news blog, week of January 14th

Additional payments take pay of chief executive of trust now running former Bright Tribe school beyond £150k

Exclusive: Three leaders of collapsed chain of primary schools were paid nearly £500,000 between them in 2017-18

Voices ring out in unison against forced academy plan involving ex-minister’s chain

Large academy chains warn again about funding pressures

Major academy chain moves to scrap performance pay

Teachers and parents at forced academy primary lambast incoming trust over plans to extend the school day

Campaigners celebrate departure of trust lined up for forced academy takeover-but what happens now?

Local MP calls for “clean slate” at beleaguered academy trust

Will schools be judged based on Ofsted’s interpretation of cognitive science research? Training materials hint at an answer

Government spent £264m on site costs alone for 33 free schools in London, Land Registry records disclose

Former chair of governors raises concerns about “bullying” email by now-suspended superhead

Tory peer involved in discussions about school, now lined up for his academy trust, with three Department for Education ministers, DfE discloses

DfE offers no information on sponsorship of forced academy primary school – but suggests an announcement on its future is imminent

Government imposing own governing body at forced academisation school, governor says in criticising policy

National languages centre is a "vanity project" say critics, as questions raised over individuals’ dual roles

Former minister’s academy trust seemingly still not in line with DfE governance ideals

Packed community event hears united opposition to forced academisation plans

Fury over Regional Schools Commissioner’s plan to academise primary school in backyard of failed chain

Academy CEO received 20 per cent-plus pay rise to nearly £150k for running six schools

Local authorities and Catholic diocese at loggerheads over academisation plans

Revealed: turmoil behind beleaguered trust’s takeover of another

School “fails inspection”, despite support from academy trust. But lined up for takeover…under same academy trust

Dispute over land in Durand academy case still ongoing, after years of arguments, MPs and Education Uncovered hear

Revealed: Fresh evidence of MAT leaders’ pay outstripping that of council education directors

Plan to academise seven primary schools in one town comes under fire from parents and councillors

Well-connected academy issued more than one in nine of all the fixed-term exclusions across Kent schools last year

Sponsored academies more likely to see shrinking GCSE cohorts, new analysis confirms

Some schools with high numbers of FSM pupils buck national trend of above-average drop-out rates in run-up to GCSE

Minister’s academy chain offers no answers on destinations of departed students

Ofsted held no selection process for recruitment to influential curriculum advisory group, FOI confirms

Headteacher advert raises new questions about grey area of control for schools awaiting academy conversion

Chief inspector to speak at lobby group’s conference on “knowledge curriculum”

Proposal to merge two Ark academies after collapse in pupil numbers since the chain took over

Concerns raised over link between former head of Ofsted-inadequate school and chair of academy trust where he now works

Could this be the most expensive free school in England?

More than 300 schools’ futures decided in private since Damian Hinds’ pledge to open up the system

Academy trust suggested charging school £25k for pre-academisation support, despite receiving £90k from the government, FOI responses show

Expensive new free school, in echo of another, says teachers must be prepared to “make mountains out of molehills”

Governor of school visited by Ofsted for curriculum research expresses concerns about its methodology

“No detail” on £1m-plus investment said to have been made in troubled Bright Tribe school, lawyers acting for the trust state

Ofsted previews curriculum study findings

School breaks admissions code in order to “make a point” about comprehensive education

Ex-Tory leader “supports moving troubled academy back to LA oversight”, but idea is unilaterally blocked by Regional Schools Commissioner

Uncertainty brought about by forced academy takeovers criticised in schools’ Ofsted reports

School’s PTA banned from holding events on-site, after parents raised concerns

Parent writes of community not knowing for more than two years about official plans to turn her children’s school into an academy

DfE under fire for promoting training events run by external adviser’s private company

Exclusive: recruitment firm seeks prisons staff to work in alternative provision

New FOI disclosures cast fresh light on behind-the-scenes discussions over school’s fate

Bright Tribe trustees voiced concerns about health and safety “risks” at northern schools

New scheme offering to boost schools’ league table performance arrives in head’s inbox

Bright Tribe delays release of info on building work and seeks more time to “redact” meeting minutes

Parents say they were kept in the dark about Sats result annulment

State-funded alternative provision service “registered all along,” government and MAT now suggest, having spent months seeking to register it

Regional Schools Commissioner publishes academisation decision minutes retrospectively, without annotation

Academy trust, sponsored by university, defends paying two heads more than what one would have earned in maintained sector

School facing academisation and told not to appoint newly qualified teachers nevertheless does so

Academy run by crisis-hit chain slides from Ofsted-outstanding to “inadequate”

DfE officials advised against local plan to join academy trust, warning it had not been discussed with them

National Education Trust admits its academy chain has been hit in past year by “significant organisational challenges”

Nearly one in five free schools operating at under two-thirds of the pupils they need to fill in seven years

Record of Academies Enterprise Trust under scrutiny

Ofsted directors, taking decisions on bonuses, received bonuses themselves

Redacted email shows financial “shortfall” facing school as it joined a multi-academy trust

Twenty-nine schools have had forced academy verdicts reversed in past four years, new data reveals

Ofsted blocks release of discussions with government about “suggested edits” to its controversial “Bold Beginnings” report

Three revamped University Technical Colleges on list of free schools opening next week

2017-18: the year of the collapsing multi-academy trust

Alternative provision FOI disclosures suggest hands-off approach to regulation from DfE, with Ofsted+DfE views at odds

Controversial merger exposes “risks” of setting up free schools without “basic” need for more places, court papers warn

Exclusive: students face same question in GCSE exam as in “widely-seen” practice papers

“Bilingual” free school is not bilingual, parent warns

Revealed: how pleas for school to go to academy trust with better Ofsted record fell on deaf ears

Fresh questions over local authority director and forced academy takeover

Parent reveals detail of complaints about behaviour regime at “super-strict” school

Parent hits out at new behaviour policies of free school, being taken over by “traditionalist” MAT

Decision-makers refuse to rule out schools in beleaguered academy trust moving to other chains, run by its directors

“Super-strict” school warns parents to expect detentions when their children join

Most of England’s largest academy trusts written to by DfE over pay

Home educators to protest next week over new DfE guidance

Young teachers call for reversal of school budget cuts and 5 per cent pay rise

Harris confirms it is closing the sixth form of one of its oldest schools, blaming budget pressures

New board at beleaguered academy trust moves to give up some or all of its schools

New inquiry under way at Silver Birch academy trust as parents call for its ousting

School which academised in face of campaign receives “requires improvement” Ofsted verdict, despite CEO’s 12 per cent+ pay rise

Pay of free schools chief rose five per cent to £210,000, accounts show

No sign of HTB having met to discuss controversial academy takeover

School threatened to cancel end-of-year prom over protest at decision to bar pupil

Superhead leaves chain of local authority schools

Charter schools system “more open than academies” on decision-making

More than 10 per cent of pupils leave Great Yarmouth Charter Academy in nine months

Minister defends government on swing towards more academic curriculum

MAT defends 46 per cent pay hike over three years for its chief executive

Academy trust tells school it is in line to take it over only five days after Ofsted report

Ofsted will not disclose number of complaints received about “Meet me at McDonald's” school

Further insights into chaotic saga of school’s forced academisation revealed in FOI trail

Starkly different patterns of exclusion by race discussed as movement highlighting children leaving schools is launched

Revealed: vast differences between spending of largest academy chains on senior management

Sixty-three corrections in Ofsted report which is forcing academisation on a seemingly unwilling community

Early years specialists staggered by “no commercial interest” claim for participants in government reviews

Minister’s academy gained “good” Ofsted rating despite large shrinkage in GCSE pupil numbers

Exclusive: top pay at England’s 10 largest academy chains averaging £220,000

Harris has plans to open new sixth form, up the road from one it has proposed closing

Raft of controversial changes at Peckham academy challenged by parents

Leader of single academy trust paid £210-£220,000 – around £100k more than usually possible in the non-academy sector

Tory leader of large local authority warns of shortage of academy sponsors, and brands forced academisation as “lacking local accountability”

Exclusive: superhead’s pay drops dramatically, but is he still in post?

“We want our subjects back,” students protest at Harris Academy Peckham

Union suspends strike action at Barnsley primary academy

Schools escape academisation despite failing Ofsted inspections

Church of England diocese “would rather accept the closure of a village school than see it remain open with a less Christian ethos”

“Second-look” Ofsted visit came after official intervention, background notes show

Minister’s school escaped Ofsted-inadequate rating despite some of England’s lowest test results

High-paying Harris Federation moving to close a school sixth-form because of financial pressures

Trust opening new free school in town consults on job cuts at other school it runs there

Chair of governors at threatened free school pleads with minister to reveal its future

Community facing forced academisation given no information on sponsor’s track record

Wellsway: the background

Exclusive: Multi-academy trust’s alternative provision service “operating unregistered for years”

Head of free schools location company serves on influential MAT board

Concerns about teacher contract at Ark Schools driving strike action by two unions

You should have closed our free school in the past, but don’t do it now, chair of governors tells DfE

Nearly 2,000 complaints about academies received in a single year

Embattled Bright Tribe chain poised to merge with sister trust and lose its name

Exclusive: DfE fails to update Regional Schools Commissioner register of interests for almost a year

National Education Trust to close

Parents at school facing controversial academy takeover told decision has been taken for them

Government was warned last year about asbestos concerns at school which is now temporarily closed

Head’s £185k salary deemed “questionable” by official auditors

Conflict of interest questions around looming academy takeover of Essex primary school

DfE unable to provide data on long-term retention rates for teachers on bursaries

Catalogue of free schools oversight and support failings outlined by school’s headteacher

Free school stayed open despite warning of risk to life from fire

Fewer women in higher echelons of school governance

Seemingly high management costs at two-school academy chain

Governing body u-turns on academisation plans following campaign

Church leaders dominate list of people serving on multiple academy trusts as “members”

Sense of “powerlessness” affecting teaching profession, leading educationist warns

Academy spent nearly a sixth of its income on PFI contract

Ofsted highlights research which did not back synthetic phonics, in support of its position backing synthetic phonics

Exclusive: Academy executives are busiest school governors in England

Government writes off nearly £7m of academy debts

Struggling UTC was built with input from firm controlled by one of its “members”

Scepticism greets post-16 phonics drive

Government literacy initiatives criticised as phonics-obsessed

“Little evidence” in favour of systematic synthetic phonics, research review concludes

Troubled academy chain spent £1 million grant in just over a year

Pay of head of single-trust school with links to WCAT rises substantially to £150k-plus

Parents raise £6,000 for legal challenge against academisation

4.5 day week proposed for school in England’s largest academy chain

Struggling free school “has cost £36 million”

Ofsted asks for parental comments…by yesterday

Most members of staff at large academy in Manchester in “vote of no confidence” in its board

Academies’ future expansion prospects unclear, warns National Audit Office

The academisation process and “limbo” schools: what we’ve learnt

Government moving to academise schools even before failing inspection reports published

Number of schools failing an Ofsted but with no academy sponsor lined up growing

Revealed: hundreds of schools waiting at least a year to become academies

Pay package of financially troubled trust’s former CEO rose at least five per cent last year

Free schools trust with fewer than 250 children paid chief executive £120-£130k a year

Exclusive: academy trust has paid £1.6 million in four years for services of married couple running it

High-paying Harris Federation spent £12m more than it received in income, accounts reveal  

Beleaguered  academy chain WCAT paid out more than £1m on staff “restructuring”

Government warned about teacher training routes

Small academy trust paying its leader £211,000

Meller education charity donated £10,000 to the Presidents Club

Small academy trust pays the equivalent of six-figure annual sum for accounting officer

New “national reference tests” could start influencing GCSE results from next year

Revealed: leading free schools chain needs extra cash to survive

Another academy chain sees 10 per cent rise in pay of top-paid employee

Academy trust leader’s pay surges by 14 per cent

Parents speak of being let down in free school’s closure

Revealed: Ark Schools plans to double in size

Durand Academy to reach agreement with government, accounts predict

Academy chains warn of budget pressures

Minister’s academy chain appears not to be following governance “requirements”

DfE keeps details of its academy board meetings private

Large pay multiples at academy trusts revealed

Revealed: academy chain discussed land before taking on school, document suggests

Academy chain concerned about possible effects of Brexit

Official concerns over spending at beleaguered Wakefield City Academies Trust revealed

Long read: months of negotiations lead up to free school merger plan

Parents say they were misled over free school merger plans after FOI shows discussions ongoing for months

Department for Education ordered to release board meeting details

Glimpse into DfE board deliberations offered by already-released material following FOI

Teachers tell of battles with MAT over resources

Small free school trust spent more than tenth of income on related party contracts

Staff at Bright Tribe school plead again for chain to leave

Regional Schools Commissioner role under the spotlight in WCAT affair

Academy trust directors “sacked after raising concerns”, never-published government report says

Teachers “in desperate need of support and crying out for help”, says…Ofsted

Capital spending data on four out of five free schools projects still unpublished

Company selling short GCSE-equivalent information technology course at £13,000 per class

Teachers being put under “enormous pressure” as schools chase Ofsted-outstanding, former chair of the inspectorate said

Headteachers receiving near-£100,000 salary boosts through their schools’ academy status

Detailed insights into Ofsted’s views on academisation revealed in freedom of information disclosure

Chief inspector Amanda Spielman on group working to promote “ethical leadership” in schools

MP presents petition against free school’s police station move

Short piece: the strange case of the unpublished free school audit report

The strange case of the free school internal audit report which you will never read

Longer read: Academy trust in talks about merging two schools within months of setting one of them up

Academy trust in talks about merging two schools within months of setting one of them up

Dramatic increase in cost of school management under academies scheme

Exclusive investigation: Faith schools by stealth? Calls for greater openness about the mission and ethos of England’s third-largest academy sponsor

Revealed: huge workload pressures on Ofsted inspectors lead to fears for quality of school verdicts

Free school sought to limit number of special needs and additional English speakers

MP questions pressure on schools over results and academisation in speech on knife crime

Former senior academy figure warns of pressures on trustee supply chain

Primary academy conversion rate slowing?