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

The country’s largest academy trust is hoovering up schools across southern England, including several which have been hit by protracted controversies, exclusive analysis by this website reveals.

The United Learning Trust (ULT) is poised to grow by more than a quarter, in terms of pupil numbers, over the period 2018-19, with the number of schools under its wing increasing by nearly a third.

Its growth includes the ULT absorbing schools this year alone from three smaller multi-academy trusts, in an example of what seems an increasing trend towards organisational mergers in the academies sector.

And my analysis shows that the ULT’s growth is largely not coming from it taking on schools from the local authority maintained sector, but instead taking charge of institutions which were already academies, many of them in difficulty.

In some cases, the trust appears now to be a go-to organisation for the Department for Education, as the government seeks a way out of what can be multi-faceted problems on the ground for its flagship policy.