Schools failing Ofsted inspection could be merged with another local authority institution, former education secretary David Blunkett proposes

Argument on whether always to force academisation on schools in Ofsted's lowest categories returns to the House of Lords today.

Schools which fail Ofsted inspections should be required, in normal circumstances, to either join a multi-academy trust or merge with a “high-performing maintained school serving a similar cohort of children,” a former Labour education secretary has proposed.

David Blunkett, who launched the academies policy as New Labour’s first education secretary in 2000, has made the suggestion in an amendment which he has tabled for the children’s wellbeing and schools bill, which returns to the House of Lords today.