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14 November 2026

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Opinion

Multi-academy trusts are driving EdTech innovation

Multi-academy trusts used to be an afterthought for software developers, but no longer, explains Joshua Perry School software has been around for a long time. The market has blossomed and evolved over more than three decades, with the release of the ever-popular SIMS Management Information System (MIS) in 1984 a particularly pivotal moment. Software for […]

How much should MAT CEOs be paid?

MAT CEO pay is in the public eye again and, given how high it is, it’s right that trustees should think hard about how they work it out, writes Gillian Allcroft It is the season to scrutinise academy trusts’ accounts and, as ever, the hot topics are related-party transactions and executive pay. There are no […]

Five solutions for teacher retention and development

The numbers quitting teaching are becoming a full-blown crisis. David Weston presents five solutions that might stem the tide As a basis for a strategy to attract and keep teachers in our schools, Professor Dylan Wiliam’s approach, “love the ones you’re with”, is bang on. We certainly need some overarching strategy to deal with, what […]

Battle of the schools: which one gets closed?

In the summer of 2013, the health secretary was stopped in his tracks. Jeremy Hunt’s decision to close the emergency department at Lewisham Hospital was ruled unlawful. It was a victory for local campaigners but it would also become a parable for the situation in which academies would one day find themselves. I fear that […]

How can we better support EAL pupils?

EAL pupils are not a remotely homogeneous group, and we’re foolish to treat them as such, writes Jo Hutchinson One of the top stories from the recent 2017 GCSE results was the extraordinary rise of children with English as an Additional Language (EAL) over the last 15 years. Here, it was reported that on average, such […]

16 to 18-year-olds need funding too!

If 16-to-18 participation is “compulsory” then it should be funded at the same level as other compulsory phases, argues John Widdowson Ten years ago, Alan Johnson MP, then Secretary of State for Education and Science, announced that all young people should be obliged to remain in education, an apprenticeship or employment with training until their […]

Trustees beware: know your legal duties!

If there is a single part of the academy system that needs our urgent attention, it is trusteeship, argues Leora Cruddas There is still much that is misunderstood about the differences between governing a local authority-maintained school, governing a single academy trust and governing a multi-academy trust. At its most extreme, this lack of understanding […]

Free schools can’t be judged as a homogenous group

Tom Richmond is wrong on one thing, argues Thomas Byrne. There already are numerous free school successes – and more than a few that have gone wrong It’s true that it’s too early to tell whether the free schools programme has lived up to its champions’ claims; the former DfE advisor Tom Richmond was correct […]

Schools: you must tell pupils about apprenticeships!

After news broke that only two of the 10 largest multi-academy trusts are actually implementing the so-called Baker Clause, which requires schools to allow technical education providers access to their pupils, the man who fought for the clause in the first place explains why it is so vital that every school complies A recent survey […]