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16 April 2026

Tag: United Learning

United Learning boss rules out taking costly PFI schools ‘ever again’

One of the largest academy chains in England has refused to take on any new schools with costly PFI contracts because it has “barely any control” over the buildings. The 51-school United Learning has declined to adopt the struggling Sedgehill School in Lewisham, south-east London, which council documents show has a debt of over £1 […]

United Learning and Ark in north-London turf war

Two of the country’s leading academy trusts have clashed over plans for an “unneeded” free school in north London. Plans for Ark to build the Ark Pioneer Academy – a secondary school with a sixth form – on the site of the former Underhill Stadium in Barnet are expected to be rubber-stamped soon despite objections […]

Academy chain leader ‘won’t rule out’ expansion of grammar streams

A Wiltshire academy that started a “grammar stream”, giving a small group of children access to specialist teachers and lectures at a nearby private school, will continue the project for at least another year and may expand the model. Swindon academy last year launched an “elite” academic curriculum for up to 30 pupils to access subject-specialist […]