Education Secretary agrees to Sutton Trust policy recommendation in Committee hearing

The House of Commons Education Committee heard from the Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan today discussing the government’s White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere, which includes controversial plans to turn every school into an academy. During a discussion on the Sutton Trust’s evidence on the effectiveness of academy chains, prompted by former Labour Schools Minister Stephen Timms, the Education Secretary accepted the Sutton Trust’s recommendation that:

Regional School Commissioners should only allow MATs to expand when they have a track record of success in bringing about improvement in their existing academies.

The Education Secretary agreed that this should be the case, adding that she had read the Sutton Trust’s brief on the budget education debate and had discussed character education with the Sutton Trust’s chairman Sir Peter Lampl that morning. Labour MP Ian Austin also mentioned that the Sutton Trust say “it is the quality of teaching that has the most substantial impact on pupil outcomes, especially for the disadvantaged, regardless of school type or setting,” a statement which Nicky Morgan also said she agreed with.

The Committee discussion can be found by watching this recording of the session at about  16.08.30pm