Skip to main content
The Morning Star 2026 Conference
Academies aren’t superior, new research proves

TURNING schools into academies is failing students, according to new research showing that almost half of the government’s favoured educational establishments fail to ensure expected GCSE results.

According to education think tank Sutton Trust, three out of four academy chains have schools that are “coasting.”

The term, recently coined by Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, describes schools that consistently fail to ensure that 60 per cent of their pupils achieve five good GCSEs.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
School children in a classroom
Education / 20 February 2026
20 February 2026
BRAVE NEW WORLD? Annual British Educational Training and Technology conference in London, January 2025, where Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson set out plans to use technology to ‘modernise’ the education system, support teachers and ‘deliver’ for pupils
Technology / 27 June 2025
27 June 2025

NICOLA SARAH HAWKINS explains how an under-regulated introduction of AI into education is already exacerbating inequalities

NEU delegate David Room speaks at the union’s conference i
NEU Conference 2025 / 15 April 2025
15 April 2025
NEU conference urges Labour to fix school funding crisis by getting rid of academy bosses earning over £500,000
A teacher and students in a classroom
Britain / 10 April 2025
10 April 2025