AN academy chain has been hauled over the coals by the education watchdog after inspectors found that an “overwhelming” proportion of pupils attending some of its schools are not receiving an adequate education.

In a highly critical letter to the Kemnal Academies Trust (TKAT), which runs 39 schools in the south-east, Ofsted said that while the trust’s support for its schools was improving, in many cases this had come too late.

Inspectors visited six TKAT primary academies over a two-week period amid wider concerns that standards were not up to scratch.