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Will RSCs monitor big chains?

will RSCs monitor big chains?

2 September 2014

Sir Michael Wilshaw has renewed his demand for chains of academies to be allowed to be inspected after a report focused on Academies Enterprise Trust revealed that over half of its academies required improvement.

As the number of reports expressing concern about the larger chains’ performance increases, the clamour for effective monitoring and support for them will become louder.

The current situation raises interesting questions about whether the gap left by local authorities in monitoring and supporting schools has been effectively filled in connection with academies, particularly in connection with academy chains - see our report.

The potential 'middle tier' in this sense may be the newly appointed Regional School Commissioners (RSCs). It is unclear from the proposed scope of their work whether their current role includes monitoring of the larger groups but it would be intriguing to see over the coming months whether RSCs will become involved in monitoring the performance of academy groups.

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Jamie Otter

Legal Director

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