England’s biggest academy trust will lose two more of its academies, it announced today.
At the same time, AET has been given DfE permission to expand its number of primary schools by up to 1,000 pupils this year.
At its peak, AET had 77 academies, but it became one of the most high-profile academy trusts to run into difficulties.
The DfE issued it with a financial notice to improve, it was banned from expanding, and several of its academies were transferred to new sponsors.
The financial notice has been lifted since Julian Drinkall joined as chief executive last year, but it today said that it has agreed with the DfE that two more academies will leave the organisation.
The two schools in Suffolk - a secondary school, Felixstowe Academy, and Langer Primary Academy, in the same town - are expected to transfer by the end of the current academic year.
Both schools are rated “inadequate” by Ofsted, with Langer given the bottom grade in May.
An Ofsted monitoring inspection of Felixstowe Academy in July found that “leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of special measures”.
Mr Drinkall said: “We will be sad to say goodbye to Felixstowe and Langer academies.
“In less than one year, we have made good progress in both academies.
“We recognise, however, that the local MP and the DfE have concerns about the schools, and rebrokering both academies has been raised as an option.
“We want to do the right thing for both schools, and so would be supportive of this step subject to a high-quality sponsor being found that is financially sound and has a strong education turnaround track record.
“It’s also of paramount importance that any transfer is done in a smooth and orderly way, so as not to de-stabilise either school and slow the progress that has been made.”
The trust said it was already in the early discussions with a number of schools about joining AET, and added that it is also aiming to open new special schools as well.
In September, Hockley Primary Academy in Essex became the first school to join AET under the trust’s new leadership, and since the DfE lifted the financial notice to improve.
