Schools minister Nick Gibb wants to give multi-academy trusts numerical rankings in official Department for Education league tables but says he faces “resistance” from civil servants.

The department has published performance tables for MATs for every year since 2013-14, outlining their performance at key stages 2 and 4.

The tables include data for trusts that have had at least three academies for at least three years.

Primary table: How MATs perform in primary Ofsted inspections

Secondary table: How MATs perform in secondary Ofsted inspections

Progress: MATs score below national average on Progress 8

However, although the trusts are placed into five bands - well above average, above average, average, below average and well below average - the table does not give them a numerical ranking.

Now, the minister for school standards has revealed that he wants to change this, but says he is being thwarted by officials.

Multi-academy trust rankings

At an event organised by the right-of-centre thinktank Policy Exchange last week, Mr Gibb was asked about sources of evidence to show what works in education.

He pointed to “things like the multi-academy trust league tables that we are publishing”, adding: “I have tried to make them as clear as possible.”

He said: “I would like to have some numbering as well but I’m getting some resistance from officials for that.

“But you can now go on to the department’s website and you can look up a multi-academy trust and you can see where it is, whether it’s above average, well above average, and you can scroll down and see where it is in the ranking on the basis of MATs of a certain size.”

He added: “I think what should happen is that MATs should be looking to see why they are not up at the top with the others and start to learn from best practice.”

The most recent MAT league tables were published in January, and were based on the results of schools the previous summer.

For key stage 4 in 2018, three multi-academy trusts were categorised as “well above average”: Tauheedul Education Trust (now renamed Star Academies), Dixons Academy Trust and Diocese of London.

Six multi-academy trusts were listed as “well below average”: Education Central Multi Academy Trust, Wakefield City Academies Trust, Aldridge Education, The Midland Academies Trust, Fylde Coast Teaching School Ltd, and UCAT.

A report accompanying the tables said that the Progress 8 score of pupils in multi-academy trusts was below the national average.