29-04-2025
Ex-Ofsted head urges greater scrutiny of academy trusts
The high pay awarded to academy chief executives should mean their trusts are subjected to greater scrutiny, the former chief inspector of Ofsted has said.
Sir Michael Wilshaw, who was one of the best-known academy leaders before his Ofsted role, defended the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which returns to parliament this week.
He suggested that the legislation was coming under 'unreasonable' attack from those with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.
Wilshaw made his name as the tough-talking head teacher of Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney, east London, which was one of the first academies to open in 2004. It used its freedoms to drive up standards in an inner-city area.
He said that chief executives of academy trusts — some earning
