Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to allow Ofsted to inspect academy chains.

Ofsted already makes a valuable contribution to the department’s understanding of multi academy trust (MAT) performance through focused inspections of schools within the same MAT.

As the school system evolves, we recognise that MAT-level accountability will also need to evolve. This is why the Department is working closely with Ofsted in considering how this model can best be adapted to the changing landscape.