Funding terminated from failing academy trust
An academy trust has had its funding terminated following a series of poor Ofsted inspections.
Five of the 12 schools sponsored by the Education Fellowship Trust (TEFT) are currently rated as "inadequate".
The Department for Education (DfE) said it had agreed to a request from the trust to terminate its funding agreement "following ongoing concerns" about educational performance.
The trust is responsible for the education of about 6,500 students.
These are based in Northamptonshire, Wiltshire and Maidenhead in Berkshire.
Of the five schools rated inadequate, three were issued with termination warning notices last September. A fourth warning came in January.
The Education Fellowship Trust's failing schools
The following five out of the Education Fellowship Trust's 12 schools were rated inadequate by Ofsted.
- Ruskin Junior School, Wellingborough
- Blackthorn Primary School, Northampton
- Risdene Academy, Rushden
- Rushden Community College, Rushden
- Wrenn School, Wellingborough
Source: Department for Education
The Islip-based trust's schools will now have to be transferred to new sponsors.
Its chief operating officer, Lizzie Rowe, said it had requested to transfer its academies "following a review of financial constraints facing the education sector and the misalignment of values with the DfE".
In 2014, an Education Funding Agency report raised concerns about the trust's financial practices.
It questioned governors' expenses of £45,000, a trip to New York and unadvertised jobs for family members.