Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the capacity of existing multi-academy trusts to absorb the remaining community schools in (a) England and (b) Yorkshire.

Existing schools are choosing to join or form a multi-academy trust (MAT); in 2014/15 over 90% joined or formed a multi-academy trust with one or more other schools. They are doing this because forming these MAT partnerships creates capacity in the system allowing schools to pool resources, share best practice, and benefit from strong leadership.

We are committing over £500M to build capacity and convert schools over the next four years – including recruiting excellent sponsors and encouraging the development of strong multi-academy trusts.