West Gate School: Academy plan shelved after campaign

Trade unions and staff are celebrating after plans to turn a Leicester school into an academy were shelved.

West Gate School, which has special educational needs pupils, was served an academy order by the government in 2018 after being rated “inadequate”.

Unison said most problems had been addressed, with the school now rated as “good”, and a potential academy group had no experience of special needs.

One parent said the school had seen “huge improvement”.

The government has the power to demand ‘inadequate’ schools become academies as it considers this the best way to support the school in improving.