North Cambridge Academy and Trumpington Park Primary want to merge the bodies running them into a super-sized organisation.

CPET plan to merge with CMAT, bringing 28 schools from Lincolnshire to Bedfordshire under one umbrella.

Earlier this year, analysis from Schools Week showed an academy trust merger was approved every five days over the past year.

But there are warnings that large chains can mean less freedom, accountability and choice.

Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner said:

“We’ve seen a decade of Conservative fragmentation of our local education services. Too often these merger deals are done in the shadows leaving people wondering how much do all these reorganisations cost?”

“I understand the need for economies of scale but the bigger these organisations get the further removed they are from local communities. This one spans three counties. Personally I would like to see the back of multi academy trusts altogether and have a county based education system where those spending public money can be held properly to account.

“Frankly when the going got tough at the height of the pandemic multi academy trusts weren’t the ones on the front line. It was the local council’s education authority that did all the work.”

The consultation period on the merger will run from 20 October 2021 to 1 December 2021.