Yet our analysis of how well secondary school pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds perform in major multi-academy trusts (MATs) suggests there is much room for improvement. At one trust based in London, for example, 60 per cent of disadvantaged pupils achieved both English and maths GCSE at grade 5 or above in 2022/23. This compares to 34 per cent at the highest-performing trust in the south west and 5 per cent for another trust in the peninsula. Many disadvantaged pupils are not leaving school with the core skills they need to succeed in life. We believe that the national accountability of schools should do far more to explicitly consider outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.