THE GOVERNMENT needs to take urgent action to ensure the success of the best performing academy chains is repeated across the system, according to an education charity.

The Sutton Trust has published new research showing one-in-five established academy chains (eight out of 39) are performing below the national average for both the exam results and improvement levels of their poorer pupils.

The findings, based on the performance of disadvantaged youngsters attending academies in 39 chains between 2013 and 2015, shows that across the sponsored academies in the best chains, the proportion of poorer children gaining five or more good GCSEs is at least 12 percentage points higher than the average for similar pupils in all mainstream schools.

Read the full report here.