The Catholic church is at the centre of a legal battle over attempts to force Catholic schools to become academies run by its own multi-academy trusts, against the wishes of school governors and headteachers.
A consortium of school staff unions, including the National Association of Head Teachers and the Association of School and College Leaders, has written to Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, calling on him to withdraw academy orders issued to a group of Catholic schools by the Department for Education (DfE) or face legal action.
