When I left the legal profession after working at two leading international law firms, it was with a clear aspiration: to develop an educational model that would offer children from some of the most disadvantaged communities the same opportunities enjoyed by many of my more privileged peers.
I was fortunate to be granted the rare privilege of founding a government-funded state school in Newham, the second most deprived borough in London. Thanks to the freedoms afforded by the academies programme, that school now outperforms many independent and grammar schools. It regularly sends pupils to Oxbridge and Ivy League universities on full scholarships worth £250,000 each. I am by no means alone in this achievement. Across the country, others have used the opportunities of academisation to become beacons of hope in their communities and rank among the highest in national league tables for educational outcomes.
