Leadership training providers have demanded an investigation after the government handed a contract for its academy trust chief executive training to the flagship National Institute of Teaching (NIoT).
The Department for Education ditched a competitive tender to give the contract directly to the School-Led Development Trust (SLDT), which runs NIoT and was founded by four leading multi-academy trusts.
Ministers promised to launch a programme to ensure trusts have enough “highly effective leaders” as part of its 2022 schools white paper.
While NIoT’s contract value has not yet been confirmed, the original tender was expected to be about £2.8 million.
