A flagship academy in Swindon has paid out more than £230,000 to staff it made redundant over the summer a Freedom of Information request has revealed. 

One teacher received almost £50,000 as a payout, the highest of all the members of staff.

The Swindon Advertiser report:

SWINDON Academy axed 27 teachers and support workers over the summer in one of the biggest jobs culls ever carried out at a school in the town.

The flagship academy, which caters for children of primary and secondary age, blamed the move on public sector cuts and over-staffing.

The cull included 12 staff who took voluntary redundancy, another 11 whose posts were deleted and four who decided not to take positions in a new structure.

Payouts made by the academy amounted to more than £230,000.

I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.