The debate about the suitability of academy chains rages on.

Some academy operators have been criticised because they are too "managerial" and do not place enough emphasis on learning. This is according to Christine Gilbert, who chaired an independent commission of inquiry into academies last year. 

Yesterday (March 19th) she told the Commons Education Select Committee: "We saw some really poor ones and I could have told you a year ago what would happen to some of those chains because their focus was not on learning. It was very managerial and the focus wasn't on teaching and its impact." 

Sam Freedman, former adviser to Michael Gove, told the same committee in many academy chains there is nothing to "drive educational improvement" and instead they simply perform back office services.

Last month, the Department for Education said it was taking preventative action to address underperformance in some academies and stripped one of the biggest chains - E-Act - of ten of its 34 schools. Last year, the Academies Enterprise Trust - the biggest chain which runs 77 schools - was banned from expanding, although some pre-existing projects have been allowed to continue. 

Yesterday, it emerged there are in fact another 12 chains that are currently banned from sponsoring more academies or free schools.

It was only earlier this month the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) education expert Andreas Schleicher, who is responsible for the international Pisa tests, told MPs academies that bring autonomy to a schools system should be a positive step.

One of the biggest issues many people have with academies is their right to employ whom they like in their teaching jobs. Labour has already stated that should it win the next general election it will ensure that all teachers in state academies will need to seek qualified teacher status in order to continue in the profession.

If you have any strong views about the academy system, tell us what you think? How can the right balance between standards and autonomy be struck?