A CHRISTIAN charity which has only delivered a fraction of its promised sponsorship money towards the building of Walthamstow Academy says it is working towards honouring its pledge.

United Learning Trust (ULT) pledged £1.5m towards building works at the academy, which opened in 2006, in return for influence over the school's curriculum, staffing levels and ethos.

But it has only pledged £27,000 so far, with the taxpayer covering the cost of the shortfall.

But a ULT spokeswoman said the charity has until 2013 to cough up.

She said: “The sponsorship arrangement is between ULT and the government and has no impact on the education delivered at Walthamstow Academy.

“The sponsorship pledge is due to the Department of Children, Schools and Families over a period of seven years and ULT will continue to work towards meeting the balance."

According to Government figures ULT has only contributed half of the £20m pledged to 17 academies across the country.

In total sponsors have only paid two-thirds of the promised money, leading to concerns about the viability of the Government's academy programme – a flagship Labour policy.

ULT has been told it cannot take over any more schools until standards at its academies rise.

But Walthamstow Academy's results have improved year on year since it opened, with a third of pupils this year achieving five or more A* to C grades including maths and English.

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