History

2009	St Paul’s Way School was a failing 11-16 school in East London with less than 700 students against a capacity of 1,200. The pupils were from homes with the highest levels of deprivation in the country and they ended their time with some of the poorest examination results at KS4. In 2009, SPWTS was established as a Trust School in collaboration with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with six University partners and a number of public and private sector partnerships.
2012	Royal Greenwich University Technical College (UTC) opened its doors in September 2012. Four years later in 2016, it was rated "Requires Improvement." It then joined the UST Trust.
2013	SPWT Sixth Form admits its first intake. SPWTS deemed “Outstanding” by Ofsted.
2014	The SPWTS Primary Phase opened its doors in September 2014. By 2020 SPWTS had grown to its full complement of pupils, with over 1,800 learners from nursery to Year 13 (covering ages 3 - 18 year olds).
2016	Following the decision of the governors and senior leadership at the school to expand the successful model at SPWTS into a Multi Academy Trust, UST was formed in September 2016 with SPWTS and RGTS as the founding schools.
2021	In March 2021, the DfE granted Cyril Jackson Primary School an Academy Order, enabling this highly successful and Ofsted rated "Outstanding" school in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to join the UST family in the September.
2022	In September 2022 SPW was deemed ‘Good’ by Ofsted. In October 2022, RGTS was deemed ‘Good’ by Ofsted. All schools within the Trust were deemed ‘Good’ or better by Ofsted.
2024	In February 2024 Sir William Burrough, a London Borough of Tower Hamlets school deemed ‘Requires Improvement’ by Ofsted joined the UST family.
2025	In June 2025, Ofsted rated Cyril Jackson Good in Quality of Education and Leadership and Management, and Outstanding in Behaviour and Attitudes, Personal Development, and Early Years Provision. In July 2025, Ofsted rated Sir William Burrough Outstanding in Early Years Provision and Behaviour and Attitudes, and Good in Quality of Education, Personal Development, and Leadership and Management. In September 2025, we held our first-ever Trust-wide INSET day to mark the launch of our new People Strategy, bringing our Trust community together under a shared vision.
2026	We welcome two primaries, Canary Wharf Glenworth and Canary Wharf East Ferry, as well as Canary Wharf Secondary to the Trust.