For many years Barnaby Lenon was the headmaster of Harrow. On his retirement he helped set up a state school in east London, widely regarded as one of the most successful free schools. In 2016 he went on a tour of schools in England that achieve outstanding results, in many cases with disadvantaged pupils. In this book he describes how they do it, set in the context of the latest research into school and teacher performance. He evaluates the school system in England and the effectiveness of recent reforms; he looks at how parents and governors achieve results and puts the spotlight on the school curriculum, exam systems and social mobility.