Low-attaining schools have been targeted by government for closure and transformation into academies. This article argues that opposition to academies is necessary but not sufficient. It is vital to do more than simply defend the status quo. In the city of Leicester an alternative vision for high-quality education, local authority led and grounded in community comprehensive schools, is being actively pursued. Its hallmarks are innovation, creativity and collaboration between schools and their teachers. The successes already achieved in Leicester under this new approach reveal the government's policy of academisation to be "last year's model".