A group of Multi-Academy Trust chief executive officers began meeting informally in June 2015. This group became a voluntary alliance that met regularly during 2016–18 to exchange operational insights, peer-to-peer. During 2017–18, the CEOs decided to create a formal legal entity to encourage and extend these discussions, leading to the Queen Street Group being incorporated in October 2018 with 17 Trusts in membership.
The 23 QSG member Trusts educate between them 256,000 pupils enrolled across 471 schools; the schools are located in all of the eight regions of England overseen by Regional Schools Commissioners. The Trusts are highly varied in origin, size and geography but share a commitment to improving the education of children living in disadvantaged circumstances whose schools have lost their way and require a fresh start.