The Department for Education will end its grant scheme for schools choosing to become an academy at the end of this year and has “no plans” to continue to run its trust capacity and trust establishment and growth funds.
Trusts waiting to hear about capacity and growth funding bids for this summer’s funding round of both funds have also been told no cash will be handed out.
It comes as the new Labour government seeks to rationalise the dual school system in England.
Its upcoming children’s wellbeing bill will seek to bring the two parts of the sector closer together, requiring academies to follow the national curriculum and cooperate with councils on admissions and pupil place planning.
The Confederation of School Trusts said the decisions would make it “much more difficult” for trusts to support maintained schools that need help, and leave smaller schools “very vulnerable”.
At present, schools voluntarily converting to academies can get “up to £25,000 to spend on the process of converting to an academy”. This is not the same as the arrangements for those forced to convert because of an Ofsted judgment.
But a government guidance update issued today states that the grant “will end on January 1 2025”.
‘No plans’ for future TCAF rounds
The trust capacity fund provides cash to help multi-academy trusts develop their capacity and take on underperforming schools, particularly in so-called education investment areas.
The latest iteration of scheme granted trusts up to £750,000 to take on at least five schools in underperforming areas.
But in communications with trusts, seen by Schools Week, the DfE said there were “currently no plans to introduce future rounds” of TCAF, and that it had decided not to award funding to any bidders in window 4.
“Across the public sector there have been tough decisions to take on how money is spent to achieve the best value for taxpayers. The decision has been made not to award funding to window 4 applicants.
“There are currently no plans to introduce future rounds of the trust capacity fund. We appreciate the effort that went into these applications and understand that this will be disappointing.”
The DfE went on to say that it valued “the vital role academy trusts play in our school system”.
“We want to work with you to ensure the collaboration and leadership that high quality trusts bring to the system helps to deliver exceptional results for children and young people, including those in disadvantaged areas.”
The DfE also confirmed to Schools Week it had also informed applicants to its separate trust establishment and growth fund, which exists to support the creation of new trusts or their expansion into new areas, that it will not award funding and has no plans for future rounds.
‘Incredibly disappointed’
Leora Cruddas, the CST’s chief executive, said TCAF “has been very successful in enabling trusts to support maintained schools that need help, especially in areas with a history of poor education outcomes”.
“That will become much more difficult to do now. Trust leaders will be especially angry that ministers have scrapped this summer’s funding round; trusts spent considerable time and effort creating bids and have been waiting for a decision on for four months.
“School trusts have a wealth of experience in school improvement but sharing that effectively takes time and money, and we need to make sure that the wider school sector doesn’t suffer from this decision.”
She added that the CST was “incredibly disappointed” at the decision to withdraw the conversion grant.
“Ending this grant will leave, in particular, smaller primary schools very vulnerable and without the financial and educational sustainability that comes from being part of a trust. It is a short-sighted decision that will weaken the school system.”
‘Not a neutral decision’
Taken together, the two decisions would have “clear consequences for the strength and sustainability of our school system”.
“This is not a neutral decision and will impact the capacity of the system to keep improving.”
Alice Gregson, CEO of Forum Strategy, a membership organisation for trust leaders, said the decisions reconfirmed the need for a “clear and compelling vision for the education sector, and within that a clear strategy for the school improvement landscape”.
“It’s difficult to see the vision or strategy that leads to these decisions, or what it means for making the most of the capacity and expertise of the school-led improvement system.”
What a load of entitled nonsense from these MAT CEOs! Howls of derision because they won’t be getting extra government money to expand their empires.
Despite successive governments actively favouring academisation, academies have proven worse than LA schools at school improvement, which isn’t surprising when they essentially take money out of the classroom and throw it at these boardrooms full of overpaid suits.
If there’s a criticism to be made of this it is that it doesn’t go anywhere far enough and doesn’t create a mechanism to deacademise schools which is what we really need.
Fantastic news! Get schools back into financially accountable local authority control instead of the personal fiefdoms of the current CEOs and their network of pals and at an unnecessary high cost of paying for several trust staff when this could all be done by one dedicated LA leader and one central team in the Council. The trust teaching staff – and their toxic management skills that has driven so many amazing teachers from the profession – can partially fill the teacher recruitment gaps – back on the upper pay scale – with no 3 year previous salary grace. The MAT game is up!
CST lol.
Ruined a few schools. Drive out experienced staff.
The Confederation of School Trusts – clearly have clever people working for them – who get paid well to “enhance education” , and expand the Trust empires . The bigger the Trust the more Salary?
Clearly if they cared about pupils education they would get into the classroom and support Education properly. Most will not even have QTS!!!
I hope the employers of these “Think Tanks” employees -have to pay the employers NI increase, as they certainly are not Public Bodies but merely a Lobbying Group for the “private” Academies, Trusts , Free Schools – who are not Publicly controlled. But never the less, expect enhanced State funding for their wasteful top echelons of CEO’s and others.
Lets hope the Gravy Train for those at the top of this wasteful idea – is running dry.