Academies

DfE launches regulatory review to ‘future proof’ academy trusts

Amanda Spielman, Leora Cruddas and trust representatives will advise Baroness Barran on accountability reforms

Amanda Spielman, Leora Cruddas and trust representatives will advise Baroness Barran on accountability reforms

The government has launched a review of school accountability and regulation it claims will “future proof” the role of academy trusts and “pave the way” for the conversion of all schools.

The regulatory review, which was supposed to be launched in May, was pledged in the government’s schools white paper earlier this year. It forms part of ministers’ plan to get all schools either into multi-academy trusts or in the process of joining by 2030.

Its publication also follows strong criticism of the government’s controversial schools bill, with ministers accused of a Whitehall power-grab over wide-ranging new academy standards and intervention powers.

Baroness Barran (pictured), the academies minister, will chair the regulatory review, which will be “directly informed” by an expert group.

A full membership list has not yet been published,  but the government said it would include Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman, Confederation of School Trusts CEO Leora Cruddas and LSE professor Martin Lodge.

There will also be “further representatives from the academy trust sector to be confirmed shortly”.

The review will also “engage throughout with parliamentarians, representatives from unions including ASCL and NAHT, and other interested parties via working groups, visits and workshops to test and iterate proposals”.

As part of the process, the government will consider the “core values and minimum standards by which the school system will operate”, and a regulatory and commissioning strategy ” that ensures those minimum standards are met, and exceeded”.

This phase will also “consider the role of inspection as a regulatory tool”.

The review will consider what change “might be needed immediately, in the medium-term and long-term”. But the DfE said that initially its schools bill will not “seek to materially change existing academy trust standards”.

It will also inform future law changes “following the third session of Parliament”, which ends next July.

Barran said the “very many strong academy trusts across the country do a great job of improving their schools”.

But she warned that “not every school is currently in a strong trust or has the option of joining one”.

“Our three-pronged approach between the schools white paper, schools bill, and our new regulatory review, will change that. It will create a new, higher performing school system that parents love and gives every child every chance of success.”

Here’s what the review will look at…

Defining, measuring and judging trust strength

  • Minimum standards for trusts
  • Developing a ‘strong trust definition’
  • Metrics to support the definition
  • How judgments made can be ‘nuanced and risk-based’
  • What this means for measurement and data collection

Intervention and direction from the regulator

  • Regulatory strategy, including ‘harms’ a regulator will focus on
  • The ‘risk appetite for intervention’
  • Alignment between minimum standards and trust strength
  • How the regulatory framework will inform local decisions
  • The role for trust-level inspection

Incentivising system improvement

  • The DfE’s ‘overall approach to commissioning’
  • The incentives for trusts to improve
  • How trusts are chosen to take on schools
  • How decisions are made about new trusts, trust growth and ‘significant changes to schools’
  • ‘Whether, when and how’ it is appropriate to move schools

Delivering regulation and commissioning

  • How regulatory and commissioning functions will be distributed
  • The skills regulators and commissioners need
  • Opportunities to ‘reduce the burden of regulation’
  • Making processes transparent so they’re ‘viewed as legitimate’
  • What routes of challenge and appeal should be available
  • How new legislation will be applied

Latest education roles from

Chief Education Officer (Deputy CEO)

Chief Education Officer (Deputy CEO)

Romero Catholic Academy Trust

Director of Academy Finance and Operations

Director of Academy Finance and Operations

Ormiston Academies Trust

Principal & Chief Executive

Principal & Chief Executive

Truro & Penwith College

Group Director of Marketing, Communications & External Engagement

Group Director of Marketing, Communications & External Engagement

London & South East Education Group

Sponsored posts

Sponsored post

AI Safety: From DfE Guidance to Classroom Confidence

Darren Coxon, edtech consultant and AI education specialist, working with The National College, explores the DfE’s expectations for AI...

SWAdvertorial
Sponsored post

How accurate spend information is helping schools identify savings

One the biggest issues schools face when it comes to saving money on everyday purchases is a lack of...

SWAdvertorial
Sponsored post

Building Character, Increasing Engagement and Growing Leaders: A Whole School Approach

Research increasingly shows that character education is just as important as academic achievement in shaping pupils’ long-term success. Studies...

SWAdvertorial
Sponsored post

Educators launch national AI framework to guide schools and colleges

More than 250 schools and colleges across the UK have already enrolled in AiEd Certified, a new certification framework...

SWAdvertorial

More from this theme

Academies

Pioneering free school censured over ‘inaccurate’ budget forecasts

Notice to improve issued to one of England's first free schools amid string of rule breaches

Jack Dyson
Academies

20 leaders appointed to DfE trust CEO advisory group

Bosses of United Learning, Lift Schools, Ark and Star academy trusts appointed to advise minister amid schools bill reforms

Freddie Whittaker
Academies

OGAT staff set to strike for 10 more days in July

Staff are on strike over plans to extend the teaching day by 30 minutes

Lydia Chantler-Hicks
Academies

Who are the CEOs batting for Labour’s schools bill?

Labour’s schools bill has been heavily criticised, but who are the CEOs who support the bill – and why?

Jack Dyson

Your thoughts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *