A new 25-school academy trust will form after two chains announced plans to merge in a move leaders hope will give them “resilience and strength”.
The 15-school Compass Partnership of Schools and 10-school Eko Trust say a merger could take place as early as 2026 subject to trustee and Department for Education approval.
It comes shortly after it was announced that the five schools in the ACES Academy Trust will join the 12-school CAM Academy Trust, and as new Schools Week analysis shows the average size of trusts continues to grow, while the number operating is falling.
If approved, the new Compass Eko Partnership of Schools will lead 21 primary schools and four special schools in London, Essex, Suffolk and Brighton, serving more than 9,100 pupils in total.
Trusts are getting larger
Government data shows how trust mergers are changing the profile of the academy sector.
In April this year, there were 2,152 trusts with 11,494 schools in them. Last year there were 2,272 trusts, but with 10,839 schools.
It means the average size of a trust has increased from 3.1 schools in 2019, to 4.8 last year and again to 5.3 this year.
The proportion of chains that are single-academy trusts has fallen from 51.2 per cent in 2023 to 48.5 per cent last year and then 46.5 per cent this year.
In 2023, the second most common size of trust, after standalone, was three to five schools. Now it is six to 10.
The merger of Compass and Eko will put the new trust in the top 3 per cent of trusts by size nationally.
Trusts already share HR
The two trusts already work together, collaborating on school improvement and sharing a human resources operation.
The full merger would “create new opportunities for staff, which will mean schools can continue to develop their quality of education and care,” the trust said. “At the same time, each school will continue to retain the elements that make them unique.”
It will also expand professional development opportunities.
The new organisation will be led “collaboratively” by current Compass CEO and former ASCL president John Camp and Eko’s chief executive Rebekah Iiyambo. Schools Week understands their future titles have not been agreed.
‘Aligned on ethos’
Camp said the two trusts “have enjoyed a strong, long-standing relationship built on shared values and a mutual commitment to putting children and young people first, setting high standards and delivering a great quality of education and care”.
Iiyambo said Eko and Compass “are aligned on ethos, values and commitment to excellence… Together, we will be a strong organisation that safeguards what our schools already do so well and allows us to build on that.”
Stretched school budgets have launched an academy merger era, with increased pressure on funding likely to drive further consolidation with smaller trusts joining together, experts have said.
ACES Academy Trust said last week that joining the larger CAM trust was the “best route to ensuring long-term stability and unlocking new opportunities for pupils, staff and school communities”.
Claire Heald, CEO of CAM Academy Trust, added the “existing links between our schools – particularly where some CAM primaries feed into Hinchingbrooke – give us a strong foundation for this next step together”.
The proposal will be considered by a regional board in June.
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