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11 April 2026

Tag: academisation

Can church schools become stand-alone academies?

Question: Is the memorandum of understanding between the Department for Education and the Church of England/Catholic Church a legally binding document?  Can church schools become stand-alone academies or do they have to become part of a diocesan-led trust? Victoria says: In order to answer the above, we need to look first at how a church school […]

Can the council force an academy named on an EHCP to meet a pupil’s need?

Can a local authority enforce a school named on an Education, Health and Care Plan to meet a pupil’s need, if that school is within a multi-academy trust and schools in MATs have no legal status? Antony says: In answering this question, it is important to consider the key principles in respect of naming a placement, […]

Academy trust expenses claims: The dos and don’ts

It was hard not to be shocked by the Dispatches/Observer investigation into academy trust expenses and perks. The Department for Education (DfE) states that academy trusts are independent charitable companies. They are also classified by the Office for National Statistics as central government public sector bodies. While academies are responsible for their own financial management, they […]

When setting up a multi academy trust, what appointments do you have to make?

If you are setting up a multi academy trust, what are the minimum number of executive appointments you need to make and what roles do they do? Jessica says: In answering this question, I have focused on the appointment of the board of trustees (also known as the directors) of the multi academy trust (MAT). […]

White paper is a ‘goner’, says policy expert

Major reforms such as forced academisation face being kyboshed in the wake of Brexit, Whitehall experts have told Schools Week. Policies unveiled in the government’s latest education white paper, published just three months ago, could be sidelined until a new government forms, and could even be dropped, they say. Those policies include plans to force […]

The real challenge awaits for Cameron and Morgan

The government may have made a u-turn on forced academisation, says Lucy Powell, but its misguided fixation with school structures remains David Cameron and Nicky Morgan have been forced into a humiliating climbdown. However they try to spin it, they have made a major concession by dropping their target to force all schools to become […]

Less of a U-turn and more of a Z-turn

Do you remember last Saturday? It was boiling hot and the world was sunny – not least because Nicky Morgan had announced on Friday afternoon she wouldn’t be making all schools into academies after all. Except, it wasn’t that straightforward. (It never is). At 6.30am on Saturday I therefore found myself explaining to listeners of […]

Forced academisation looms for coasting councils

Nicky Morgan last week announced a u-turn over the government’s controversial proposals to force all schools to convert into academies. Instead, it wants new powers to academise all schools in a local authority where the council is deemed to be either underperforming or ‘unviable’. The ‘triggers’ for both have yet to be decided, as John […]