academy trust | Schools Week

DfE eyes building reserve army of academy troubleshooters

Ministers could revive an Academy Ambassadors-style trustee recruitment scheme, but with greater DfE control and fewer trusts eligible

White paper: Academy trust ‘divorce’ plans split sector leaders

DfE to consult on ‘exceptional circumstances’ in which academies could request move to ‘stronger’ trust

Free school charity: All-MAT sector would mean ‘death’ of innovation

Ministers’ favoured institutions won’t be replicated if white paper scraps standalone academies, charity warns

Fresh calls for MAT inspections after trust gets 3 ‘inadequates’

Ofsted cannot inspect academy trusts despite almost a decade of pressure for new powers

New framework to set out the purpose of academy trust CEOs

The work will also set ethics expectations for academy bosses

SchoolsCompany: Former bosses of scandal-hit academy trust sued over missing millions

A scandal-hit academy trust is suing former trustees to recover up to £2.8 million of “lost public funds”. Experts say the case sets a precedent that should serve as a warning for the sector. Normally the government would just write off liabilities owed by collapsed trusts. An investigation by Schools Week has established the government […]

Diversity in academy leadership needs to improve. What can the sector do about it?

Alice Gregson and Ed Dorrell share insights from the first national survey on trust leadership diversity

Williamson’s ‘irrational’ refusal to revoke academy order quashed by High Court

The education secretary’s refusal to revoke an academy order for a primary school in the West Midlands has been ruled “irrational” and quashed by the High Court. Governors of Yew Tree Primary School in Sandwell brought a judicial review of a decision by education secretary Gavin Williamson to refuse to revoke the order imposed on […]

REAch2 Academy Trust boss Sir Steve Lancashire to stand down in 2022

Sir Steve Lancashire, the founder and chief executive of the REAch2 Academy Trust, is to step down next year. The trust’s board announced today that Lancashire, who has run the 60-school chain since its foundation in 2012, will step down as CEO from September next year. REAch2 is the largest primary academy trust in the […]