• 'This is about social mobility': Academy trust boss defends exclusions record

    The boss of an academy trust under the spotlight for high rates of temporary exclusions has insisted strict behaviour expectations “prevent chaos” in its challenging schools. The Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) has been the focus of several articles this year for some of the highest rates of fixed-term exclusions across the country. As revealed…

    7.00 Dec. 7th, 2018 | News

  • Send annual reports to better engage with parents, Carter tells academy trusts

    The former national schools commissioner has urged academy trusts to send out “annual reports” to parents, admitting their engagement with local communities is an area of “real uncertainty”. Sir David Carter, in a wide-ranging interview with Schools Week, said trusts should look at producing an annual report for parents, which he likened to the report…

    7.00 Nov. 2nd, 2018 | News

  • What is the role of local governing bodies in MATs?

    There can be confusion about the roles of the various governing bodies in academy trusts. Sam Henson is on a mission to clear it up. Governance determines who has the power, who makes the decisions, how other players make their voice heard and how account is rendered. In a multi-academy trust, the board of trustees…

    5.00 Oct. 16th, 2018 | Opinion

  • Alternative provision academy trusts keen to open secure schools

    Academy chains that cater for excluded pupils are keen to open new secure schools for young offenders, but the response from mainstream trusts has been muted. The government is encouraging trusts to bid for facilities for imprisoned pupils aged 12 to 17, two years after the idea of secure schools was first proposed by the…

    5.00 Jun. 9th, 2018 | News

  • Mind the gap: The best and worst gender-based pay at multi-academy trusts

    In 2017, the government passed a law forcing every organisation with 250 or more employees to publish specific figures about the difference in pay between genders, both on their own websites and on gov.uk. The stats had to include both the mean and median gender pay gap, the proportion of men and women who have…

    5.00 Apr. 14th, 2018 | News

  • Investigation: The ups and downs of academy CEO pay

    Our annual analysis of chief executive pay in the largest academy chains once again reveals huge variations, including between men and women, and pay per pupil and school. We looked at trusts with more than 20 schools in 2016-17.  Sir Dan Moynihan of the Harris federation came top of all CEOs for salary, with a…

    19.40 Mar. 22nd, 2018 | News

  • New academy trust pledges not to hire unqualified teachers

    A new sixth form-led academy chain has announced it will only hire qualified or trainee teachers in a bid to shake off the negative history of the academies programme. The Challenge Academy Trust, which runs five schools and a sixth-form college in the north-west, has even signed an agreement with teaching unions to guarantee this…

    5.00 Sep. 26th, 2017 | News

  • Academy trusts spend millions on uninspected private alternative provision

    Multi-academy trusts spend three times as much on private alternative provision as they do on local authority alternative provision – even though many private providers have never been checked by Ofsted. Schools Week asked the largest multi-academy trusts to give details of the private alternative providers they have used to educate their pupils over the…

    5.00 Sep. 25th, 2017 | News

  • Schools No One Wants are in limbo - here's what needs to change

    The system for rebrokering schools needs reforming to better support vulnerable schools and pupils during the transition to a new academy trust, argues Mary Riall Inadequate’ academies are too often left unsupported for long periods while their transfer to a new multi-academy trust is negotiated, even though we could make simple changes to address this.…

    5.00 Sep. 18th, 2017 | Opinion

  • The Expandables: which academy trusts are supersizing?

    To kick off the first term of 2017-18, Schools Week has delved into the data on academy trust expansion over the last year. Although the headlines have been full of trusts shedding their schools, populations are booming at many others. We set out to find out what is driving this growth. Twenty academy trusts grew…

    5.00 Sep. 16th, 2017 | News

  • Auditors flag increase in financially 'unviable' academy trusts

    Auditors are increasingly raising the alarm about academy trusts at risk of running out of money, with chains raiding reserves and eyeing expansion to pay off deficits. A Schools Week analysis of annual accounts has revealed a prevailing picture of “unviable trusts”. The Rodillian Trust, which sponsors three schools in West Yorkshire, used more than…

    5.00 Feb. 3rd, 2017 | News