academy trusts | Schools Week

£73k theft at academy not spotted for eight months, government probe reveals

Over £73,000 was stolen from a single academy trust but the loss went unnoticed for eight months due to “weak internal controls”, according to a damning report into a London school. The fraud came to light after Education and Skills Funding Agency (EFSA) inspectors visited the London Enterprise Academy, run by the Tower Hamlets Enterprise […]

We should have protected whistleblowers, says DfE

The Department for Education has admitted it should have redacted the names of whistleblowers who gave evidence as part of an investigation into cheating at an academy trust. Schools Week revealed in February that three whistleblowers had been named five times across 165 pages of a DfE response to a freedom of information (FOI) request […]

Academy trusts to face tougher financial checks

Academy trusts can expect tougher checks on their finances as auditors sharpen up following high-profile auditing scandals – and cash-strapped chains can no longer rely on government bail-outs. Government guidance published last week said trustees and finance staff would face “more detailed questioning” from auditors assessing whether their trusts have enough cash to continue. The […]

23 trusts submitted financial returns late

The government has named and shamed 23 academy trusts that were late in submitting financial returns in the last academic year. Trusts were supposed to have their land and buildings collection tool sent off by November 4 last year, and financial statements were supposed to follow on December 31, with accounts returns due on January […]

Boosting finances a main driver for half of trusts that expand

Around half of academy trusts say boosting their finances is one of the main drivers to take on more schools, amid concerns chains feel “under pressure” to grow in size. The National Governance Association has today released the results of its annual school governance survey of multi-academy trusts. The survey, which included around 1,800 school […]

High-profile trusts win share of £1.5m ‘exemplary leadership’ fund

Four of England’s most high-profile academy trusts have won the first tranche of a £1.5 million government contract to deliver “exemplary leadership” training. Schools Week revealed earlier this year that the Department for Education was developing the leadership programme”, which will see ‘outstanding’ schools designing training programmes to replicate their success. However, the government was […]

Schools halt redundancy plans amid coronavirus outbreak

Schools are halting redundancy plans as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause unprecedented disruption across the nation. Harris Federation – one of the country’s largest trusts – is among those calling off crunch talks with employees. The reality is that there would only have been a tiny number of redundancies, if any, across our 48 […]

UTC turns the tables and comes to the aid of a MAT

A north-west England university technical college has become the latest of its type to move towards joining a multi-academy trust – but this time the tables have turned. The leader of UTC Warrington, Lee Barber, has been appointed by the North West Academies Trust (NWAT) to be the interim headteacher of Rudheath Senior Academy, following […]

After the storm: Who clears up when academy trusts collapse?

“I went through a calendar with someone in the first week and said: ‘I can see there is a training day at a strange point in the year, what’s that for?’,” Jo Saxton, chief executive of Turner Schools, recalls. Her trust had just taken over two schools from the Lilac Sky academy trust, which shut […]