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14 April 2026

Tag: finance

Downsizing trust ‘failed to balance books quickly enough’

The Department for Education has slapped strict spending controls on an academy trust accused of failing to balance its books rapidly enough after it was stripped of a school. The Castle Trust, which is now preparing to close, has been issued a financial notice to improve after it “failed to act quickly enough to make […]

Fair funding reforms won’t be fully rolled out for at least 3 years

Government reforms to make school funding fairer will now not be fully implemented for at least another three years. The Department for Education today launched another consultation over its national funding formula, asking schools how and when it should complete plans to end a “postcode lottery” between council areas. Steve Edmonds, director of advice and […]

DfE blocks MAT’s bid to take shares in outsourcing firm

An outsourcing firm has urged the government not to be “hung up on fear of the different” after officials thwarted a multi-academy trust’s bid to take shares in the for-profit company. Schools Week revealed in March that Transforming Futures Trust (TFT) had signed a £1 million deal to outsource most of its central staff and […]

Be ready to challenge ‘inappropriate’ use of money, academy chiefs told

Academy leaders must be prepared to call out inappropriate behaviour within their organisations, especially if it involves public money, the government’s top school funding boss has said. Eileen Milner, the head of the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), has written to the heads of single and multi academy trusts, to remind them that as […]

Academy trust deficits rise but reserves grow for many

The proportion of academy trusts reporting a financial deficit rose to 6.1 per cent in 2016-17 from 5.5 per cent in 2015-16, new statistics from the Department for Education have revealed. The 185 trusts that were in deficit were responsible for 300 academies (4.3 per cent of the total), and smaller trusts were more likely to find […]

Academy trust bosses’ New Zealand trip questioned by the ESFA

A review of financial management and governance at the London-based Silver Birch Academy Trust has revealed serious failings, including a trip to the other side of the world for senior leaders that cost almost twice as much as the going rate. The trust, which runs four primary schools in Walthamstow, Chingford and Redbridge, was visited […]

Government to rebroker Manchester free schools founded by charity boss

Two free schools in Greater Manchester will be re-brokered to new multi-academy trusts after one was placed into special measures on its first inspection and the second given a financial notice to improve. The Collective Spirit free school in Oldham, which opened in September 2013, received an Ofsted judgement of “inadequate” in all categories in […]