MATs | Schools Week

Island school reachable only by aeroplane finds academy sponsor

The only school on the remote Isles of Scilly in the south-west is joining a multi-academy trust with a standalone academy school 28 miles away on the mainland, after it was put into special measures. Five Islands School (pictured), an all-through boarding school, made the front page of Schools Week last year after its ‘inadequate’ […]

Leading MATs have far more pupils with English as additional language

The largest multi-academy trusts have far more pupils with English as an additional language – and could be benefiting from having more children who are “easier” to progress. Researchers have identified 13 academy trusts responsible for 12,000 pupils or more, which are dubbed “system leaders” under a new system used by the national schools commissioner. […]

Does competition law apply to academy trusts?

As multi-academy trusts come to dominate in so many areas, concerns are raised about unfair competition and less choice for parents. But the mechanism for challenging a MAT’s dominance is not at all clear, as education law expert Russell Holland explains The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was established in 2014 to combine the functions […]

Ofsted plans MAT inspection changes from 2018

Ofsted wants to change the way it inspects multi-academy trusts (MATs) from September 2018, according to a senior inspector. Stephen McMullan told the annual conference of the National Co-ordinators of Governor Services in Grantham today that the watchdog was “considering” new ways of inspecting and evaluating MATs. These changes could be implemented as soon as next year. At the […]

CEOs, CFOs & COOS: How MATs struggle to recruit executives

Multi-academy trusts with more than five schools increasingly need senior finance, operating and executive officers, but school leaders lack the “reference points” to recruit them, as many have never worked with such roles before. The National Governance Association’s ‘Welcome to a multi-academy trust’ guide states that larger MATs (defined as having between five and 10 […]

Essex council plans spin-off multi-academy trust

Essex county council (ECC) is applying to set up its own multi-academy trust which, if successful, would be the first spin-off local authority trust. The move was confirmed in a council cabinet meeting held last month, and an application will now be made to the Regional Schools Commissioner. Essex is not the first local authority […]

£53m MAT growth fund open to trusts without proven record

£53 million will be made available to help multi-academy trusts (MATs) take on more schools, but the cash is supposedly reserved for trusts with “a proven record” of turning around underperforming schools. But the Department for Education’s own guidance suggests school standards will not be taken into consideration when the grants are handed out, and […]

Dominant multi-academy trusts risk investigation for monopolising markets

Multi-academy trusts risk being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority if they come to dominate their local areas, Schools Week understands. As academy trusts continue to expand, with some focusing on specific areas, parents’ choice may end up limited to a set of schools run by the same organisation. Schools Week understands that the […]

How to improve academy trust governance

Too many multi-academy trusts are struggling under poor governance at trust level, says Michael Pain, but Forum Education has some suggestions for improvement Ask most academy trust leaders about the most fundamental challenge for the multi-academy trust system and they will tell you about the massively varying quality of governance. So while some MATs are […]