MATs | Schools Week

MATs move to centralise in wake of Covid pressures, study finds

Many multi-academy trusts have moved to centralise HR, finance, health and safety and other policies in the wake of the pandemic, a new study suggests. While only 15 trusts of mixed sizes in the Midlands took part in the research, it points to a potentially significant development for the sector if replicated more widely. Trusts […]

4 key questions to progress the MAT governance debate

The ongoing rhetoric of an emerging and evolving MAT system has been a popular one. In the National Governance Association’s new report – Moving MATs forward: the power of governance – we argue the understanding and practice of MAT governance has to move on. Different approaches to MAT governance have been tried and tested: some […]

How to develop good communication between MAT trustees and local academy committees

It’s vital to develop good communication between MAT trustees and local academy committees, says Sam Henson, who has some tips to share MAT trustees have a lot to think about. Overseeing a single organisation across multiple sites and contexts, is no easy ask. MAT governance should in theory enable more strategically focused governance, with the […]

How can the government better support MATs?

With speculation rife that the national schools commissioner role might disappear, Michael Pain lays out what he thinks DfE priorites should be going forward As the academy trust sector waves goodbye to the national schools commissioner and enters a period of uncertainty around the long-term future of the role, it is useful to assess just […]

Studio schools to work more closely with MATs

The controversial studio schools programme has announced a dramatic shift in focus after the tally of those closed or due to do so rose to 24. Studio schools, small 14-to-19 institutions with a vocational focus, will now be incorporated into multi-academy trusts, rather than running as standalone schools with backing from the further education sector. […]

How to lead a successful multi-academy trust

There are lots of ways MATs can improve their schools, writes James Toop, but there’s one common factor needed to underpin it all School improvement can only occur with great leadership. This is especially true when we are talking about groups of schools like multi-academy trusts, but the more I learn about the MATs that […]

CEOs at tiny academy trusts paid more than big-chain bosses

Chief executives at some small academy trusts are raking in salaries as high as those with 10 times the schools under their control. Exclusive Schools Week analysis has found 11 trusts with just two schools which nevertheless pay their leaders more than £150,000 per year. In fact, 40 per cent of the 87 multi-trusts told […]

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 […]

Academy trusts with multiple staff on £100k+ told to justify pay

The government has written to all multi-academy trusts that are paying a salary of £100,000 to £150,000 to multiple employees, to ask them to justify why they are setting wages at these levels. Letters from Eileen Milner, the chief executive of the Education and Skills Funding Agency, will go out to the chairs of trustees at […]