• MATs to take charge in 'left-behind' areas

    The government will shift its focus to expanding “good” multi-academy trusts over the next 12 months to raise standards in left-behind areas. The Department for Education has advertised for two senior officers, one to lead its multi-academy trust capacity and school improvement unit, the second to head its mainstream free schools policy unit. MATs are…

    17.00 Jul. 10th, 2020 | News

  • MAT chairs work more than double recommended hours, study finds

    Chairs of trustees work the equivalent of a fifth of a full-time job running academy trusts, a new study has found, raising concerns over whether the workload is sustainable. A survey by the National Governance Association found the average trust chair works 49.6 days a year – the equivalent to 21.4 per cent of what…

    0.01 Apr. 25th, 2019 | News

  • Why we replaced our local governing bodies with committees

    As Ofsted demands around accountability have tightened, shifting that responsibility to professionals takes the weight off governors’ shoulders I don’t care whether I’m called a school governor or an academy ambassador. Having experienced both set ups, it’s clear to me that all that matters is ensuring that our young people are getting the best possible…

    5.00 Oct. 15th, 2018 | Opinion

  • More academy trusts in the spotlight over executive pay

    The government has issued another warning to academy trusts over executive pay, this time asking those that paid employees more than £100,000-a-year in 2016-17. The letter from Education and Skills Funding Agency boss Eileen Milner is the latest in a series of interventions by the government over largesse in academy pay. Letters went out yesterday to to all…

    15.57 Jul. 6th, 2018 | News

  • Major MAT Progress 8 scores tumble when accounting for ex-pupils

    The progress scores of major multi-academy trusts including Harris Federation, Outwood Grange and Delta all drop off if they include pupils who leave before the end of year 11. Researchers at Education Datalab have “reweighted” the performance data of the 62 trusts in MAT league tables last year to include the GCSE results of pupils…

    5.00 Jun. 30th, 2018 | News