Scores of academy trusts have been named and shamed following the government’s latest chief executive pay crackdowns. High-profile chains the Harris Federation, Leigh Academies Trust, Brampton Manor, Lift Schools and Star all featured on at least one of two lists released on Thursday. The two cover 2022 to 2024. The trusts were sent letters demanding they evidence how the salaries represented “good value for money” and were “defensible relative to the public-sector market”. However, the government has not said whether it has taken any further action. “We have a duty to ensure that, as autonomous bodies, trusts uphold high standards of transparency and accountability,” the Department for Education said. “To ensure trusts have robust processes for setting executive pay that comply with the [academy trust] handbook, we carried out sector engagement.” This comes just weeks after Labour’s announcement that it would cap executive pay at £174,000. From October, trusts will need the government greenlight to advertise roles above that threshold. Who’s on the list? The Department for Education has published the names of the 78 trusts it wrote to about executive pay in financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24. In all, 111 letters were sent during both rounds of engagement. Harris appeared on both years’ lists. Over this period, Dan Moynihan, its chief executive, became the first trust boss to earn more than £500,000. Dan Moynihan Simon Beamish, of Leigh, and Dayo Olukoshi, of Brampton, were also featured. They earned a minimum of £350,000 and £330,000 respectively in 2023-24. Moynihan, Beamish and Olukoshi all received rises last year. They are the three highest-earning academy leaders in England, according to Schools Week’s latest annual CEO audit. The wages for Hamid Patel, the boss of Star, and Becks Boomer-Clark, the head of Lift Schools, were also scrutinised. Both have held roles assisting government agencies. Patel was previously Ofsted’s interim chair, while Boomer-Clark was drafted in to co-lead the DfE’s key stage 3 alliance in March. How did they do it? The government wrote to trusts in the top 1 per cent of highest-paid executives. Those found to be in the top 5 per cent overall and “as a proportion of general annual grant funding when compared with trusts of similar size and type” were also engaged with. This is the first time since 2024 that the government has published details about its annual pay clampdowns. Following that exercise, 37 academy trusts were named – but neither Harris nor Leigh were among them. Schools Week later revealed how the method used by the DfE at the time appeared to be loaded against smaller trusts and allowed the biggest chains to escape scrutiny. Academy trusts engaged with over 2022-23 executive pay Aquinas Church Of England Education Trust Limited Chancery Education Trust Cranford Community College Delta Academies Trust DYRMS – An Academy With Military Traditions E-Act Flagship Learning Trust Genesis Education Trust Harris Federation Swift Academies Kingsway Community Trust LDBS Frays Academy Trust Leigh Academies Trust New Vision Trust Oasis Community Learning Paradigm Trust Partnership Learning Queen Elizabeth’s School Barnet South Farnham Educational Trust Southfield Primary School Sparkle Multi-Academy Trust Star Academies Strive4 Academy Trust The Bishop Of Winchester Academy Trust The Cardinal Hume Academies Trust The Eveleigh Link Academy Trust The Gorse Academies Trust The Northampton Free School Trust The NSB Trust The Pioneer Academy The Shaw Education Trust The Spencer Academies Trust The White Horse Federation Valley Invicta Academies Trust Willow Tree Academy Wilson’s School Advance Learning Partnership Bourne Education Trust Central Learning Partnership Trust Creative Education Trust GLF Schools Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership Greenwood Academies Trust Lift Schools Northern Education Trust Reach2 Academy Trust Swale Academies Trust The Elliot Foundation Academies Trust The trusts listed below received a letter as part of this round of engagement, but were not required to provide further evidence as they had recently provided evidence of compliance on pay at the time of the engagement, and had not seen a year-on-year increase in salary: Brampton Manor Trust City Learning Trust Loxford School Trust Limited Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend St Cuthbert’s Roman Catholic Academy Trust The Inspire Multi Academy Trust (South West) The Premier Academy Limited Academy trusts engaged with over 2023-24 executive pay Academy Transformation Trust Advance Learning Partnership Aletheia Academies Trust Aquinas Church Of England Education Trust Limited Aylesbury Grammar School Beacon Education MAT Ltd Belmont Castle Academy Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust Bourne Education Trust Brampton Manor Trust Central Learning Partnership Trust Charlton Park Academy City Learning Trust Cockburn Multi Academy Trust Delta Academies Trust E-Act Elveden Schools Trust Flagship Learning Trust GLF Schools Greenwood Academies Trust Harris Federation Kingsway Community Trust LDBS Frays Academy Trust Legra Academy Trust Leigh Academies Trust Lift Schools Loxford School Trust Limited Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership New Vision Trust Swift Academies (also known as Inicio Academies during the 2023 to 2024 financial year) Northern Education Trust Oak Learning Trust Ormiston Academies Trust Queen Elizabeth’s School Barnet Reach2 Academy Trust South Farnham Educational Trust South Lincolnshire Academies Trust Southend High School For Boys Academy Trust Sparkle Multi-Academy Trust St Anne’s Catholic School Star Academies The Bishop Of Winchester Academy Trust The Gorse Academies Trust The Inspire Multi Academy Trust (South West) The Mossbourne Federation The Park Federation Academy Trust The Pioneer Academy The Premier Academy Limited The Primary First Trust The Shaw Education Trust The Spencer Academies Trust The Thinking Schools Academy Trust The White Horse Federation Wootton Park Academy Trust This trust received a letter but was not asked to respond as it was closing: Flourish Learning Trust