In accounts, the trust said it felt 'some time ago that holding high levels of reserves was inappropriate' as it 'still had much school improvement to do'

This helped all its schools secure ‘good’ or better Ofsted judgments - but also 'depleted' reserves

Read our story ⬇️

👀 Our investigation – which analysed almost 1,100 trusts – also found 90 per cent of those above the £200,000 threshold were given rises and that six trust chiefs were paid more than £300,000 last year

💷 Only a quarter of the top earners were women

More 'difficult decisions' ahead due to falling rolls Politicians urged not to turn budget cuts into a political football

❗More schools face axing staff or closure amid falling rolls, ministers have been warned, after a nationwide trust announced that redundancies are on the way across many of its academies
schoolsweek.co.uk/more-difficult-decisions...

First academy trust rapped for confidentiality clause New rules state such clauses 'must not be used unless the trust has received prior DfE approval'

📝 An academy trust broke rules after using a confidentiality clause while cutting ties with an employee

🔢 This is the first known case of a trust falling foul of the new rules
schoolsweek.co.uk/first-academy-trust-rapp...

Schools urged to ignore fake DfE letter about data breach Trusts sent 'fraudulent' letter featuring 'ministerial signature'

❗Schools and trusts have been urged to ignore 'fraudulent' letters with 'a ministerial signature' purporting to be about a data breach
schoolsweek.co.uk/leaders-urged-to-ignore-...

Anger as ministers axe teacher training top-up course Experts slam ‘unreasonable’ short-notice cuts to trainee chemistry courses

❌ Exclusive: More top-up teacher training programmes have been cut at short notice following a ministerial budget squeeze
schoolsweek.co.uk/anger-as-another-teacher...

The teachers with a 24-hour commute Big trust partners with tropical island's only secondary to send staff on 'once-in-a-lifetime' secondment

Exclusive: One of England’s biggest trusts is sending a team of teachers thousands of miles to a remote tropical island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean

schoolsweek.co.uk/the-teachers-with-a-24-h...

Academies say pension funds 'unfair' compared to LA schools West Yorkshire academy chains believe they are paying millions more than local authority schools

Trust bosses are lobbying council chiefs to cut 'unfair' support staff pension contributions, as leaders eye new savings to help weather the expected financial storm
schoolsweek.co.uk/academies-lobby-pension-...

David Ross trust braced for redundancies amid falling rolls Cuts loom at 36-school MAT after central team review failed to address funding reductions

Exclusive: A third of schools in a high-profile academy trust are set to make 'staffing changes' as they wrestle with the falling rolls crisis
schoolsweek.co.uk/david-ross-trust-braced-...

Agnew: 109 schools leaves United Learning ‘spread thin’ Plans to run more than 100 academies could leave the country’s biggest trust “spread thin”, a former academies minister has warned.

Exclusive: Plans to run more than 100 academies could leave the country’s biggest trust 'spread thin', a former academies minister has warned

schoolsweek.co.uk/109-schools-leaves-unite...

Revealed: First MAT set to surpass 100 schools with merger United Learning's proposal to merge with another trust would take its academy tally into three figures

Exclusive: Merger plans that would create England’s first 100-school academy trust have been revealed – four months after the trusts started sharing the same CEO
schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-fir...

End of advisory boards gives Whitehall ‘monopoly on wisdom’ Ministers axe regional director meetings as analysis shows some 'have essentially ceased to exist'

Exclusive: Most behind-closed-doors meetings that analysed plans for the future of schools have already been canned, Schools Week can reveal, as ministers prepare to scrap the controversial gatherings
schoolsweek.co.uk/end-of-advisory-boards-l...

Trust will make big cuts after falling 500k into the red MAT plans curriculum and staffing 'remodelling' and reductions to central support as it eyes savings over £3m

💸 A prominent academy trust that issued six of its central team with Teslas will make huge cuts after plunging almost £500,000 into the red
schoolsweek.co.uk/academy-trust-to-make-bi...

DfE advisers RISE to the challenge (269 miles away) One in 10 schools in improvement programme have been paired with advisers in different regions

Investigation: Dozens of struggling schools enrolled in a £20 million turnaround scheme have been paired with experts based up to 269 miles away

schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-advisers...

Funding and leadership questions over new area 'missions' Bid to improve north east and coastal schools risks 'becoming symbolic rather than structural', ministers told

📈 Missions to boost outcomes in left-behind regions risk being ineffective with questions over the schemes’ funding and leadership unanswered, the government has been warned
schoolsweek.co.uk/funding-and-leadership-q...

Off-rolling curbs welcomed, but warnings over ‘gaps in data’ Ministers plan to tighten up scrutiny of pupil moves - and to interrogate leaders suspected of off-rolling

❌ Labour’s off-rolling crackdown could finally 'shed light on a practice that is currently invisible' but must be supported by councils and trusts to work, experts have said
schoolsweek.co.uk/off-rolling-curbs-welcom...

Trust growth funding ‘notably absent’ from white paper Ministers want all schools in trusts, but cut funding for expanding trusts last year

💸 Academy bosses are urging ministers to give them 'clarity' over whether recently dumped trust growth funds will come back from the dead
schoolsweek.co.uk/clarity-sought-as-trust-...

Schools white paper: The key schools and academies policies Fair banding transparency, a crackdown on off-rolling and calls for all schools to be in trusts

‼️ A crackdown on off-rolling pupils, a call for standalone schools to join or form MATs and changes to the admissions code are among major plans unveiled in today's schools white paper
schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-white-paper-the-...

Job cuts loom at trust with £9m deficit Ministers tighten oversight of chain amid concerns over 'weak financial position' and 'continued' breaches

💸 An academy trust loaded with a £9 million deficit has been ordered to slash costs, as it banks on government bailouts to keep it afloat
schoolsweek.co.uk/job-cuts-loom-at-trust-w...

Star fell victim to ‘historic fraud’ over several years MAT with 36 schools says 'all reasonable steps taken' following 'significant financial irregularity'

📝 One of England's biggest academy trusts fell foul of a 'historic fraud' over a number of years

Read more 🔽

Heads 'on trial': 8 findings from first RISE evaluation Report concludes the initial rollout of Labour's school improvement scheme has been a 'success'

📝 Bosses of under-performing schools given targeted support through the government’s RISE improvement scheme have felt 'on trial' and ignored during the first few months of the programme

Secret £1m bailout as PFI windfalls and school woes grow Deal to cover £1m 'bullet payment' revealed as figures suggest PFI firms could have made £86m in one year

Exclusive: One of England’s first PFI schools struck a secret deal for taxpayers to cover a £1m 'bullet payment' to break free of its contract

Analysis also suggests PFI owners of English schools could have made as much as £85.7m in profits in one year
schoolsweek.co.uk/secret-1m-ba...

CEO of trust with £8.4m deficit resigns Richard Gill leaves his role at the head of the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership

The prominent boss of a troubled academy trust saddled with a multi-million-pound deficit has resigned following a leave of absence
schoolsweek.co.uk/ceo-of-arthu...

Coast and Vale paid Delta £440k ahead of merger The sum was handed over for 'extensive work' before trusts joined forces to create 63-school trust

💸 Almost £440,000 was spent supporting a merger that created one of England’s biggest MATs
schoolsweek.co.uk/coast-and-va...

Piloted in-school SEND support 'cut exclusions' - report Standardised EHCPs also welcomed by parents and councils, researchers find

📊 Changes rolled out across 32 local authorities as part of a Tory-era SEND pilot have cut exclusions and kept more children in mainstream education, a report has found
schoolsweek.co.uk/piloted-in-s...

Trust failed to clear payment to outgoing ‘senior executive’ MAT also did not conduct internal audit as reserves tumbled due to 'rising costs', accounts show

📝 An under-pressure academy trust broke rules over a £15,000 payment to a former school leader
schoolsweek.co.uk/struggling-t...

‘Schoolboy error’ as smaller schools escape RISE crackdown The DfE has not contacted some primaries potentially needing support because data goes unpublished

❗️Exclusive: More than a thousand schools with poor outcomes slipped through the net of the government’s RISE low-attainment crackdown, exposing a 'significant gap' in its latest bid to boost results
schoolsweek.co.uk/schoolboy-er...

Best-paid academy boss earns £530k after £15k pay rise Harris Federation CEO Sir Dan Moynihan received £15k wage hike last year, accounts show

💸 Exclusive: England’s best-paid academy boss has been given another pay rise, taking his salary to at least £530,000
schoolsweek.co.uk/best-paid-ac...

Schools with good governance 'better prepared for Ofsted' Those with effective boards 'more likely to sustain improvement beyond the inspection cycle', report finds

Exclusive: Ministers urged to recognise role played by governors as 'core component' of accountability framework for schools

It comes as a study found schools with effective boards were better prepared for Ofsted visits and 'more likely to sustain improvement'

schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-with...

Trusts’ finances improve, but leaders brace for rainy days Some chains boost reserves by up to 900%, but others remain in deficit as leaders warn of tough times ahead

Investigation: Dozens of academy trusts have bolstered their reserves by up to 900 per cent, as leaders tighten their belts ahead of the coming financial storm

schoolsweek.co.uk/trusts-finan...