What to consider before you start
All academy trusts are made up of at least 2 layers of governance: members and trustees (sometimes called directors because they hold legal responsibilities similar to a company director). However, individual trusts can choose to include additional layers to suit their context.
The structure that will work best for your multi-academy trust will depend on:
- Where your trust is in its journey – is it a newly formed trust or is it an established trust that is growing rapidly, or about to merge with another?
- How well your schools are performing:
- If many of your schools require improvement, your trust board might prefer to retain tighter control, especially if a programme of rapid school improvement is underway
- If your schools are generally performing well, you may prefer to delegate more decision-making to your local committees
Before you start, answer these questions:
Effective governance allows an efficient flow of