You are here:

Academies & MATs : Trustees, members and MAT boards

Trustees, members and MAT boards

  • Academy trustees: legal obligations What legal obligations are placed upon trustees in academies? Academy trustees have legal duties as charity trustees and as company directors. We refer to the Governance Handbook, the Academies Financial Handbook, and guidance for schools produced by the Charity Commission, Governors for Schools and the DfE.
  • CEO report to the MAT board: template and guidance Download our template for a CEO's report to the MAT board, with advice on how to keep your report strategic and what to cover in each section.
  • Disqualification of trustees and local governors Know the criteria under which a trustee or local governor can't serve on your governing board. Use our template declarations of eligibility to check trustees or local governors shouldn't be disqualified on appointment or during their time in office.
  • Examples of role descriptions for academy trustees What is the role of an academy trustee? This article refers to examples of role descriptions for trustees in single and multi-academy trusts (MATs). We also link to further information on the legal duties of academy trustees.
  • MAT trustees: self-evaluation and training resources Are there resources to aid MAT trustee self-evaluation and training? This article features a KeyDoc for trustees of multi-academy trusts (MATs) to use to evaluate their performance. It links to key questions for a MAT board, to a self-evaluation tool for the MAT itself, and to training sources.
  • Members of the academy trust: roles and responsibilities Learn about the role of members in an academy trust, and understand their key responsibilities.
  • Removing an academy trustee from office What are the rules on removing academy trustees from office? We explain the rules on this, as set out in the DfE's model articles and the Governance Handbook. We also relay advice from one of our associate education experts on seeking to remove a trustee.
  • Role of a company secretary Read about the role of a company secretary and how the role may differ in a multi-academy trust (MAT), and information on recruiting company secretaries and the skills and knowledge they should have.
  • Role of the clerk (academies) What is the role of a clerk to the trustees of an academy? We look at the role as set out by the model articles of association. One of our associate education experts provides advice on the clerk's position when a single academy joins a multi-academy trust.
  • Terms of reference: boards of trustees and local governing bodies Terms of reference define the remits of local governing bodies and ensure that the trustees have properly delegated authority. Find examples of terms of reference for both boards of trustees and local governing bodies here.
  • Terms of reference: committees in multi-academy trusts (MATs) Are there examples of terms of reference for committees within MATs? We link to examples of terms of reference for committees formed by multi-academy trust (MAT) boards, including for committees covering finance, audit and standards. We also point to requirements in the Academies Financial Handbook.