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School resource management self-assessment: summary and questions to ask

Academy trusts must complete the self-assessment checklist annually. Find out what questions you can ask your trust leaders to make sure your trust meets good financial standards.

Last reviewed on 12 February 2026See updates
School types: All•School phases: All•Ref: 40353
Contents
  1. What is the school resource management self-assessment?
  2. Your trust must complete and submit the checklist each year
  3. Where you're involved
  4. Download our questions to scrutinise the checklist

This article is aimed at trustees.

If you're on a local governing body (LGB) it's unlikely you'll be involved here, but do double check your trust's scheme of delegation to see what financial responsibilities you have.

If you're a governor in a maintained school, this self-assessment checklist is not required. Your school must submit the Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) instead.

What is the school resource management self-assessment?

The school resource management self-assessment is a requirement for all academy trusts, who must submit it annually.

It includes a checklist made up of 47 questions. Trusts answer these to assure the government that resources are managed effectively. 

The questions cover 6 sections:

The DfE's financial benchmarking and insights tool includes a dashboard which shows how your trust's expenditure, characteristics and outcomes compare with those of similar schools through RAG (red, amber, green) ratings. The dashboard will help your trust leaders fill in