Academy trust governance guide: summary

Read a summary of the academy trust governance guide, and use our download to help you navigate the guidance.

Updated
on 27 June 2025
School types: AllSchool phases: AllRef: 44519
Contents
  1. 1. Culture and engagement
  2. 2. Governance of the trust
  3. 3. Strategy
  4. 4. Non-executive leadership
  5. 5. Executive leadership
  6. 6. Accountability
  7. 7. Compliance
  8. Statutory guidance and additional resources
  9. Download our summary

This article refers to the academy trust governance guide, the DfE’s primary source of governance information for academy governors and trustees. 

The guide contains 7 main sections. There's also a section at the beginning that gives definitions of the terms used in the guidance, and a section at the end that lists statutory guidance and additional resources this used to be called the 'statutory policies list'.

1. Culture and engagement

Section 1 covers the trust quality description of culture and engagement.

It defines the expectations of all those involved in trust leadership and governance, in terms of establishing a positive culture and engaging with the wider community. 

Collaborating with other organisations, including other schools and trusts Trustee conduct and behaviour Equality, diversity and inclusion, including responsibilities set out by the Equality Act 2010 and Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) Being transparent about governance arrangements, including what must be published online and rules on document retention Engagement with