This article refers to the Department for Education’s (DfE) maintained schools governance guide which came into effect on 7 March 2024.
The guide is now the DfE’s primary source of governance information for the maintained sector. It replaces the Governance Handbook, which has now been withdrawn.
There are no significant changes and the new guide is likely to reflect what your board is already doing.
This article summarises what has changed in terms of format, emphasis and detail.
A new format
You will notice that this guide has quite a different look and feel from the Governance Handbook.
Some topics have been moved around within the guidance, and in some areas it