Support to schools considering joining a multi-academy trust

The government has been clear that multi-academy trusts are its preferred vehicle for school improvement and that they wish to see many more schools join strong and larger academy groups. If your school is considering joining a multi-academy trust, B11 Education can help you to decide if the trust you are thinking about is the right fit for your school. Many of our consultants are experienced DfE Education Advisers and external experts. They have vast experience of academisation.

What it does

We will help you to investigate the trust (or trusts) that you are considering joining to ensure that they are right for you and your values. Will they offer your school what it needs to be successful? Will you have the space to develop and excel at what you already do well? Do your core values resonate? MATs will also be conducting their own due diligence of any school that is considering joining them so we can help you to present your school to its best advantage while being clear about what you need to thrive.

How does it work?

All of our work is bespoke and will consider exactly what you want to achieve. For this reason we offer a free 20-minute consultation with one of our most experienced consultants who can discuss the situation your school is in and what you want to achieve from this service. The scenario below is what we consider to be a ‘typical’ due diligence review.

One of our consultants will spend time with you to understand your own plans, ethos and vision for your pupils and community. This might include facilitating a SWOT analysis to consider what you can offer a trust and what you need from them.

We can work with you to conduct a stakeholder consultation to gather the views of parents, pupils, staff and governors in line with any legal requirements.

Where you already have  a trust(s) that you think might be for you we will review them in the following areas, specifically in terms of how they fit with your school.

• Ethos and culture
• Vision and strategy
• Scale and capacity
• Location / proximity to your school
• Diversity
• Performance of their current academies
• Ability to offer challenge and support
• Leadership and governance
• Financial security

We will do this by a comprehensive web search, including their website, those of Ofsted, Companies House and GOV.UK, among others.

We will spend time with leaders to gather further information about anything we have discovered in our web search that may be of significance and to explore their offer to new schools joining their trust.

We may gather views and opinions of headteachers / principals of academies within the trust and consider local intelligence.

We will not advise you on whether or not you should join the trust/s reviewed as part of this work but will provide a written, objective report detailing how well the trust/s that you have identified fit/s with your school.

A presentation of the stakeholder consultation and / or due diligence findings to the governing body can be arranged as required.

To get started

If you would welcome support to conduct a thorough investigation of any trust/s that you are considering joining, then complete this form to start the conversation.