There are more than 1,300 multi-academy trusts in England, but they are not evenly spread across the country.
While bigger trusts often operate across several regions, many others focus on particular localities.
Our interactive map shows where each MAT is headquartered, along with the number of schools that it runs (see below).
We are updating the map monthly as part of our new MAT Tracker tool (please send any feedback to the Tes news team). This tool is free to non-subscribers for a limited period only.
Tes’ MAT Tracker is also analysing decisions made by the Department for Education’s regional advisory boards, and condensing the essential information from board meetings for readers.
Regional differences
As can be seen in the map, the size of MATs varies significantly, with trusts running between two and 90 schools.
Analysis of the latest official data also shows that the average MAT oversees eight schools, and academies in the South West tend to belong to the biggest MATs, with 13.4 schools on average.
MATs in the North East, meanwhile, are most likely to operate within regional boundaries - nearly four out of five only run schools in the one region (79 per cent), compared with less than one in 10 (9 per cent) operating only in Yorkshire and the Humber.
The balance of MATs against single-academy trusts (SATs) also varies by region, as shown in our analysis setting out the outlook for SATs.
MAT Tracker: latest regional board updates
February 2024: E-ACT and United Learning gain schools
January 2024: 21-school MAT takes on seven primaries
December 2023: 3 special schools establish trust in South East
As can be seen in the chart below, nearly three-quarters of MATs run between two and nine schools.
But the biggest trust, United Learning, has grown even bigger in the past month, with 90 academies - up from 89 - after taking on Conisborough College, a secondary in south London, which converted last year after being rated as “requires Improvement” by Ofsted since 2016.
The DfE’s decision for Conisborough to join a MAT was strongly contested by Lewisham council.
An Ofsted monitoring visit report in February of this year said United Learning had been providing external support to Conisborough and the school was in the process of joining the trust, although its official join date was 1 April 2024.
There is also a new entry into the group of MATs with the biggest number of schools: the Bath and Wells Diocesan Academies Trust has taken on three Somerset primaries in the past month, taking its overall tally to 42.
This is in addition to the nine other primaries it has been approved to take on - a decision highlighted in Tes’ January summary of regional advisory board meetings.
Analysis of Department for Education data carried out by Charlotte Santry. MATs listed on Get Information About Schools were only included where they had at least two schools.
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