More than one in five leaders of multi-academy trusts are “extremely concerned” about the financial viability of their trust, a survey suggests.
A new report has highlighted how funding pressures are impacting on MAT leaders, with just 12 per cent of respondents saying they were “not at all concerned” about the financial viability of their trust.
But others were “somewhat concerned” (31 per cent), “concerned” (34 per cent) or “extremely concerned” (23 per cent).
The report by Forum Strategy consultancy and The Key school leaders’ information service says that financial viability is a major challenge for MATs and that trusts feel they need to grow in order to survive.
But the study found that while the majority want to expand, only a small number are finding it easy to attract new schools.
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A survey of 179 leaders found that the majority have some concerns about the financial viability of their trust.
The findings are published in a report today which says trust leaders believe that “acquiring more schools will lead to better school improvement, financial sustainability, and collaboration”.
However it adds that leaders also do not want to lose their “family feel” by growing too big and have concerns about becoming spread over too wide a geographic area.
Michael Pain, the chief executive of Forum Strategy, said: “Chief executive officers need to be able to build capacity for school improvement leadership, for operational leadership, and to make sure that their organisational systems and processes are geared to deliver and succeed at scale.
“In the context of funding pressures and fewer incentives for more schools to join trusts, this is proving to be a frustrating and complex challenge for so many trust leaders.”
The survey findings show that more than half (54 per cent) of the trust leaders surveyed were currently trying to grow their trust in order to reach economies of scale.
However, more than a third of leaders (39 per cent) who took part in the survey said that they found it difficult or very difficult to attract new schools.
This is compared with 11 per cent of respondents who claimed to find the process easy or very easy.
The survey also highlights concerns about MAT growth, with 53 per cent of respondents said to be worried about becoming spread over too wide an area, 51 per cent worried about the effect expansion would have on existing schools and 10 per cent concerned about their financial stability while expanding.
Tes revealed earlier this month that the same survey also showed that the majority of leaders of MATs felt they do not get enough support from the Department for Education and their regional schools commissioners (RSCs).
It found that 62 per cent of leaders in academy trusts felt they needed more DfE support to be an effective trust.
Commenting, Mr Pain said: “As trusts grow, they can gradually achieve economies of scale. They can then invest in services and expertise that enable them to support their schools, and go from strength to strength.
“Yet, many trusts, without being able to grow, cannot afford the infrastructure or the people to achieve those economies and successes at scale - and many, rightly, are being cautious about their growth as a result.
“The danger here is that the financial ‘tail’ begins to wag the academy trust ‘dog’.
“Trusts either walk away from taking on more responsibility where they could have otherwise made a difference, or take on more responsibility without the capacity required as we’ve already seen in some cases.”
The new report’s findings are based on a survey of MAT senior leaders and chief executives and three focus group discussions with academy trust leaders held in Liverpool, London and Nottingham.
