Here are the key regional board decisions affecting multi-academy trusts across a number of regions in England in April 2024. For more updates, visit our regional advisory boards hub.

Five regions had not published minutes of their meetings before the 4 July general election was announced on 22 May and will now not do so during the pre-election purdah period: London, the North East, Yorkshire, the West Midlands and the East Midlands. Of these, all but the North East had published draft meeting agendas for April.

The Department for Education has confirmed to Tes that meetings will not take place during purdah and minutes that were not published before the general election was called will not be published. The DfE has not confirmed whether regional directors will continue to make decisions during this time.

Among the four regions that have published minutes of their meetings for April, there were five academy orders and 45 academy conversions. Three trust mergers and 14 academy moves between trusts were approved.

• South West
• East of England
• North West
• South East
• Yorkshire and the Humber
• London
• West Midlands
• East Midlands

South West

• Four primary schools from The Jubilee with Pebblebed Federation were approved to move to the Link Academy Trust: Branscombe CofE Primary School, Broadhembury CofE Primary School, Farway CofE Primary School and Woodbury Salterton CofE Primary School. The Link Academy Trust has 19 small and rural primary schools in Devon.
• Ventrus Multi Academy Trust, which has 21 schools in Devon and Somerset, is gaining three primary schools in Devon: South Molton United CofE Primary School, St Mary’s CofE Primary School and St Martin’s CofE Primary and Nursery School.
• Cullompton Community College, Devon, and Bishops Hull Primary School, Somerset, will be joining Blackdown Education Partnership, which has 10 schools in Devon and Somerset.
• Tibberton Community Primary School and Early Years, Bromesberrow St Mary’s CofE (Aided) Primary School and Hope Brook CofE Primary School, all in Gloucestershire, are joining Primary QuEST Multi-Academy Trust. Primary QuEST has five schools in Gloucester.
• The Academies for Character and Excellence trust, which has 20 schools in Somerset and Devon, will take on three primary schools: Milborne Port Primary School, Baltonsborough CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School and Stoberry Park School, in Somerset and Dorset.
• Single-academy trust Harrowbarrow School, Cornwall, is joining Bridge Schools Trust (14 schools across Cornwall). The trust has been recommended to remove the overlap of the chair as a member and trustee, and to consider growing the trust board to strengthen its skill set to include MAT leadership experience.
• Two schools from Venture Multi Academy Trust - Trevithick Learning Academy and St Issey CofE Primary School, both in Cornwall - are joining The Rainbow Multi Academy Trust (11 primary schools across Cornwall).
• St Barnabas CofE Multi Academy Trust (with 13 schools in Cornwall) is gaining its first community school, St Germans Primary School, also in Cornwall, which is joining after an academy order.

East of England

• Ferrars Junior School, in Luton, was approved to convert and join the three-school Pioneer Learning Trust, based in Bedford. A school resource management adviser (SRMA) will be deployed.
• Aspley Guise Village School, in central Bedfordshire, and Wootton Lower School, in Bedford, will convert and join the 16-school Chiltern Learning Trust, which is supporting the local education system’s move from three to two tiers. The schools will transition to the primary phase after conversion.
• Single-academy trust Fulbrook Academy, a secondary in central Bedfordshire, is joining Kingsbridge Educational Trust, which has five primaries and all-through schools in Milton Keynes and Leighton Buzzard.
• Langenhoe Community Primary School, in Essex, will convert and join LIFE Education Trust, which runs nine primaries and one secondary. Langenhoe’s headteacher is already working as executive headteacher at another LIFE school.
• Harston and Newton Community Primary School, in Cambridgeshire, is converting and joining The Cam Academy Trust, which runs 11 academies - a mix of primary and secondary - in Cambridgeshire. The board raised concerns about the number of members and trustees but was “assured this is being addressed”. Cam’s website lists 10 trustees and three members.
• The HEART Education Trust, which runs four primaries in Norfolk, is merging with Unity Schools Partnership (USP), which runs 35 academies across Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. HEART will be dissolved after the transfer. USP is already supporting HEART schools, which are using the USP curriculum.
• Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School, in Norfolk, will convert and join St John the Baptist Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs 10 schools across East Anglia. The board heard that St John the Baptist has supported Sacred Heart over the past year and has a comprehensive school improvement plan for it.
• Hollesley Primary School and Waldringfield Primary School, both rated “requires improvement” and in Suffolk, will convert and join ASSET Education, Suffolk, a 14-school trust that has been working with the two primaries since late 2022. The board heard that the schools have experienced a “period of turbulence”, including declining pupil numbers, a growing percentage of pupils requiring SEND support, low staff morale and low attainment scores.
• Single-academy trust Holbrook Academy, in Suffolk, rated “good”, will join East Anglian Schools Trust, a MAT consisting of nine academies across the primary, secondary and special phases.
• John Milton Academy Trust, in Suffolk, which runs four academies, is merging with Gippeswyk Community Educational Trust, which runs three academies in the county.

North West

• The board gave its approval, with one condition, for SAIL Academy Trust’s two schools - Roscoe Primary School and New Park Primary School - to join Northern Schools Trust, which has four schools in Liverpool. The condition was that the trust will join a discussion to review its governance model. The DfE confirmed that the trust submitted a voluntary request to transfer its schools.
• The DfE also confirmed that Roch Valley Church of England Multi Academy Trust submitted a voluntary request to transfer all of its schools to The Sycamore Church of England Trust in Bury, which has four primary schools. Holy Trinity Primary School and St Thomas Church of England Primary School were approved for the trust change.
• The North West also approved, with conditions, the transfer of all schools out of Champion Education Trust, which will close. Two of the trust’s three schools, Blackburn Central High School and Crosshill Special School, will transfer to Oak Learning Partnership, which currently has three schools in the region. Lotus School in Blackpool, a special school, will transfer to Synergy Education Trust. The conditions set out by the board included that Lotus School will be the first to transfer out of the trust and that progress meetings continue for a Lotus School termination warning notice.
• Moor Park Primary School, in Blackpool, was also approved with the same conditions to convert and join Synergy Education Trust. The board reflected on the trust having SEND leadership experience and advised the deployment of a SRMA.
• Three single-academy trusts were approved to join MATs. UTC Warrington will join Aldridge Education, which has eight schools across the North West, London and the South East. The Education and Skills Funding Agency confirmed that it is working with the trust and the UTC on their financial position. Special school The Russett School will join Shaw Education Trust, which has 29 schools across the North West and West Midlands. Kirkbie Kendal School will join Lunesdale Learning Trust.

South East

• A merger between two nine-school, cross phase trusts in Oxfordshire was approved, with conditions, by the board following a local consultation. Vale Academy Trust and Faringdon Learning Trust will combine to form a new trust with 14 primary schools and four secondary schools called Cambrian Learning Trust. The merger was approved providing the new trust undergoes a governance review and new external governors are appointed. The regional director also ordered that a SRMA is appointed for Vale Academy Trust.
• The 16-school Inspiring Futures Through Learning trust is set to grow by three primary schools after the regional director approved the transfer of New Chapter, Heronsgate and Kent Hill primaries from Milton Keynes Education Trust. The Milton Keynes Education Trust’s remaining secondary school, Walton High, was approved to transfer to the 5 Dimensions Trust, which has three secondaries.
• Two single-academy trusts were approved to join MATs across the region in April. Cams Hill secondary school, in Fareham, Hampshire, joins Gateway Academy Trust’s one primary, one secondary and one nursery, while Knole Academy Trust secondary in Kent will take the county’s Alethia Academies Trust’s tally to 13 schools. The addition will boost the largely Anglican trust’s number of secondary schools to three, once its new all-through site, Alkerden CofE academy, opens in September.
• Two schools gained approval to convert to academy status. Rusthall St Paul’s CofE Primary School, in Tunbridge Wells, which received a “requires Improvement” rating in its Ofsted inspection last year, will convert ahead of seeking to join Inspire Academy Movement trust, the school said in a statement. And All Hallows Catholic School, in Farnham, Surrey, which received an “outstanding” judgement when it was last inspected by Ofsted 10 years ago, is also set to convert to academy status.

London

• Three Lewisham schools - St Michael’s Church of England Primary School, St James Hatcham Church of England Primary School and St Stephen’s Church of England Primary School - were approved to convert and join the MAT Southwark Diocesan Board of Education. The trust will have 14 primary schools across London and Surrey. The conversion was approved on the condition that the delivery officer was to discuss with the trust the need for a review of MAT structures in anticipation of further growth. Minutes of the meeting show that the board also raised a question on opportunities for Church of England schools to join other MATs and was interested to hear from the Diocese of Southwark regarding its strategic plan.

• The Folio Education Trust, which has four schools in Sutton, was approved to join the Greenshaw Learning Trust, also based in Sutton, which currently has 30 schools across the South of England.

Yorkshire and the Humber

• Three primaries have joined a MAT in North Lincolnshire. Haxey Church of England Primary, St Martin’s Church of England Primary and West Butterwick Church of England Primary have all become academies and joined Infinity Academies Trust.  All three schools were rated as “good” by Ofsted. 

• A single-academy trust in South Yorkshire has moved into a MAT.  Upperwood Academy - the only school in Upperwood Academy Trust - is to become part of Hoyland Common Academy Trust (HCAT). 

• Rossington Tornedale Infant School in Doncaster is to convert and join Leger Education Trust. The board approved this move with the condition that the trust now enters a period of consolidation, until the current year’s performance data is available for review.

West Midlands

• Two trust mergers received approval from the West Midlands board in April. Triumph Multi Academy Trust’s two primaries in Coventry will transfer to Learning Today, Leading Tomorrow, which at the time had two free schools in Rugby. The trusts had already been working in partnership for 18 months.

• All Saints Multi Academy Trust in Birmingham will close after it merges with Fioretti Trust in Birmingham. Fioretti Trust had three schools when the merger was approved. All Saints’ two schools moved to Fioretti on 1 September. The project is part of Birmingham Diocese’s MAT development strategy, which encourages all of its schools to join a Church school MAT.

• New MAT Primary Learning Trust received approval from the board. It will consist of two schools in Walsall: single-academy trust Ryders Hayes Academy Trust and New Invention Junior School, which was approved to convert.

• Two single-academy trusts were also approved to join MATs: John Henry Newman Catholic College in Solihull received approval to join 13-school trust Our Lady and All Saints Catholic Multi Academy Company, and the Aspire Academy in Worcestershire to join 11-school MAT Esteem Multi-Academy Trust. John Henry Newman will be Our Lady and All Saints Catholic MAC’s second secondary and is seen as a capacity-bringer that will help the trust to address school improvement needed elsewhere. 

East Midlands

• Cavendish Learning Trust was approved to close, with all four of its schools - Barrow Hill Primary Academy, Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy, Netherthorpe School and Whittington Moor Nursery and Infant Academy - transferring to Minerva Learning Trust (which has six schools in Sheffield).
• The Nene Valley Partnership (four academies in Wollaston) is gaining two more schools - Denton Primary School and Yardley Hastings Primary School, which are both converting.
• Diverse Academies Trust (14 schools in Nottinghamshire) has been selected to open a presumption free school, as part of Nottinghamshire County Council’s strategic plan for the provision of special school places. 
• Two schools are expanding into nursery provision: South Wilford Endowed CofE Primary School (part of Transform Trust, which 24 schools across Nottingham) is changing its age range from 4-11 to 3-11 by adding 26 full-time equivalent nursery places. And Oundle CofE Primary School, part of Peterborough Diocese Education Trust (34 schools across Northampton), has also been approved to expand its nursery provision.
• Babington Academy has been approved to change its 30-place resource unit to a SEND unit for speech, language, and communication needs. The academy is part of Learning Without Limits Multi-Academy Trust, which has five schools across Leicester. 

Note: The board minutes for London, West Midlands, East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber were added to the original article at a later date.

Published regional advisory board minutes do not contain full details of the school context.

Written and compiled by Mary-Louise Clews, Matilda Martin, Jasmine Norden and Charlotte Santry

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