Here are the key regional board decisions affecting multi-academy trusts in each region in England in November 2023. For more updates, visit our regional advisory boards hub.

In total, there were 18 academy orders, 62 academy conversions and five academies moving trusts.

Scroll down or click the links below to jump straight to your region.

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

Yorkshire and the Humber

• Single-academy trust (SAT) Great Smeaton Academy Primary School in North Yorkshire will join Dales Academies Trust, which has 13 primaries and one secondary based in North Yorkshire. The minutes note that the board “agreed that being part of a multi-academy trust (MAT) would offer better prospects of financial stability”.
   
• The board approved the transfer of a second SAT (Bradshaw Primary School in Calderdale) to join The Family of Learning Trust, which has four schools in Halifax.

West Midlands

• Approval was given for the conversion of three primary schools in Herefordshire (Weston-under-Penyard CE, Whitchurch Church of England and Goodrich) and two in Shropshire (Onny CofE and Lydbury North CofE) to join the Diocese of Hereford Multi Academy Trust in Shropshire. The trust currently has 15 academies.
   
• Aqueduct Primary School in Telford and Wrekin was approved to be sponsored by REAch2 Academy Trust, based in Derbyshire, which has 60 schools. The school will be the trust’s second in Telford.

South East

• Approval was given for the conversion of Puttenham CofE Infant School in Surrey to join the Good Shepherd Trust - an eight-school trust based in Dagenham. The trust currently has seven primary schools and one secondary. Puttenham School will be the only school the trust has in Surrey.
   
• The board approved the conversion of SAT Bishop Wand CofE School in Surrey to a MAT.
   
• Approval was given for Inspira Academy Trust in Kent (a two-school primary trust) to join Turner Schools. Turner is a six-school MAT, based in Folkestone, with three primary schools and three secondary.
   
• Three primary academies and two secondaries will transfer from the Skills for Life Trust to the Beyond Schools Trust, on the condition that further growth of the MAT is to be paused until the regional director is assured that the two secondaries (Walderslade Girls’ School and Greenacre Academy) have improved sufficiently. Trust accounts published in January 2024 reveal that approval had been given for the Skills for Life Trust to merge with Beyond Schools Trust.

North East

• The board approved the sponsorship of the Emily Wilding Davison School in Newcastle-upon-Tyne by River Tees MAT, a five-school trust based in Middlesborough. The school, which is a special school catering to pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs, will be the trust’s first academy in the area.

East of England

• Approval was given for the two-school trust Bedford College Academies Trust (consisting of Wixams Tree Primary School and Wixams Academy) in Bedfordshire to join Knowledge Schools Trust. The MAT currently has seven schools (six primary schools and one secondary) in London and Milton Keynes.
   
• The board also approved the amalgamation of Barnes Farm Infant School and Barnes Farm Junior School - both part of the Chelmsford Learning Partnership in Essex, which has five primary schools, two secondaries and one all-through school. Minutes show that the board noted that “the amalgamation would lead to consistency in the curriculum between the two schools, which would make the transition for pupils from infant to junior school easier”.
   
• The board approved the conversion of Ardleigh St Mary’s CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School in Essex to join Canonium Learning Trust, a MAT with five primary schools based in Colchester. The board heard that the trust is keen to expand and noted the geographic hub that the trust is creating.
   
• Approval was given for the conversion of Dersingham Voluntary-Aided Primary School in Norfolk to join the Diocese of Norwich Education and Academies Trust. The MAT currently has 40 schools - one secondary and 39 primaries - across Norwich. The board heard that the trust is in a growth phase, with many new schools joining recently.

East Midlands

• Approval was given for the sponsorship of Derrymount Special School in Nottingham - classified as coasting after two consecutive “requires improvement” judgements by Ofsted - to join Nexus Multi Academy Trust, which currently has 15 schools (14 special schools and one primary).
   
• The board approved the sponsorship of Fourfields CofE Primary School in Sutterton, Lincolnshire, to join the Lincoln Anglican Academy Trust, a 21-school MAT based in Ruskington.
   
• Ash Field Academy special school, a standalone academy trust, was approved to transfer and join Discovery Schools Academies Trust, which has 15 schools across Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland. This includes 13 mainstream primary schools and two special schools in Leicester.

South West

• The board gave its approval (with conditions) for 12 primary schools to convert and form a new trust, The Mosaic Partnership:
  
  •  Gillingstool Primary School, South Gloucestershire
  •  Raysfield Primary School, South Gloucestershire
  •  The Ridge Junior School, South Gloucestershire
  •  Broadway Infant School, South Gloucestershire
  •  St Michael’s CofE Primary School, Winterbourne, South Gloucestershire
  •  St Stephen’s CofE Junior School, Soundwell, South Gloucestershire
  •  The Park Primary School, South Gloucestershire
  •  Parkwall Primary School, South Gloucestershire
  •  Redfield Edge Primary School, South Gloucestershire
  •  Barrs Court Primary School, South Gloucestershire
  •  Neston Primary School, Wiltshire
  •  Box CofE Primary School, Wiltshire
  
  The board gave its approval on a number of conditions, including that the MAT add more diverse experience to its board and that the CEO has a mentor to provide positive and constructive support, working with both the CEO and chair in the first 12 months.
   
• The board gave its approval for Waycroft Multi Academy Trust’s three academies in Bristol (Waycroft Academy, Wicklea Academy and Woodlands Academy) to transfer to Cabot Learning Federation, a 30-school MAT based in Bristol.
   
• The board also approved the sponsorship of Queen Margaret Primary School in Gloucestershire to join the Cabot Learning Federation. The board noted that the MAT has taken on a number of vulnerable schools recently and this is the last of the trust’s planned growth in this academic year and the future focus will be on a period of consolidation.
   
• The board also approved the merger of two Plymouth-based trusts - the North Cornwall Learning Trust (five schools) and Westcountry Schools Trust (26 schools) with the former transferring its four primaries and one secondary. These schools are:
  
  •  Camelford Community Primary School, Cornwall
  •  St Teath Community Primary School, Cornwall
  •  Otterham Community Primary School, Cornwall
  •  St Breward Community Primary School, Cornwall
  •  Sir James Smith’s School, Cornwall
  
  Minutes show that the merger would see Westcountry Schools Trust form a Cornwall Hub consisting of two secondary schools and four primary schools. This is on condition that the trust undertakes an external review of governance following the transfer of the North Cornwall Learning Trust schools, and strengthens the educational expertise on the trust board.

North West

• The board approved the proposed formation of a new MAT called Ambition Community Trust and for the following schools in Tameside to convert and join it:
  
  •  Tameside Pupil Referral Service
  •  Russell Scott Primary School
  •  Greswell Primary School and Nursery
  •  Corrie Primary School
  •  Millbrook Primary School
  
  This came with the condition that the trust would provide the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) with a trust-level three-year financial plan. A note was made of the trust’s long-term strategy to grow beyond Tameside.
   
• The board approved the conversion of Marple Hall School and Romiley Primary School in Stockport to the Helix Academies Trust. A note on Marple Hall’s website states that the two schools will form the MAT together, with academisation expected in autumn 2024.
   
• The proposed formation of East Lancs Learning Trust, with two secondary schools to join it - Unity College and Sir John Thursby Community College - was approved with the condition that the trust was to provide the ESFA with a three-year financial plan. The board also approved for the newly proposed trust to sponsor Shuttleworth College in Lancashire under the same conditions.
   
• Horizon Academy Trust, a MAT with seven primary schools in Hull, was approved by the board to expand beyond the city into Lancashire. The trust will no longer be primary-only after the board approved the conversion of two secondaries - Lytham St Annes High School and McKee College House - to join it, alongside pupil referral unit Chadwick High School and Blackpool Sixth Form College. This is on the condition that the board appoints at least one trustee with MAT board-level experience in one or more “high quality” MATs, and that the CEO has training and development from an established CEO - with CEO or executive experience - in one or more high-quality MAT.
   
• The board approved the conversion of two primary schools (Our Lady’s Catholic Primary School in Warrington and SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School in Wirral) to join the Holy Family Catholic Multi Academy Trust, with the condition that a school resource management adviser would be deployed. The approval means that the trust is set to expand into Warrington for the first time.
   
• The board also gave the green light to three SATs joining MATs in the region:
  
  Kirkby Stephen Grammar School in Westmorland and Furness was approved to join Cumbria Education Trust, a 13-academy trust based in Carlisle.
  
  Hodgson Academy SAT in Lancashire was approved to join Horizon Learning Trust on the condition that there is the recruitment of an independent trustee onto the board with high-quality trust experience, and that the CEO is mentored by a high-quality MAT CEO.
  
  The Sutton Academy SAT in St Helens was approved to join the Challenge Academy Trust, an 11-school trust based in Warrington.

London

• The London advisory board did not meet in November 2023.

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

Written and compiled by Matilda Martin

Find our interactive map of England’s multi-academy trusts here, along with links to all of our MAT Tracker content