Half of England’s academy trusts lack elected or appointed parents in their governance
DfE governance rules seem not always to be being followed. Image: iStock/Getty Images.
Education Uncovered analysis also shows fewer than one in 25 MAT boards feature elected or appointed parents
Fewer than one in 25 of England’s multi-academy trusts have two elected or appointed parents on their boards, with many of the larger trusts having many schools without any such representation within their local governance, either.
Fresh analysis of official Department for Education governance data, by this website, seems to underline the distance the academies policy has from any form of local democracy, with the vast majority of trust boards and almost half of local academy governing bodies not featuring any parents serving in that role.
The figures also indicate that both academy trusts and, to a lesser extent, local authority schools, are in many cases apparently not following requirements set out for them by the DfE, in terms of parental places within their governance structures.
To continue reading this article…
You'll need to register with EDUCATION UNCOVERED. Registration is free and gives you access to one article per month. But please consider a subscription which will give you full access to all the news articles and analysis on the website. As a subscriber you'll also be able to comment on each news article. as well as support our journalism and extend the reach of the site.
By Warwick Mansell for EDUCATION UNCOVERED
Published: 7 March 2025
Comments
Submitting a comment is only available to subscribers.