The CST Blog

Thorough, independent, audits are crucial to catching problems early, says RSM's Richard Lewis Over the past few years, a number of academy trust investigations by the Department for Education have reached an uncomfortable conclusion: the warning signs were there, but they were not being challenged. In several cases, auditors had issued clean opinions while weaknesses in controls, governance, pay arrangements or regularity compliance quietly accumulated beneath the surface.

Member only resource This content is only available to CST members. Join CST to gain access to this page and a range of other benefits. Join now Already a CST member? Sign in here Sign in to access the full range of CST advice and guidance included with your trust's CST membership. Login Tags Resource Expert ethical leadership Public benefit and civic duty Strategic governance Share this resource

School trust leaders have welcomed above-inflation pay rises for teachers but warned the government is not providing sufficient cash to pay for them. Confederation of School Trusts Chief Executive Leora Cruddas CBE said: “Trust leaders will be pleased the Government has accepted the STRB’s pay recommendations, with pay rises for teachers that sit above inflation – teaching is a rewarding but challenging profession that deserves to be well paid.

The government has today announced new rules around how school trusts are run, including detailed restrictions on pay and pay rises for trust leaders. It is understood the rules would be enforced via the Academy Trust Handbook but have not been included in consultations with the sector on the handbook’s annual review.

Explore the CST School Improvement Conference Find out more about the CST School Improvement Conference on our dedicated website. Visit for a taster of our 2026 event, and check back for details of the 2027 conference nearer the time. The event will focus on the strategic issues that matter most to this important aspect of education, with speakers drawn from trust practitioners, policy experts, and the wider sector.

Member only resource This content is only available to CST members. Join CST to gain access to this page and a range of other benefits. Join now Already a CST member? Sign in here Sign in to access the full range of CST advice and guidance included with your trust's CST membership. Login Tags Guidance Communications Governance Parental engagement Regulatory compliance Strategic governance Share this resource

With falling primary pupil numbers, trusts are being encouraged to look at repurposing buildings as school-based nurseries. But Ark's Katie Oliver says that risks getting things the wrong way round. What matters is not simply where children are, but the quality of experience when they are there. Too many children in England still arrive at Reception not ready to learn. For disadvantaged children, the picture is even starker.

At the member engagement meeting on 17 June, Lee Elliot Major OBE shared his research into equity, attainment, bias, and barriers to learning. The slides from the session can be download here.

The White Paper sets out the government’s expectation for all schools to be in a school trust. As we work towards this desired end state, the White Paper and SEND consultation also propose transition arrangements to enable the reforms to the SEND system to proceed. The May 2026 Kings Speech announced a new ‘Education for All’ Bill which will put into law the SEND reforms outlined in the Schools White Paper.

Data can support attendance improvement work in surprising ways, says Open Education AI's Amy McJennett. Attendance leads in schools are busy people. In most trusts, they start each day responding to what happened yesterday or that morning: chasing registers, making calls to parents. It is reactive by necessity. The data arrives after the fact, and the conversations and interventions follow. But tools available to the sector are changing.