Main responsibilities
- Lead the trust's strategy, educational standards and improvement across its schools.
- Lead and appraise headteachers or executive heads and the central team.
- Oversee finance (with the CFO), estates, HR, safeguarding assurance and risk.
- Work with DfE regional teams, local authorities and partners.
Statutory duties and official sources
England. The Academy trust handbook 2026 (effective 1 October 2026) is a condition of the funding agreement.
- The board must appoint in writing a senior executive leader; in trusts with multiple academies this should be the chief executive or equivalent. Source: Academy trust handbook 2026, paragraph 1.33.
- The board must appoint a named accounting officer, who should be the senior executive leader; the roles must not rotate; accounting officer and CFO should not be the same person; the accounting officer should be employed by the trust. Source: Handbook, paragraph 1.34.
- The accounting officer must oversee financial transactions, sign the statement on regularity, propriety and compliance, demonstrate value for money in the governance statement, and take personal responsibility (not delegable) for assuring the board of compliance. Source: Handbook, paragraphs 1.38–1.41.
- The accounting officer must advise the board in writing where action is incompatible with the articles, funding agreement or handbook, and notify DfE's accounting officer if the board proceeds. Source: Handbook, paragraphs 1.42–1.43.
- The board holds the senior executive leader to account for the day-to-day running of the trust; the chair line-manages the senior executive. Source: Academy trusts: governance guide, sections 4.4.1 and 5.1–5.2.
- Executive pay must be transparent, proportionate and justifiable; no one decides their own pay; executive pay must not rise faster than teachers' pay without justification and DfE approval. From 1 October 2026, new appointments need DfE approval before advertising if pay is over £174,000 or performance-related pay over £25,000. Source: Governance guide, section 5.5; Senior pay controls for academy trusts.
- A newly appointed senior executive leader can be a trustee only if members appoint them, they agree and the articles allow it. Source: Handbook, paragraph 1.28.
DfE's Headteachers' standards describe executive leaders' accountabilities; the governance guide also points to DfE's MAT CEO content framework.
Key dates in the school year (2026 to 2027)
- 1 October 2026: Academy trust handbook 2026 and new executive pay approval rules take effect.
- 31 December 2026: audited accounts, with the accounting officer's regularity statement, and the internal scrutiny summary report submitted to DfE (Handbook, paragraphs 3.21 and 4.4).
- 31 January 2027: accounts and the MAT funds-distribution statement published on the website (paragraphs 4.4 and 5.32).
- 31 May 2027: accounts filed at Companies House.
- 31 August 2027: academy trust accounting period ends (paragraph 4.3).
Common challenges and good practice
- Board relationship. Keep the line between the board's strategic role and the executive clear; the chair is the CEO's line manager.
- Scheme of delegation. Publish and review it so headteachers, local committees and the central team know who decides what.
- Trust standards. The government intends to create new trust standards; the current trust quality descriptions apply until then (governance guide, Annex A).
