Helping you prosper
The Department for Education has published the Academy Trust Handbook 2026, effective from 1 October 2026. The new edition introduces a significant number of changes for academy trusts to consider, spanning governance, financial management and DfE oversight.
Key changes include new statutory duties around inclusion and SEND, requiring trusts to designate a trustee or committee with specific oversight responsibility. The Handbook also strengthens expectations around trustees' financial expertise, introduces mandatory qualification requirements for CFOs at larger trusts, and tightens the rules on executive pay, with new DfE approval needed for high-paid appointments from 1 October 2026.
Procurement obligations have shifted from should to must in several areas, including the use of DfE-approved deals for energy and supply staffing, and alignment of MIS contracts with the DfE's framework by September 2027. Trusts also face new reporting requirements, including a going concern notification duty for accounting officers and a requirement for multi-academy trusts to publish how funds are distributed across their schools.
Our summary breaks down each of these changes in detail, with UHY commentary on what they mean in practice and what trusts should be doing to prepare.
Download the full summary below
