The majority of academy trust leaders are worried that growth could have a negative effect on schools in their trust – but financial pressures mean many are trying to expand anyway, new research reveals.
Findings released by The Key, in partnership with the Forum Strategy, show that only 12 per cent of leaders are “not at all concerned” about their financial viability over the next three years.
But the research reveals that most trust leaders have concerns about expanding. Fifty one per cent said that growth could have a negative effect on existing schools in the trust and their ability to support them.
Despite this, 54 per cent said they are currently trying to grow their trust in order to reach economies of scale, with 25 per cent actively looking for new schools to acquire, 24 per cent in the process of acquiring schools and five per cent planning to merge with another trust.
