Academy Trust Handbook 2025: Summary of key changes

The Department for Education (DfE) has published the updated Academy Trust Handbook (ATH), effective from 1 September. While the updates are clarifications and reinforcements of existing expectations, there are several important points to be aware of across governance, finance, estates, and compliance.

The DfE has added a link in the Handbook to provide academy trusts with guidance on sustainability and climate action. All trusts must have a plan in place by 2025, so this will be important reading, despite being highlighted close to the deadline in the new ATH.

The Handbook confirms that trusts should understand and work towards the six core digital and technology standards:

The links within the Handbook provide further information.

There is also some further guidance on estates management, which has been a key focus in recent years, including the need to manage them strategically and effectively. Again, there are links within the Handbook to assist trusts, although, in the real world, funding to support effective estates management remains a major issue.

The duties of the accounting officer have been updated to reflect the Manging Public Money policy with updated definitions of regularity, propriety and value for money. The definitions appear to be common sense, but we suggest that accounting officers review and take on board the new definitions and ensure that they are embedded in trust practice. There is also some updated wording advising accounting officers of their responsibilities to raise concerns where proposed actions conflict with their own duties and responsibilities.

The Handbook has some updated guidance on procurement, with links to useful supporting information. Procurement can be a risk areas and impact on day-to-day operations and strategic decision making, so we suggest that you review your existing policies and their application and ensure they are compatible with the current guidance.

Executive pay also continues to attract significant public scrutiny. The updated Handbook clarifies the board’s responsibilities in setting executive remuneration, including requirements to publish information on the academy trust’s website where employee benefits exceed £100,000, and to ensure that all pay arrangements comply fully with tax obligations through PAYE. We recommend that trusts ensure that their processes for setting executive pay meet the requirements of the Handbook and would stand up to external scrutiny, and that they are appropriately disclosed separately on the website where required.

The Handbook now clarifies that the £50million income threshold for having an audit and risk committee and requiring in house or bought in internal audit is based on the last audited accounts.

Novel, contentious and repercussive transactions and the need to refer to the DfE has been a topic of discussion, with the definitions being open to interpretation. The new Handbook seeks to add more context around the definition of repercussive, and also adds links to DfE guidance to attempt to provide more clarity. Our general rule of thumb is that if something doesn’t feel right, consult the Handbook and associated guidance, and speak to your auditor if required, before deciding on an appropriate course of action.

The Handbook now states that academy trusts must not pay any cyber ransom demands.

There are now some links to additional guidance setting out how the DfE will work with academy trusts to identify financial issues at an early stage and what support and actions are available. The Budget Forecast Return (BFR) is one example of where the DfE may identify potential issues, and academy leaders and trustees can also get in touch with the DfE to consider what support is available if there are any concerns.

Educational performance has been removed as an area where a Notice to Improve may be issued.

The Handbook also now explicitly states that the DfE may recover funds where there is evidence of irregularity or fraud.

The changes discussed above seem to be around providing further support, links to guidance and clarifications rather than any fundamental changes to the framework. Trusts should review policies and processes to ensure alignment with the revised expectations.

As always, if you have any questions on the Handbook, how it may impact on your organisation, or indeed any other topics, please get in touch with our specialists via the form below, or contact your usual Azets advisor.