The Academy Trust Handbook 2025 (ATH 2025) has recently been published and it is available here. The ATH 2025 applies with effect from 1 September 2025.
The main changes are:
Roles and responsibilities
- Confirming that trusts should understand and be working towards meeting the 6 core digital and technology standards by 2030. The 6 categories of core standards are broadband internet, network switching, wireless network, cyber security, filtering and monitoring and digital leadership and governance.
- Providing trusts with further guidance on estates management by including links to areas such as schools’ estate management standards, good estate management guidance and reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) identification guidance.
- Updating the accounting officer duties and the definitions of regularity, propriety, value for money and feasibility, to better reflect Managing Public Money.
- Providing further information including links to relevant sections of Managing Public Money regarding the accounting officer’s duty to raise concerns. The accounting officer must advise the board, in writing, if action it is considering is incompatible with the articles, funding agreement or handbook. This includes where such action conflicts with the duties of the accounting officer, to ensure regularity, propriety, value for money and feasibility.
Main financial requirements
- Providing trusts with further guidance and support on procurement. This includes procurement basics and what the academy must ensure together with relevant links to other guidance e.g. Find a Framework tool.
- Clarifying the role of the board in setting of executive pay, publication of pay and ensuring payroll arrangements fully meet tax obligations. The board of trustees must ensure its decisions about levels of executive pay follow a robust evidence-based process and there must be a documented agreed pay policy.
Internal scrutiny
- Clarifying that the income thresholds referred to when setting an audit and risk committee and delivering internal scrutiny are based on the trust’s last audited accounts.
Delegated authorities – novel, contentious or repercussive transactions
- Explaining how repercussive transactions are those likely to set a precedent and cause pressure on other trusts or the broader public sector to take a similar approach and hence have wider financial implications, including where a trust’s proposal could cause additional costs to arise for other parts of government.
- Providing a link to the relevant section on Novel, Contentious or Repercussive transactions in Managing Public Money.
The regulator and intervention
- Confirming that trusts must not pay any cyber ransomware demands.
- Providing trusts with a link to further information on DfE oversight and support, including intervention. This information sets out how DfE will work with trusts to identify, at an early stage, any financial issues that might affect the trust. It sets out the support available to trusts and, where there are concerns, the types of action DfE will take.
- Removing educational performance as an area where a Notice to Improve (NtI) may be issued.
- Confirming that the department may recover funds where there is evidence of irregularity or fraud.
The final update, although not very timely in June 2025, is a link to guidance and support on sustainability to help trust have a climate action in place by 2025.
If you would like further guidance on these points or any other aspects of the ATH 2025 please contact one of your usual academy contacts at BHP for a discussion.
