As Chief Executive Officer of a Multi-Academy Trust, the role has always carried complexity. As we look towards 2026, it feels more demanding, and more important, than at any point in my career. The educational landscape is not simply changing at the edges; it is being reshaped. This calls for leadership that is strategic but also humane, grounded in local context while alive to national pressures. Leading a Multi-Academy Trust today means holding several roles at once: system leader, responsible steward of public money, and champion of our people, all anchored by a single, non-negotiable purpose of improving outcomes for every child we serve.
Leading in a System Undergoing Change
One of the most significant shifts in the sector is the continued move towards consolidation and scale. Trusts are growing in response to financial pressures, the need for operational efficiency, and the opportunity to share expertise more effectively. There are clear advantages to this, including access to capital funding such as School Condition Allocations, stronger central services, and more coherent professional development.
The challenge is ensuring that growth does not come at the expense of local identity or community trust. Children’s interests must remain the lens through which every structural decision is taken. My responsibility as CEO is to ensure the trust is financially secure and well run, without drifting into over-centralisation. That means governance arrangements that genuinely empower local governing bodies, while maintaining clarity around the trust’s vision and its non-negotiable standards. The aim is a shared culture in which individual schools retain their character and are strengthened, not diluted, by being part of a wider family.
Financial Sustainability and Difficult Choices
Financial sustainability is one of the most pressing challenges we face. Rising costs, particularly anticipated increases in teacher pay and associated on-costs, without the necessary Government subsidies, are placing many trusts under real strain. A growing number are projected to be financially vulnerable, and this demands a level of professionalism and risk awareness from trust leaders that has never been higher.
These pressures inevitably force hard, and sometimes uncomfortable, decisions about how we deploy our resources. In some cases, trusts may need to review staffing structures or ways of working, decisions that can have a direct impact on the support available to pupils. Leading through this period requires honesty, courage, and transparency with boards and school leaders. My focus is always on protecting the quality of education at the front line while keeping a clear eye on the long-term sustainability of the whole organisation. Short-term fixes that weaken the trust over time help no one.
People, Culture, and Being an Employer of Choice
A MAT is only as strong as its people. Recruitment, retention, and wellbeing remain central priorities. By 2026, trusts must position themselves not just as employers, but as employers of choice within their local areas. Pay matters, but it is not enough on its own. We need a compelling and credible employee offer.
Reducing workload and stress is a starting point. As a trust, we must model and insist on ways of working that strip out unnecessary burden, using our scale to share resources and standardise systems where it genuinely helps rather than hinders.
Professional development is equally critical. A MAT should provide clear career pathways, strong succession planning, and high-quality internal development through coaching, mentoring, and targeted CPD. This is an area where trusts can offer opportunities that standalone schools often cannot, and it is vital for securing future leadership capacity.
Wellbeing must also be more than rhetoric. Our policies and practices need to actively support sustainable working lives, particularly for headteachers and senior leaders who operate under intense pressure.
Inclusion, SEND, and Growing Complexity
Two areas are demanding increasing attention: SEND and inclusion more broadly. The pressures on SEND funding are acute, compounded by challenges around Education, Health and Care Plans and inconsistent engagement with local authorities. A MAT CEO must lead a coherent, trust-wide approach to inclusion, ensuring staff have the skills, confidence, and capacity to meet the needs of a growing number of pupils with neurodivergent profiles.
This is both a moral responsibility and a practical necessity. When needs are not met early and effectively, challenges escalate and outcomes suffer. Trusts must act as engines for collaboration, spreading strong inclusive practice across all schools so that no single community carries this challenge alone.
Governance, Accountability, and External Relationships
Governance continues to evolve under increasing public and regulatory scrutiny. The CEO’s role as Accounting Officer brings significant responsibility for compliance, transparency, and organisational sustainability. Boards themselves need to keep developing, bringing a broader mix of skills, experiences, and perspectives to strategic decision-making.
Alongside this sits a growing requirement for strong external relationships. Closer working with local authorities, other trusts, and community partners will be essential, particularly if future policy places greater emphasis on local collaboration and shared responsibility for improvement.
Holding the Moral Purpose
Leading a MAT in 2026 is no longer about overseeing a group of individual schools. It is about leading a single, complex organisation that can shape and strengthen the wider system around it. The role demands a rare blend of educational credibility, financial acumen, and relational leadership.
Above all, my responsibility is to ensure that, despite financial headwinds and ongoing system change, our moral purpose remains intact. A trust should stand for educational excellence and social mobility, rooted in its communities and outward-looking in its ambition. Leadership, at its best, keeps that story alive, translating values into daily practice. If we get this right, we will build trusts that are resilient, sustainable, and high-impact, and in doing so, secure better futures for the children and communities we are privileged to serve.
