Our team has extensive national experience supporting academy group projects. Indeed, over half of the conversion projects we have worked on have involved the creation of, or adding academies to, academy groups. Projects have included multi-academy trusts (MATs), umbrella trusts (UTs) and collaborative partnerships covering single phase groups, multi-phase groups, mixed MATs (church and non-church academies), Roman Catholic groups and Church of England groups.
We have created numerous innovative group structures using the MAT and UT formats together to overcome local difficulties. The academy projects we have advised on have emanated from 111 different maintaining local authorities, giving us exceptional experience of dealing with different local authority and Diocesan approaches.
You may currently be a multi-academy trust or sponsor who is an experienced education organisation with a strong track record in academy conversions. You might, equally, currently be a maintained school or single academy looking to set up a multi-academy trust or start your expansion programme.
Whatever your size, we know you need your legal partner to be commercial and efficient in providing academy sponsorship and conversion support, to strict timeframes and without unnecessary complications.
Supporting an existing multi-academy trust selected by the DfE to step in and support a number of failing academies. Our advice and support was required at short notice which often meant attending Board meetings to provide timely advice in order to effectively support the MAT to deliver the project in difficult circumstances and a tight time-frame.
Trusted legal advisors for a big multi-academy trust on over 20 of its academy projects, including fast track and fully sponsored, PFI conversions, a special free school, a mainstream free school and the establishment of a brand new academy led by a local authority.
Supporting a secondary academy wanting to become an approved sponsor and adopt multi-academy status. Working with the academy we helped them understand the DfE’s requirements in order to write a successful business case. We worked with the leadership team and governing body to explore their future aspirations to design a suitable governance structure and help them implement a MAT that was suitable for their future strategic vision.
Supporting four secondary schools wishing to adopt academy status within a multi-academy trust. We worked with the leadership teams and governors to help them understand the process, DfE requirements and design a MAT that met their local circumstances.
.jpg)
"Work closely with our team and become part of our extended team. Maintain high level of sector knowledge. Provision of CPD and events by experts."
"Brown Jacobson (North West) are an exceptional company to work with, as we have had a great deal of activity that has needed their sage advice, professional input and guidance. Their understanding of the education sector is exceptional and they also have access a wider range of expertise to support complex questions which have come up in these exceptional times."
"Its uniqueness is built around their helpful and valued mix of support and challenge. They provide more than a service. They challenge our thinking, offer different (often unique) perspectives and contribute effectively to our company’s mission to be the best we can be."
"Very down to earth and client focused. Pragmatic advice and not too risk averse."
Emma Hughes, head of HR services at Browne Jacobson, explains how CST’s updated executive pay report and the linked benchmarking service from XpertHR can help trust boards make robust decisions on pay.
This guidance has been prepared to support academy trusts (Trusts) who want to hold a fully virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) or a hybrid AGM, as we know that Trusts may want to be prepared for future disruption as well as having a general interest in holding more meetings virtually. The guidance also applies to other meetings of the Members (known as General Meetings).
We’re pleased to collaborate with Lloyds Bank, who recently asked us and audit and risk specialists Crowe UK to offer guidance that academy trusts would find helpful when considering setting up a trading subsidiary.
Browne Jacobson’s education team has been named as winner of the ‘Legal Advisors to Education Institutions’ category at the Education Investor Awards 2022 for a record sixth time.
Over 3000 young people from across the UK and Ireland took part in a virtual legal careers insight event, aimed at making the legal profession more diverse.
Academy trusts no longer need to seek consent for contractual indemnities within the ‘normal course of business’. What do trusts need to consider?
We provide an update on the Schools Bill proposed legislation & it's impact on academy trusts.
If NHS staff can request a flexible approach to working patterns then the sector needs to get serious about what it can offer staff, too, if it is to avoid further strain on recruitment and retention.
Following its publication of the White Paper at the end of March, the Department for Education (DfE) has shared an implementation framework focusing on its plans for “a stronger and fairer school system”.
Part 1 of the Schools Bill introduces statutory rights designed to ensure that the Secretary of State has efficient oversight and is equipped to address “instances of failure” in academy trusts.
National law firm Browne Jacobson has grown its team behind its dedicated Space + Time executive coaching programme with the addition of two more qualified coaches who will work with clients in the education sector.
In the intervening years we have seen the actual number of schools converting to academy status over the past few years has gone up and down in a succession of waves.
A joint guidance paper written in collaboration between Browne Jacobson and the National Governance Association (NGA) on academy mergers within the education sector has been released today.
Tomorrow, (Wednesday 27th October), national law firm Browne Jacobson will host its second FAIRE: virtual work experience and legal careers insight event, in partnership with Young Professionals.
The Confederation of School Trusts (CST), as the sector body for School Trusts, today releases a salary benchmarking service for executive roles in School Trusts, in conjunction with partners XpertHR, Cendex and Browne Jacobson.
Our client, Yew Tree Primary School, challenged the Secretary of State for Education’s (SSE) decision not to revoke a directive Academy Order.
As we approach the end of a particularly turbulent academic year, finding the time, energy and buy-in to review school policies may seem less likely than finding a holiday cottage in Cornwall for mid-August.
In this edition we provide you with the latest in legal updates, news and insight from the sector.
Those with responsibility for governing, managing or auditing an academy trust need to familiarise themselves with these new changes.
It depends on whether you are local authority maintained or single academy trust, underperforming, Church of England or Catholic or an MAT.
In the absence of exams, the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofqual have confirmed that the 2021 GCSE, AS and A level and vocational and technical qualification grades will be determined by centre assessment.
In this edition we provide you with the latest in legal updates, news and insight from the sector.
In this edition we provide you with the latest in legal updates, news and insight from the sector.
On 1 September 2020, the latest iteration of the Academies Financial Handbook (AFH) came into force.
We are increasingly asked are there any limits on how members can exercise their powers.
In this edition we provide you with the latest in legal updates, news and insight from the sector.
In the first of what we hope will become a regular feature in Be Connected, Nick MacKenzie reviews what’s on the horizon for the education sector and briefly shares with you a number of themes.
As part of the advisory service we offer schools, recent enquiries have arisen from academies being contacted by the Department for Education (DfE) about their complaints policies.
The Government has accepted calls from sixth form colleges to reopen the option to become academies.
The new Academies Financial Handbook for 2019 has been released to come into effect from 1 September 2019.
Browne Jacobson has once again been delighted to work in partnership with the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and the National Governors’ Association (NGA) on the revision of a trio of popular guidance papers focusing on ‘Taking the next steps’ when ‘Considering Forming or Joining a Group of Schools’, ‘Joining a Multi-Academy Trust’ or ‘Forming a Multi-Academy Trust’.
A healthy education system is necessary for a healthy economy and labour market. The current funding challenges faced by the education sector is therefore of vital importance to everyone.
After several years of negotiation the Department for Education (DfE) has released new precedent Articles of Association for Catholic multi-academy trusts (MATs).
For some time the Academies Financial Handbook has restricted Academy Trusts in how much they could pay for goods or services purchased from a 'related party' i.e. a person or organisation closely linked to the Academy Trust.
In this article, we review what duties they undertake and consider how these are different from what they set out to be.
