Ofsted and multi-academy trusts: what trust leaders need to know about inspection

Reviewed by Ben Parnell, former headteacher and trust chief executive. Last reviewed 25 September 2026.

Ofsted inspects the schools in a multi-academy trust one at a time, and the trust is an active part of each of those inspections. As at late September 2026 there is no routine inspection of the trust itself in force. Parliament has legislated for one, in the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, but the relevant section has not yet been brought into force beyond its regulation-making powers. This guide covers where that law stands, how the September 2026 school inspection guidance treats trusts, and how trust leaders can prepare their schools.

Does Ofsted inspect multi-academy trusts?

Not yet as a routine, statutory inspection. Section 57 of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026, inserts a new chapter into the Education and Inspections Act 2006 on the inspection of academy proprietors. Once in force, it will require the Chief Inspector to:

inspect every academy proprietor at intervals set in regulations made by the Secretary of State, who can also exempt specified categories of proprietor
report on the quality and effectiveness of the proprietor's leadership, management and governance in its role as an academy proprietor
cover, in particular, how the trust secures a quality education, its governance and executive leadership, how it promotes children's wellbeing, how it secures improvement in its academies, and how it manages its resources

The Act also requires the trust to notify parents and its members before an inspection, and to take reasonably practicable steps to get a copy of the report to every registered parent within five working days of receiving it.

The commencement position matters. Section 78 of the Act brought regulation-making powers into force on Royal Assent. Everything else in section 57 needs commencement regulations from the Secretary of State. The commencement regulations published so far (No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 for England, the latest made in August 2026) do not include section 57, and legislation.gov.uk shows the section in force only for specified purposes. When this guide was written we found no start date, inspection interval, exemptions or trust inspection framework in legislation or on GOV.UK, so treat any date you see quoted with caution until it appears there.

How does Ofsted treat the trust when it inspects one of its schools?

The inspection information for state-funded schools sets out Ofsted's approach. It recognises that trusts are a single legal entity, that it is not easy to separate decisions made by individual academies from those made by trust leaders, and that trusts retain overall legal responsibility for all matters in the school, even where these are delegated. Inspectors use the scheme of delegation and conversations with leaders to work out which people in the academy and the wider trust they need to meet. When preparing, the lead inspector also reviews the trust's summary evaluation outcome letter, where one exists.

Three further points in the operating guide shape how the trust shows up in the evaluation areas:

Where trust-wide policies are in place, inspectors focus only on their impact on the academy being inspected.
In the leadership and governance area, one urgent improvement indicator is leaders depending too much on external support. The toolkit states that support from within the school's trust is not considered external support.
The glossary defines the responsible body as the entity legally responsible for a school's performance and the wellbeing of its leaders, which for academies is often the trust. The toolkit's urgent improvement indicators include a responsible body that is unclear about its statutory duties on leaders' wellbeing or does not support leaders appropriately.

What does the notification call ask about the trust?

The trust comes up from the first call. For an academy, the school is asked to confirm the name and contact details of the CEO and the chair of the trust board, the trust scheme of delegation, and who is involved in decision-making and oversight of the school, such as an executive headteacher, director of education or local governance body. On the planning call, inspectors may also ask about pupils transferred to another of the trust's academies acting as alternative provision.

Ofsted encourages the headteacher to have at least one other senior leader with them on the calls, typically someone who usually deputises or a member of trust staff. On the planning call, the inspector clarifies which decisions are made centrally and which are delegated to the headteacher, and establishes who is responsible for the headteacher's wellbeing day to day. The notification call guide covers the rest of that conversation.

By 8am on the first day, the school must make available strategic documents, which for an academy include the trust strategy where it sets out priorities or vision, and minutes of the board of trustees' meetings and other strategic documents about the trust.

Which trust leaders will inspectors meet?

In an academy, the operating guide says inspectors must:

meet the CEO and anyone else from the trust as agreed between the inspector, the headteacher and the CEO
have at least one meeting with the chair of the board of trustees (or their delegate) and as many trustees as are available, covering governance oversight and arrangements for areas such as safeguarding, behaviour and curriculum

CEOs may bring other senior trust leaders for support, especially in large trusts, and the leaders inspectors need may be those with delegated responsibility, which can mean more than one person. Inspectors establish how leaders make sure delegated responsibilities are carried out and how they assure themselves that systems are working as intended.

The trustee meeting should usually take place without school and trust leaders present, and at least part of it without the CEO, even where the CEO is a trustee. If no trustees were available, the inspector must record this in the report card. Where there are local governing bodies, inspectors establish whether they hold delegated responsibilities or are purely advisory; if they hold none relevant to the toolkit, inspectors do not need to speak with them. Our guide to Ofsted questions for governors covers that meeting.

Central trust staff may be in the school during the inspection, for example to release staff to meet inspectors or to join learning walks. Inspectors will want to know why they are there, whether pupils know them, and whether they understand the school's day-to-day business.

Can trust leaders attend reflection meetings and the final feedback?

Yes. The lead inspector always invites the headteacher, the CEO or their delegate, and the nominee (if there is one) to each reflection meeting, including the grading meeting. Other trust staff may attend at the inspector's discretion, so agree names in advance.

At the final feedback meeting, attendees can include the CEO (or equivalent) or delegate, anyone the headteacher or CEO wants there to support them, the chair of trustees or their delegate with as many trustees as are available, the clerk to the board to take notes, and a representative of any sponsor or diocese. Findings can be shared with all trustees but must not be made public until the final report card arrives. If a school is placed in a category of concern, the lead inspector explains that it will be monitored and may also be subject to an academy order by the DfE or moved to a new trust.

How should trust leaders prepare their schools?

Most of the preparation is making sure the trust's structure is easy for inspectors to understand and that each school can explain it.

Check that the scheme of delegation is current and matches what happens. Heads should be able to say which decisions are theirs and which are central.
Name who joins the calls from the trust, and who covers if the CEO is unavailable.
Keep trustee availability in view. A chair or delegate who can join a call at short notice on day 1 or day 2 avoids a line in the report card.
Make sure board minutes and trust strategy documents can be shared with the school by 8am on day 1. The toolkit says Ofsted does not need documents produced specifically for inspection.
For each trust-wide policy, know what its impact looks like in each school.
Make sure each school's self-evaluation is its own, against the toolkit, rather than a trust template with the name changed.
Agree how concerns will be raised. The route is the lead inspector first, then the senior Ofsted leader number given on the notification call, then the complaints process.

The school has 5 working days to comment on the draft report card; see our factual accuracy check guide for that stage, and the inspection checklist for the wider list.

For trusts preparing several schools, InspectReady maps each school's existing documents to the toolkit's evaluation areas so central teams can see gaps school by school.

Frequently asked questions

Does Ofsted inspect multi-academy trusts yet? Not as a routine, statutory inspection. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 created a duty for Ofsted to inspect academy proprietors, but the commencement regulations published so far have not brought that section into force beyond its regulation-making powers. Ofsted inspects each academy in a trust individually, and the trust is part of that inspection.

Will the trust CEO be told when one of its academies is inspected? The notification call asks the school for the CEO's and the chair of the trust board's names and contact details, and the headteacher can have a member of trust staff alongside them on the calls. Trusts should agree internally that the head tells the CEO's office straight away, rather than relying on Ofsted to do it.

Can trust staff attend the reflection meetings? The CEO or their delegate is always invited to reflection meetings, including the grading meeting. Other trust staff may attend at the lead inspector's discretion, so agree attendance with the inspector before each meeting.

Do inspectors judge our trust-wide policies? Only through their effect on the school being inspected. The operating guide tells inspectors to focus on the impact of trust-wide policies on that academy, so be ready to show how a central policy works in practice there.

Does support from the trust count against the school's capacity to improve? No. One urgent improvement indicator for leadership is depending too much on external support, and the toolkit states that support from within the school's trust is not considered external support.

What if no trustees can meet the inspectors? Inspectors must record in the report card that no trustees were available. It is worth planning so that the chair or a delegate, and ideally other trustees, can join a meeting or call on day 1 or day 2 at short notice.

Sources

School inspection operating guide for inspectors: for use from September 2026, GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-toolkit-operating-guide-and-information/school-inspection-operating-guide-for-inspectors-for-use-from-september-2026
Inspection information for state-funded schools: for use from September 2026, GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-toolkit-operating-guide-and-information/inspection-information-for-state-funded-schools-for-use-from-september-2026
School inspection: toolkit, operating guides and information, GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-toolkit-operating-guide-and-information
State-funded school inspection toolkit, updated June 2026 (v2.0), GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a915d1c01bbff0bf8f97b51/Schools_inspection_toolkit.pdf
Glossary: education inspection terminology, GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/glossary-education-inspection-terminology
Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, section 57 (Inspection of Academy proprietors), legislation.gov.uk: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2026/21/section/57/enacted
Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, section 78 (Commencement), legislation.gov.uk: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2026/21/section/78/enacted
Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (Commencement No. 1) (England) Regulations 2026, legislation.gov.uk: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/551/made
Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (Commencement No. 2) (England) Regulations 2026, legislation.gov.uk: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/803/made
Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (Commencement No. 3) (England) Regulations 2026, legislation.gov.uk: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/933/made
Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, bill stages, UK Parliament: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3909

Questions school leaders ask

Does Ofsted inspect multi-academy trusts yet?: Not as a routine, statutory inspection. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 created a duty for Ofsted to inspect academy proprietors, but the commencement regulations published so far have not brought that section into force beyond its regulation-making powers. Ofsted inspects each academy in a trust individually, and the trust is part of that inspection.
Will the trust CEO be told when one of its academies is inspected?: The notification call asks the school for the CEO's and the chair of the trust board's names and contact details, and the headteacher can have a member of trust staff alongside them on the calls. Trusts should agree internally that the head tells the CEO's office straight away, rather than relying on Ofsted to do it.
Can trust staff attend the reflection meetings?: The CEO or their delegate is always invited to reflection meetings, including the grading meeting. Other trust staff may attend at the lead inspector's discretion, so agree attendance with the inspector before each meeting.
Do inspectors judge our trust-wide policies?: Only through their effect on the school being inspected. The operating guide tells inspectors to focus on the impact of trust-wide policies on that academy, so be ready to show how a central policy works in practice there.
Does support from the trust count against the school's capacity to improve?: No. One urgent improvement indicator for leadership is depending too much on external support, and the toolkit states that support from within the school's trust is not considered external support.
What if no trustees can meet the inspectors?: Inspectors must record in the report card that no trustees were available. It is worth planning so that the chair or a delegate, and ideally other trustees, can join a meeting or call on day 1 or day 2 at short notice.