Trust Inspections: Navigating the proposed era of trust accountability

On 7 January 2026, the Education Secretary tabled a landmark amendment to the Bill. If passed, this will, for the first time, bring the trust level under the direct scrutiny of an inspection framework. This framework will evaluate how central leadership, governance and resource management drive outcomes across your entire group of schools.

CST highlights that the “introduction of inspection of school groups is largely uncharted territory. It is complex work, and it will need to navigate a range of competing tensions and unintended consequences. It is vital, therefore, that time is taken to develop the best approach. It should not be rushed.” Their Policy paper “Inspecting school groups” is insightful for ideas around how this could look.

Preparing for a new level of scrutiny

While these inspections are not yet operational, the government’s direction of travel is clear. You will be expected to demonstrate an independent, evidence-informed view of your collective impact on staff wellbeing, pupil outcomes and school improvement.

A challenge we often hear is of trusts struggling to move beyond anecdotal evidence. To succeed in this upcoming era, you will need a cohesive, benchmarked understanding of your culture across every site. Our Trust Reports help you bridge this gap by turning complex research into clear, actionable insights.

Evidence-informed leadership with Edurio

A key feature of our reporting is the School Comparison Matrix, which allows you to identify outliers immediately.

In the context of the proposed inspection framework, this functionality enables you to:

• Demonstrate proactive governance: Show how you identify and support schools that “Need Attention” while celebrating those reaching an “Exceptional” standard.

• Benchmark against national trends: These reports compare your trust’s performance against a national benchmark of up to 80,000 staff. This context helps you determine if a challenge like “Workload” is a systemic national issue or a specific area for your trust to address.

• Track KPIs: We track critical KPIs, such as how appreciated staff feel by leadership or how happy pupils within school networks feel. 

Beyond one-word judgements

These proposed trust inspections coincide with the broader rollout of Ofsted Report Cards. Individual schools will be inspected following the new five-point scale: Exceptional, Strong Standard, Expected Standard, Needs Attention and Urgent Improvement. 

Inspections for trusts could look similar or completely different; there is no solid evidence yet of what this could look like. CST highlight a proposal for what this could look like: 

There is a lack of clarity about what exactly inspections could/will look like. Edurio’s platform offers features that give you the clarity needed to lead with confidence in this more nuanced system. By capturing the “lived experience” of your staff and pupils, we help you tell a data-driven story of improvement to your community and, eventually, to inspectors.

Is your trust ready for the shift toward central accountability? Get in touch today to explore our stakeholder feedback surveys and begin building the evidence base for your trust’s success.

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