We are at an exciting point in the history of education in England where, with care and attention, we could become the best system at getting better. If this is to become a reality, we must ask difficult questions, interrogate the evidence, commission more research and put the mission to advance education for public benefit at the heart of all that we do. We offer this narrative discussion paper, summarised in this policy card, for discussion and debate.

School Trusts are exempt charities. This means that they are not registered or directly regulated by the Charity Commission but rather have the Secretary of State for Education as their principal regulator. School Trusts still have charitable purposes and apply them for the public benefit, and trusts must comply with the general law of charity.

As part of our work to locate School Trusts as a new form of civic structure, CST has drafted this model civic compact which members are welcome to use and customise as the basis for dialogue with a local authority.

A summary report of headline findings and a supplementary report on benefits packages for executive leaders in school trusts.

The paper, part of CST's 'Bridge to the Future' series, makes the powerful argument that as we emerge from the pandemic that we should consider with fresh perspective the future for our Church of England schools.

This document is for chief executives, those aspiring to the role, and trust boards. It aims to underpin key aspects of leadership development and governance by offering a framework to inform executive performance review, executive development, organisation design, and recruitment.

This paper, part of our 'Bridge to the Future' series, sets out the vital role of trusts as employers and how to build sustainable people strategies in our sector. It argues that policy makers need to engage more with trusts as employers and better connect with the HR profession. The paper argues firmly that trusts themselves are the key enablers of quality people management in our sector and will play a vital role in building a sustainable education workforce.

CST considers school trusts as structures with the potential to build and mobilise knowledge pertaining to school improvement. This paper, part of CST's 'Bridge to the Future' series, seeks to extend this analysis by arguing that we need to understand school improvement as a field of practice rather than view it as a series of disconnected activities.

This guidance has been withdrawn due to operational, funding, and policy changes since publication.

In this 'A Bridge to the Future' series paper, Dixons Academies Trust's Funmilola Stewart and Jenny Thompson argue that while the application and delivery of powerful knowledge within schools is recognised as a tool for social justice, for this to be truly consequential our focus must shift from a broad consideration of the disparities between the elite and the disadvantaged, and towards an acknowledgement of the intersectionality underpinning social disadvantage.