This year’s CST National School Trust Survey, conducted in partnership with Edurio, found that school trust chief executives mostly frequently cited quality education as their top priority, after two years in which financial sustainability topped concerns.
Within that inclusion and SEND provision was top focus, with 75% of trusts putting it as their key area for 2026/27. Trusts broadly backed the Government’s SEND reforms – with just 11% not expressing some level of support – but many expressed concerns about the practical challenges to come, with more than a third already reporting difficulty recruiting SEND specialists.
More than three quarters of trusts plan to invest in more staff training around SEND, with most looking to establish or expand specialist resource bases for SEND – a quarter plan both.
Despite dropping slightly, finance remains a key concern for trusts with three quarters putting balancing budgets as a priority. The majority of school trusts say they expect to have to reduce classroom staffing – though trusts are increasingly looking at ways of generating extra income, including hiring out premises, interest on reserves, fundraising, and providing services to other trusts.
That includes retaining local flexibility to find the best deals, with two thirds saying national frameworks from the DfE for things like supply staff and energy are useful but should be optional rather than compulsory.
The way schools are run continues to be changed by artificial intelligence. The annual survey has documented an explosion in the use of AI in trusts, with just 6% of CEOs reporting no formal adoption of the technologies this year.
The reach of AI includes use in teaching and assessment, staff training, and administration. The vast majority have introduced policies on how to use the tech to support good governance.
CST Chief Executive Leora Cruddas CBE said: “This year’s survey comes at an important time for schools in England. We stand on the edge of many big changes, with a renewed government that is seeking to understand the views of the sector on a wide range of issues.
“With anticipated changes to curriculum and to provision for children with SEND, we see education back as the most-named priority for trust leaders after two years in which finance led. This is not to say school funding is suddenly perfect: intense pressures remain, but boards and leaders now feel more confident in what they and their organisations need to do to reflect them.
“We are also seeing big changes in how we operate, with a startling growth in the use of artificial intelligence tools in classrooms and in trust administration.”
Edurio Managing Director Iona Kelliher said: “This landmark survey uncovers many areas of change and concern for school trust leaders, and also shows where they are taking the lead – embracing the use of AI, getting ahead on SEND, developing relationships with civic partners, and planning for the future of the sector.”
This is the fifth year the survey has been run, with the full survey report delivering a unique picture of the state of the country’s schools and trusts. 64% of pupils at state-funded schools now attend academies operated by school trust charities, rising to 84% at secondary level.
Trust accounting officers – those responsible to Parliament for the running of trusts, usually the trust’s chief executive – were invited to complete an online survey in June and July 2026.
