The CST National Survey of School Trusts

1st March 2022

Today, the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) has launched its first National Survey of School Trusts in partnership with Edurio, the experts in stakeholder research for the sector.

This survey of Accounting Officers aims to create a unique and powerful picture of our sector by exploring the progress and priorities of school trusts across the five domains of activity that CST believes make up a strong trust.

These are outlined in a recent Discussion Paper as expert governance, quality of education, effective and efficient operations, workforce development and well-being, and public benefit and civic duty. The survey also invites views on the effectiveness of CST as the sector body and what trusts expect from it in the coming year.

Leora Cruddas, Chief Executive of CST said, ‘"In the run up to the publication of the education white paper it is vital that we understand where school trusts are in their development and identify the support that they need to deliver an excellent education for every child. We are grateful to Accounting Officers for contributing to this important work."

Ernest Jenavs, Co-Founder of Edurio said, "As a sector, we are strongest when we can learn from each other and have a shared voice. We are proud to support CST in this inaugural national research that will bring together the views of all trust leaders. We look forward to sharing the results with CST, trust and school leaders and policymakers.”

The survey is open to every trust in England for the whole of March 2022, and we are inviting one response per trust. The survey findings will help to shape the knowledge and support that CST provides and inform its policy work. Each participating trust will also receive a short report outlining its individual results against the sector benchmark

See here for more information