CST National School Trust Report

For the fifth year, the Confederation of School Trusts and Edurio have partnered to conduct the National School Trust Survey.

The design of the survey is informed by CST’s Building Strong Trusts framework and explores school trust priorities and challenges across the various elements of trust leadership.

The survey covers trusts of all sizes, ranging from trusts with a single academy to those managing dozens of schools, making it a representative sample of school trusts across the sector.

To ensure reliability, trust accounting officers were invited to respond to the survey via a dedicated link available only to them, allowing for a single response per trust, making this the most extensive and validated set of trust CEO priorities and challenges.

National School Trust Report 2026

National School Trust Report 2025

National School Trust Report 2024

National School Trust Report 2023

National School Trust Report 2022

Resource Attendance Behaviour Civic duty Estates and facilities Financial management Governance Inclusion Operations Partner content People and culture Special educational needs Staff recruitment Technology Expert ethical leadership Finance and operations High quality inclusive education Public benefit and civic duty School improvement at scale Strategic governance Workforce resilience and wellbeing