Future Focus: Governance Challenges on the Horizon

In this blog, we summarise the key insights and discussions from the Governance Sofa Session, Future Focus: Governance Challenges on the Horizon.

What Could Be Impacting Future Agendas

"We should be operating in a culture of no surprises".

What will place new expectations, compliance requirements and demands on all of us in governance? Governors and Trustees know that the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, received royal assent earlier this year, but various provisions come into force over the next few years. Do we need to be monitoring aspects of school provision that we don’t currently; are there implications for the way boards plan their annual workload and possibly how we organise governance on a trust and school basis?  

We run monthly training sessions on Hot Topics in Governance. Exploring what is new in terms of legislation, regulations, guidance and consultation that we all need to be aware of for the coming term’s meetings. Browse our catalogue of training sessions and Hot Topic sessions here. 

Regulations to Have on the Radar for Autumn 2026 

The SEND white paper ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving ’ was published in February 2026, and we know what the government are proposing, but they have also consulted on proposals and are currently analysing feedback from that consultation. This is likely to be the single largest element of change we will see and should be planning for. We have new School Food Regulations, set to shake up the provision, including breakfast club and tuck shop provision. We also have: 

• The new National Curriculum, coming out of the Curriculum and Assessment Review

• Digital and Technology Standards in Schools 

• Greater government focus on pupil attendance and wellbeing 

• The ongoing financial and budget balancing struggle facing many settings

• Academy Trust Handbook 2026 

Apart from the Academy Trust Handbook 2026, all of the other legislations listed above apply to maintained schools and trusts, and we are seeing expectations of both sectors align.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026

The act received Royal Assent in April 2026, and it contains a wide range of reforms affecting safeguarding, attendance, academies, teacher regulation, school admissions and pupil welfare. Not all provisions will take effect at the same time, and some will be implemented through regulations during this year, 2027 and beyond. 

There are two specific measures in the Children’s Well Being and Schools Act that apply to academies only. The requirement for new teacher recruits in academy trusts to have, or be working towards, Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and undertake statutory induction comes into place in September 2027. This will necessitate trusts to review their recruitment policies, change application forms, and reflect on recruitment policies and CPD processes. These are all compliance issues and potentially have cost implications for boards, who should be considering the implications this academic year.  

Benedict's Law

Stronger protections for children with allergies in schools (Benedict's Law) came into force earlier this month, with most provisions phasing in between June 2026 and September 2027, with the most significant school governance changes taking effect during the 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years. Boards will want to seek assurance that the new measures are in place; however, boards need to be considering now the new expectations on safeguarding, attendance, support for vulnerable children and information sharing. These changes are set to take effect between now and September next year.

Read our latest blog on Preparing for Benedict's Law: A Gap Analysis for Schools.

Ofsted Inspection Framework for MATs

We will see a new Ofsted inspection framework specifically for multi-academy trusts (MATs). Current speculation suggests this will appear, subject to further regulations, in Autumn 2027 or later. Trust Boards in MATs need to consider this now. Even though we don’t know the specifics of the framework, it has implications for trust leadership, including governance. Trusts may wish to reflect on the systems and trust-wide data they hold and share to ensure trustees have a sufficiently strong overview of the trusts' provision and performance that will satisfy the questions inspectors may ask of them. 

Every Child Achieving and Thriving 

For governing boards, the Every Child Achieving and Thriving White Paper signals the most significant SEND reforms since 2014. While the proposals were consulted this year, the government has not yet published its full response. However, the direction of travel is very clear: greater inclusion in mainstream schools, earlier intervention, and less reliance on EHCPs as the primary route to support. The most high-profile aspect of these reforms is more specialist SEND provision in mainstream schools. Inclusion Centres and Specialist Resource Provision (SRP) are among the new terms increasingly being used across the sector.

There are significant resourcing and operational elements linked to implementing the White Paper’s suggested reforms, and over 150 pages, the White Paper sets out an ambitious programme. While the consultation is still being considered by the DfE, and affordability remains a significant factor, it is not yet clear exactly what changes will be introduced or when they will be implemented.

All boards should be reflecting on inclusive practices across their school or trust. That starts with how inclusive our admission arrangements are (on paper and in practice), and what reasonable adaptations we make to meet the needs of pupils with SEND, including how we avoid suspending and excluding them. Consider exploring an Inclusion Centre or Specialist Resource Provision (SRP). However, any exploration of this would involve financial projections, estate management implications, conversations with other schools and Local Authorities. 

Curriculum and Assessment Review

Published in November 2025, the review does involve a significant amount of work in rethinking and redesigning both the Curriculum and the assessment processes that run alongside it. There have been recent announcements by the new Secretary of State for Education (Lucy Powell). The recent announcements sit mainly in the 14-19 and post-16 phase of the Curriculum and Assessment Review. The review concluded that England needs to better prepare young people for employment, technical careers and further study, while maintaining high academic standards. 

We have also seen a promised new National Curriculum, which will apply in full to academies as well as maintained schools. This is anticipated to be published in 2027, although it is not clear yet if this will be in the current academic year or post-September 2027. The anticipated roll-out of the new curriculum is not until September 2028. 

However, the implications for governors and trustees are considerable here and should be on the agenda and inform the strategic thinking of boards in both maintained schools and academy trusts. Some of the considerations should be: 

• Have we studied the curriculum and assessment review and feel well informed (even prepared) about what we know is likely to change? 

• How do potential changes link with and support changes to SEND provision? 

• What will be the costs of implementing the new curriculum (including resources, CPD, etc)? 

• Are there likely to be staffing changes to support delivery? 

• If we are an academy, do we know, as Trustees, how much of the current national curriculum we don’t teach? 

Digital and Technology Standards

The Digital and Technology standards in schools and colleges are not new. They were initially launched in March 2022, with an aspiration that schools and colleges should be ‘working towards meeting the six core standards by 2030.’In some settings, the seven-year lead time appears to have led many boards to place this expectation on the back burner.

The standards have a strong crossover with safeguarding expectations, and all boards need to be mindful of that. Both Filtering and Monitoring  (of online access) and cyber-security are already statutory and referenced in KCSIE. 

The six core standards are: 

• Broadband internet 

• Wireless network 

• Network switching 

• Filtering and monitoring 

• Cyber-security

• Digital leadership and governance

• Assign a senior leader to be responsible for digital technology 

• Keep registers relating to hardware and systems up to date 

• Include Digital Technology in disaster recovery and business continuity plans 

• Have a digital technology strategy that is reviewed every year. 

It is important to have the Digital and Technology standards on our radar and seek assurance that our schools are aware and making appropriate plans, especially as 2030 is not as far away.

Pupil Attendance and Wellbeing

Pupil attendance and wellbeing should be a greater focus going forward. Attendance has struggled to recover from the pandemic, and children and young people’s wellbeing, anxiety, and mental health play a significant part. What more can school leaders, governors and trustees expect? 

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act strengthens arrangements around school attendance and support for children missing education, with closer information-sharing and oversight requirements. Attendance remains a major government priority, linked to the ambition of reducing absence nationally. 

For governors, the attendance provisions are among the most significant practical changes emerging from both the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 and the government's wider education reforms. The direction of travel is away from viewing attendance as simply an attendance officer issue and towards seeing it as a whole-school safeguarding, inclusion and wellbeing responsibility. 

This is reflected in expectations that many boards already fulfil around how governance monitors attendance. It should not be simply knowing what % attendance the school had last term; it should be about governors understanding what the school is doing about it, what the impact of school/trust actions are in terms of attendance and an expectation that more detailed data is shared and questioned by trust boards and governing bodies. It’s about reflecting on our level of knowledge, how we are informed and how we are holding school leaders to account for improving attendance over time.

Financial Sustainability

A good example of where longer-term strategic focus is required is in relation to teachers' pay.Initially, this year’s pay award was not expected to be fully funded. However, following the revaluation of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), which many school support staff are members of, the government announced on 16 September that additional funding would be made available. There are savings on school pension contributions which will be fed back into school revenue, meaning overall funding may cover this year’s inflationary Teachers’ Pay award, but there are no guarantees that LGPS will be in surplus next year and schools may well have to fund next year's awards through savings/job losses. 

Three-years (and beyond) financial planning should very much be on the strategic agenda of governance. It should not simply be a nod and move on matter, but one trustees and governors take seriously, view alongside staff structure and fully understand the implications of what their setting must do now to avoid a deficit situation down the road.

The Future of Academy Trusts

• Do we jump before we're pushed?

• As a stand-alone trust, do we look to create a trust?  

• And if in a MAT, do we grow through merger & acquisition? 

Key Takeaway

For example, the SEND White Paper proposals have implications for how schools adopt the new national curriculum, which in turn impacts financial decisions that will need to be taken moving forward. 

Governance Expertise and Partnership Lead, Steve Barker, will be speaking at our Annual Safeguarding Virtual Conference on governance oversight of suspensions and exclusions through a safeguarding perspective. Click the banner below to book your place. 

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