Are MATs all the same?

MATs differ in many ways including size, structure and whether they are secondary specialists, primary specialists or cover all both. But perhaps the most important areas of difference is the Trust's values and focus.

Some MATs have a strong belief that making the key decisions for the schools should be predominantly a responsibility of the Trust Board and Chief Officers of the central team. In these MATs budget setting and curriculum is likely to be decided by the MAT for its schools.

Other MATs sit at the opposite end of the spectrum and believe that the schools should be in control of the local decisions. In these MATs the Head and Governing Bodies are key and retain similar control of their budgets, identity and ethos to those in local authority control.

Therefore when looking at a MAT it is very important to understand what their values are; the delegation of powers they provide to their schools and compare this to what your school, staff and pupils need. Look at the values of the Trust and their Scheme of Delegation to find out some inital information.

The other key difference is the sevrvices that are provided. Generally the benefits of being in the MAT revolve around these services. Back office functions such as finance, HR and premises are usually significantly supported in a MAT but probably the key service is School Improvement. Many local authorities have had to cut back on school improvement and now their role is limited to quality assurance functions. In a MAT, school improvement is seen as the quality assurance followed up with bespoke support for all schools to help them improve further and also the interaction and support networks between schools in the MAT.

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