It is rare for colleges to run schools. Early examples – which usually involved a college in a consortium of local organisations sponsoring a trust – failed.
But new analysis shows the college-led trust model is slowly gaining traction. Jessica Hill investigates.
Department for Education data suggests 41 colleges are the main sponsors of academy trusts – up from 21 in 2018.
However, our analysis shows only 29 appear to have schools under their remit. Nine of the colleges listed by the DfE no longer exist, and three no longer sponsor schools.
But the number of schools sponsored by colleges is up by 174 per cent in the past four years from 57 to 156. The average college now sponsors more than five schools.
It comes after a rocky start. The Salford Academy Trust was set up in 2012 as a partnership between Salford council, the University of Salford and Salford College.
