The structure of governance and the responsibilities of governors differ slightly depending on the type of school you join. We’ve outlined the governance structures of academy trusts on this page, but if you’re a governor at a maintained school, you can read more about the role.
If you’re a governor of an academy, it’s likely you’ll sit on a local governing board (LGB) within a multi-academy trust (MATs).
MATs are charitable companies that run multiple academies under contract with the Department for Education. They have greater autonomy than maintained schools, so they have the flexibility to determine their own governance arrangements.
Technically speaking, LGBs are committees of the MAT’s board of trustees. They have been delegated responsibilities for overseeing a particular school within the MAT. The board of trustees can decide which powers to delegate and retains overall accountability for all the academies in the MAT.
This means a governor role on one LGB can look very different to a role on another.
The MAT’s scheme of delegation can help you to understand your particular role on the LGB and how decision making takes place more widely across the MAT.