New governance guides explained 💬

25 March 2024 | 5 minute read

Two new governance guides have been published by the Department for Education (DfE).

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This would usually mean changes to your duties and responsibilities as a governance volunteer - but these updates are actually a bit different.

We’ve been chatting to GovernorHub Knowledge content editor, Elaina Blakey, to find out why.

Firstly Elaina, can you tell us why we now have 2 separate guides, not just 1 handbook?

Well, the governance handbook was first published in 2015 so it was certainly due for an update. As you’re aware, it contained everything boards needed to know to be compliant with the law and their statutory responsibilities and yet over time it gradually became clear that it wasn’t working in its attempts to serve both the maintained and academy sector.

The language we use in each sector is different and so are some of the requirements. The purpose of governance in an academy trust is also slightly different - although there are key themes that run across both. It’s much more appropriate that we now have two separate guidance documents.

There’s very little that’s actually new in each document but there has been a change of format. Instead of a very long PDF document, the guidance is now hosted online with relevant sections that you can expand. There’s also a useful search function. The aim has been to streamline the guidance, making it more accessible, concise and easier to search.

We know this will take a bit of getting used to for governors, trustees and governance professionals who like to print off a PDF - and actually we’ve received that feedback about the guides ourselves from our members, who are disappointed that they can’t print it off. You can be sure however, when going online that you’re viewing up-to-date information. If you download a file locally or print it, you will need to keep checking back to see if there are any updates, and no one needs that extra admin.

No big changes then but anything more subtle?

There is a slight change in emphasis around staff wellbeing that I noticed in both sets of guidance and when we checked with the DfE, this was confirmed. In the previous handbook, it says governors ‘should be mindful of staff wellbeing’ but in the new versions there is greater detail about how staff wellbeing should be considered when making decisions and also in monitoring. There are even links to specific items from the planning and resources review group recommendations into marking and data management. We think that’s a really positive change given some of the current challenges in the sector.

Most people are familiar with the 3 core functions of a governing body. These remain in the maintained guide but they’ve been removed from the academy version - why is that?

The 3 core functions of a governing body have been explicitly removed from the academy guidance - we knew this was coming because of the related changes to the Academy Trust Handbook last year. For the maintained guide, the DfE has continued to bring everything back to the 3 core functions of a governing body but for academies, the trust board has a much wider remit and the purpose of governance differs.

For the academy guidance, the DfE has actually consolidated a lot of previous guidance which makes things a lot easier for the academy sector. Guidance which spoke to the purpose of the trust board in the Academy Trust Handbook is now incorporated into the academy governance guide.

When might a regular governor at a maintained school or local academy governor refer to these new guides?

The guides remain the key reference point for boards and represent the DfE’s view of good governance in each sector. So, if you’re wanting to check something specific, such as the difference between types of governor or which checks new governors need - the guides will be your reference. Where they’re not going to serve you as well is in telling you how to be an effective governor or trustee in practice. That’s been left to organisations like us.

We know from speaking to the DfE that this is a deliberate shift. There’s been a move to streamline the guidance and signpost to credible sources of information where you can find out how to improve your governance.

Tell me a bit more about the role of the clerk or governance professional and how that’s mentioned in the guides.

Well, the term clerk has gone altogether from the academy version which now refers solely to the governance professional. In the maintained guide, it is recommended that the governance professional or clerk should have an appraisal which the chair is responsible for. In the academy guide, it states that the board needs to support the governance professional in identifying, accessing and allowing them to attend further training and development. We’re pleased to see the importance placed on the role and development of the governance professional in the guides.This was something we highlighted in our 2023 Women’s Work report into salaries and working patterns of 1,298 governance professionals working in schools and trusts.

In addition, in the maintained guide, it states explicitly that the governing body must listen to the independent advice that the governance professional provides and have due regard to that advice when exercising its functions.

Do you think the new guides will make it easier for boards of all types to fulfil their duties?

Yes, I do. It makes a lot more sense to recognise the differences within the sector. The new streamlined approach should also make it quicker and easier to find what you need. The language has been changed slightly too so it’s more appropriate for each sector. Previously academy boards might look for something in the Governance Handbook but they’d also need to check how it relates to academies in other guidance too. You now have one, go-to guide that’s serving the school you’re working in.

Find out more

Read the DfE's maintained schools governance guide
Read the DfE's academy trust governance guide
Read the GovernorHub Knowledge Maintained schools governance guide: summary of changes (members only)
Read the GovernorHub Knowledge Academy trust governance guide: summary of changes (members only)