What 'having your say' revealed this year

The results of the National Governance Association (NGA) annual survey of governors and trustees are out. NGA has published 3 separate reports into the findings which span a huge breadth of issues.

This year's findings revealed, amongst other things:

> Balancing the budget is the biggest challenge facing schools in England

> Operating costs, including energy prices, present a growing challenge (even before prices reached current levels)

> Support for pupils with special educational needs is a key issue for governing boards

> There's been a steady increase in positivity about the benefits of being in a multi-academy trust from those governing at local academy level

> There's currently an increasing but still low appetite for joining a trust from maintained schools and single academy trusts

> Significant board vacancies exist across the sector, with 67% of respondents reporting 1 vacancy and 38% reporting 2 or more

> The number of 'younger' governors (under 40 years old) is the lowest on record. More than half of us are now over 60 years old

> There's been very little movement on ethnic diversity, but new volunteers are more likely to be representative of the adult population

Read the full set of reports for a deeper understanding of the priorities and challenges facing our schools.