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Governing board roles

The role of members in an academy trust

Learn how and why members are essential to the integrity of an academy trust governance structure.

Guidance
06/05/2026
training small class taking notes from whiteboard

Academy trusts are set up as charitable companies and so must have members. The members of an academy trust can be described as the “guardians of the governance of the trust”.

The members hold the trust board to account for effective governance and are responsible for:

  • ensuring that the academy trust’s charitable objective – which for most trusts can be summarised as ‘advancing education for the public benefit’ – is being met
  • assessing if the trust board is performing well and, if not, taking suitable action

Our guide can be used by both members and trustees for clarification on who the members are, the remit and limitations of the role and how the members work with the trust board.

The guidance covers:

  • how members contribute to academy trust governance
  • how many members are required
  • member recruitment
  • what members do
  • how often members meet
  • holding the trust board to account

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