What is a federation?

There are two federation models:

• ‘Formal Collaboration’: where two or more maintained schools arrange for many of their functions to be carried out jointly such as through joint committees and joint board meetings), but they don’t form one governing board.

• Federation: two or more maintained schools are governed collectively under a single governing body whose role is to set all the strategic objectives for all the schools in the grouping.

Schools that federate remain as LA maintained schools but can explore similar opportunities that smaller Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) do.

Within a formal collaborative model:

• each school retains their separate legal status and will keep its existing DfE category and wouldn’t gain, lose or change its religious character,
• will receive their own budget allocations,
• continues to have its admissions determined by the appropriate admissions authority; and
• is inspected individually by Ofsted.

Entering a federation is a long-term commitment. However, it is possible to leave a federation if circumstances change.