Guidance

Due diligence in academies and maintained schools

Best practice guidance for governing bodies of maintained schools, local authorities and academy trusts.

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 28 February 2019
• Last updated: 11 May 2021 — See all updates

Applies to England

Documents

Due diligence: best practice guide for maintained schools, local authorities and academy trusts

HTML

Annex 1 - due diligence suggested stage 1 template

ODT, 45.4 KB

This file is in an OpenDocument format

Annex 2 - due diligence land and buildings checklist

ODT, 43.5 KB

This file is in an OpenDocument format

Details

Due diligence can be defined as the process of making sure all stakeholders understand the information needed to enable them to make fully informed decisions about transferring a school into a new academy trust.

Information can include:

• costs
• risks
• benefits
• assets
• liabilities

The importance of rigorous due diligence was highlighted in the Public Accounts Committee’s report about converting schools to academies.

Published 28 February 2019
Last updated 11 May 2021 + show all updates

1. 11 May 2021

   We have updated this page with some minor changes and improvements, and to change it to an ESFA page.

2. 28 February 2019

   First published.