Volunteering as a Trustee: FAQs

Once we receive your registration, we’ll be in touch to help organise a call for you with one of our experienced advisers. During this call, which typically lasts 45 minutes, the adviser will discuss with you your past experiences, skills, and knowledge, as well as checking suitability for the current roles we have available. Once we have established a potentially suitable match for you – based on skills, location, phase (e.g., primary or secondary), ethos, and other factors – we’ll share the details with you for review and confirmation of interest. If you’re happy to go forward, we’ll share your expression of interest and CV/career summary with the trust for consideration. We’ll organise a direct introduction between you and the nominated trust lead and, from that point onwards, you will liaise directly with the trust, including references and necessary checks and induction.

It’s very much dependent on a variety of factors, including your location, skills, and the kind of trust you’re hoping to support. Sometimes the process can move really quickly and introductions occur soon after the initial call with our Adviser, but there can be a wait while we work to identify a good match for you. We’ll keep in touch to let you know how things are going and answer any questions you may have along the way.

Appointments and all associated steps related to the formal process are the responsibility of the trust.

The role of trustee / director is very ‘eyes on, hands off’. Trustees typically require a strategic mindset and ability to adopt a view across all of the sites and academies within a trust. The role is principally responsible for holding the trust’s executive leadership to account, offering scrutiny and challenge, and ensuring both robust governance and decision-making and good value for taxpayers’ money. This is why we seek senior leaders well-versed in operating a C-suite/board or strategic leadership positions, comfortable in assimilating large sets of information and connecting dots across a – potentially very broad and complex – organisation.

Funding for academy trusts is delivered by central government (Department for Education) and the board of trustees and Members are accountable to the DfE for its expenditure and delivering educational outcomes in return.

While there is no single set governance structure, many trusts will adopt a very similar set of arrangements, with trustees overseeing all of the academies in a trust and reporting to the trust’s Members Board, which is responsible for receiving the annual accounts and has the ability to appoint and remove trustees. Local Governing Boards are responsible for individual schools and report to the trust’s Board of Trustees. Most trusts will operate a number of sub-committees, each responsible for a specific area of delivery, such as Audit or HR.

Academy Trusts have funding agreements with the DfE related to delivering greater autonomy.

Depending on the size of the trust, the current and upcoming challenges and priorities, and any committee roles you undertake, the time commitment would typically range from four to eight hours per month. This would usually include meeting preparation, reading and any school/site visits, as well as time in meetings. Roles such as Chair and Vice Chair would usually see a greater time commitment.

Academy trusts are both charities operating under charity law and companies listed on Companies House and, therefore, subject to company law. In Academy Trust governance terms, these roles are ‘dual’ in nature – individuals operate as trustees of the charity and directors of the company. Appointed trustees/directors are therefore listed on Companies House and subject to all applicable company laws.

This is dependent on the individual trust and opportunity but typically it’ll be a four-year term of office.

As the world continues to adapt to life with COVID-19, many trusts are more flexible in terms of meeting attendance and utilising IT/video call software to facilitate attendance. We are happy to make note of any preferences you have in relation to this and communicate it to trusts to which we match you. We’d advise that most trusts would be keen to have at least some meetings with all members in face-to-face attendance.

Some trusts may offer expenses in relation to specific aspects of the role, but ordinarily this is not a paid position.

No! In fact, we love to know where you’ve had other experiences in similar or complementary roles. Our adviser may discuss some of the specifics with you to ensure there aren’t any conflicts, so it’s really helpful to know details around the location, nature, and extent of your past experience.

Not at all. While some trusts might be looking to add people to their boards with prior knowledge or expertise in education, many trusts are actively seeking individuals who have no previous experience or assumed knowledge. Fresh eyes and a new way of thinking about challenges can positively impact a board and ensure it benefits from innovative approaches and perspectives. While the education world is full of jargon and acronyms, trusts will usually offer induction and training to bring you up to speed on important information and data you’ll need to fulfil your role.

Yes – all appointed candidates will be subject to background checks and references, due to the nature of the role and potential contact with young and/or vulnerable people.

Local knowledge and appreciation of challenges is often sought by trusts, along with good representation of the local community. There is no reason why you can’t be a trustee/director in your local area, though independence is also beneficial on boards.

There isn’t a set figure, but it’s generally accepted that boards should consist of between 9 and 11 people.

It’s a matter of choice, preference and how you’d like to utilise your time, skills and the benefit of your experience in a voluntary role. Both positions are hugely rewarding and offer chances to make a difference to the educational outcomes of young people. Where you have extensive knowledge and experience in a strategic leadership role, it may be that you feel you can offer greater value at board level, helping to define and deliver a strategy that affects the whole trust. However, you might feel detached from the specific school context and feel that a governor role can offer greater connection to the community or area. Both are great ways to offer time and at Governors for Schools we can help identify both kinds of role to suit you. Chat with us if you’re not sure and we can help offer advice and guidance.

Definitely! There is no pre-requisite for education or charity governance experience of any kind.

While training and induction is primarily the responsibility of the trust post-appointment, we’re delighted to offer twelve months of access to resources and training webinars for every person appointed through our service. These resources will enrich and supplement the standard training provided by your trust.

As a charity, GfS is funded by a combination of private donations and our own revenue-generating activities, for events, services and sponsorship. We operate as a non-profit, so all revenue generated by the organisation is invested back into improving the service and ensuring the highest level of support for trusts and the education sector more broadly.