Proposals for six Catholic academy trusts in the West Midlands to merge into one 63-school multi-academy trust have received ministerial approval.
The West Midlands Regional Advisory Board (RAB) escalated the proposals to the minister after discussion at the , under interim regional director Jonathan Duff.
The board identified some risks but the minutes of the meeting state that these were not considered to be reasons not to support the merger. The case was escalated to the minister “due to its novel nature”, the minutes published yesterday show.
Steve Bell, director of education for the Archdiocese of Birmingham, told Tes that the proposals received ministerial approval in April. The new MAT will be one of the largest in the country.
“We’re now in the throes of setting it all up,” he said.
Merger to form big Catholic MAT
Some 56 academies will join the MAT, along with six schools that are voluntarily converting and one school with an academy order in place, to form the new trust, to be called St Gabriel the Archangel. Mr Bell said it is on track to launch from 1 September as planned.
The Department for Education did not require any additional evidence that the diocese had not already given to the RAB, he added. The RAB had asked for clarification on things like who would be doing school improvement work and financial details.
Schools in existing trusts The Newman Catholic Collegiate (nine schools), All Saints Catholic Collegiate (five schools), Christ the King Catholic Collegiate (six schools), St Francis and St Clare Catholic MAC (12 schools), and The St John Bosco Catholic Academy (eight schools) requested permission to transfer to The Painsley Catholic Academy (16 schools), which will then be renamed St Gabriel the Archangel.
The trust changes were escalated to the minister. The RAB approved the conversion of six schools that will join St Gabriel the Archangel.
The trust will be across five local authorities in the West Midlands - Dudley, Sandwell, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent and Wolverhampton.
Five of the converter schools are in Staffordshire and one is in Sandwell. The school with an academy order is not listed in the minutes of the February meeting.
“This consolidation aims to strengthen Catholic education across the region, leveraging years of collaboration with the Archdiocese of Birmingham to provide a unified, strategic approach,” the RAB notes state.
“The vision for this merger, which gained traction in the summer of 2024, is to create a cohesive, high-performing trust that will serve the needs of pupils, staff and local communities while ensuring long-term sustainability and growth in line with Catholic educational values.”
Outlining the plans in December, Mr Bell told Tes that the archdiocese still planned for its remaining 55 voluntary aided schools to join MATs.
Most Catholic dioceses are planning to continue moving their schools into MATs, with several hoping to create larger Catholic MATs.
The West Midlands February RAB also declined an application from four primary schools in Dudley to convert and form a new academy trust called Round Oak Collaborative.
An application for nine primary schools in Walsall to convert and form The Lighthouse Trust was approved, and a bid from five primary schools to convert and form Four Hills Education Trust was also approved.
Find our interactive map of England’s multi-academy trusts by clicking here, where you will also find links to all our MAT Tracker content
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