By Andi Brown, Partner
The Academy Trust Handbook 2026 takes effect on 1 October, a month later than the usual September start. The DfE moved the date because publishing the handbook so close to the summer break could make it difficult for trusts to implement changes in time. Credit where it's due: that's a department recognising the reality trusts actually work in.
But moving the date solved one problem and quietly created another, and I'm not sure the knock-on effects were fully worked through.
The extra month didn't land in the summer, where it would have been genuinely useful. It landed across the first four weeks of the autumn term, arguably the busiest stretch of the school year. Boards meet. Autumn recruitment opens. Budget monitoring begins against a plan set in July. Contract renewals timed to the academic year come due. Every one of those is a decision point, and the rules governing them change partway through.
Take CFO recruitment. If your trust has more than 3,000 pupils, a CFO campaign launched in September doesn't need to specify a recognised accountancy qualification. Launch the same campaign on or after 1 October, and it should. Or take a settlement conversation: open it in September and it sits under one set of expectations; conclude it in October and it sits under another.
None of that is a compliance failure waiting to happen. But it is avoidable confusion, and confusion in high-risk areas is precisely what nobody has capacity for right now.
With only days to go, my advice is simple. Treat what's left of September as the deadline, not as breathing room. Get your documentation, policies and templates aligned to the 2026 handbook now, so that when 1 October arrives, nothing in your trust has to change.
More time was the right instinct. But time only helps when you have some to spare, and the month we were handed is the month we have least of it.
Correct in September. Enjoy October.
Download our ATH 2026 playbooks (for Finance and HR & Recruitment) to make sure your teams know exactly which policies affect them day to day.