Safeguarding is always a limiting judgement.

For individual schools, that is well understood. But during a multi academy trust safeguarding inspection, the focus shifts beyond one academy and into organisational leadership, governance, and oversight across multiple schools.

Multi-academy trusts have the same statutory responsibilities for safeguarding as any other school. However, how those responsibilities are inspected is evolving. The inspection system for academy trusts is changing, and safeguarding sits at the centre of that shift.

In this guide, we explore:

• How safeguarding inspections function in a multi academy trust
• How this differs from school level inspection
• What inspectors look for in trust leaders and governance
• How trust safeguarding oversight is evaluated
• What the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill signals for the future
• How trusts can strengthen compliance, consistency and transparency
• How Schudio supports academy trusts with compliance support and MAT Portal tools

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Safeguarding in Multi-Academy Trusts: Statutory Duties Remain the Same

Multi academy trusts are responsible for ensuring that safeguarding practices are effective throughout their schools.

Under Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) and Working Together to Safeguard Children, academy trusts must:

• Ensure each academy has a designated safeguarding lead
• Maintain compliant safeguarding policies
• Implement safer recruitment procedures
• Monitor safeguarding concerns
• Work with the local authority and children’s services
• Protect children from abuse, neglect and harm

Every school within a multi academy trust must have a designated safeguarding lead responsible for safeguarding issues. Trust leaders remain responsible for ensuring that safeguarding is effective throughout their schools, even where responsibilities are delegated to school governing bodies.

Statutory duties do not reduce at trust level. They become more complex.

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How a Multi Academy Trust Safeguarding Inspection Differs from a School Inspection

Individual schools undergo mandatory Ofsted inspections, which include a formal safeguarding judgement. Safeguarding is graded as a binary “met” or “not met” judgement under updated 2025/26 guidance.

Trust inspection operates differently.

Currently, trusts undergo Multi-Academy Trust Summary Evaluations (MATSEs), which consist of a two-stage process.

Stage 1: Routine Inspections of Academies

Stage 1 involves Ofsted’s routine inspections of several academies within the trust. Inspectors focus on:

• The Single Central Record
• Child protection case management
• Culture of vigilance
• Policy implementation
• Interviews with staff and pupils
• Scrutiny of safeguarding concerns
• Reviewing child protection files

Key components include:

• Auditing the Single Central Record (SCR)
• Case file reviews assessing timely action and appropriate referrals
• Reviewing safeguarding procedures
• Assessing how concerns are escalated

This stage mirrors school inspections but begins to reveal patterns across multiple schools.

Stage 2: Trust-Level Evaluation

Stage 2 of the MATSE includes a week-long evaluation at the trust’s head office.

Here inspectors assess:

• Trustee oversight
• Strategic governance
• Centralised support systems
• Safeguarding assurance frameworks
• Information sharing
• Centralised quality assurance
• How effectively trusts improve schools and promote pupil wellbeing

A multi academy trust safeguarding inspection at this stage becomes organisational.

Inspectors evaluate collaboration between the trust’s central leadership and local academies in protecting pupils.

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The Future: Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill proposes transitioning to a formal statutory basis for MAT inspections.

The government has indicated that:

• Ofsted will begin inspecting multi academy trusts directly
• Trust inspections will focus on leadership, governance and impact
• A binary judgement will be reached on whether trusts meet acceptable standards
• Ofsted will notify academy trusts before inspection
• Trusts must inform parents and staff
• Inspection reports will be sent to the education secretary and published publicly
• New intervention powers will allow action where trusts fail to meet standards

The Department for Education will consult on new intervention powers, including the potential for Ofsted to close multi academy trusts based on trust-level education failures.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has emphasised greater transparency and independent scrutiny within the trust sector.

Safeguarding will sit at the centre of that scrutiny.

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What Inspectors Look for in a Multi Academy Trust Safeguarding Inspection

1. A Clear Safeguarding Assurance Framework

Trust leaders emphasised the importance of a clear safeguarding assurance framework consistent across all schools.

Inspectors look for:

• Structured oversight systems
• Central safeguarding leads
• Defined escalation routes
• Regular review cycles
• RAG rating systems tracking compliance
• Bi-annual safeguarding audits
• A dedicated safeguarding committee

MAT audits verify that the trust has harmonised diverse schools into a single high-standard safeguarding framework.

Trust leaders must demonstrate how systems ensure consistency across all the schools within the trust.

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2. Oversight of the Single Central Record

A Single Central Record audit ensures a standardised, accurate and up-to-date SCR exists across all schools.

Inspectors evaluate:

• Compliance with minimum recording requirements
• Consistency across academies
• Oversight mechanisms
• How deficiencies are addressed

Safeguarding inspections in a multi academy trust verify a consistent trust-wide culture of safety. The SCR is a visible indicator of that culture.

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3. Case Management and Complex Cases

Case file reviews assess:

• Evidence of timely action
• Appropriate referrals to children’s services
• Follow-ups on safeguarding concerns
• Oversight of vulnerable groups

Trust leaders must be able to explain how complex cases are escalated and monitored.

Inspectors will explore how safeguarding issues are tracked across the organisation, not just within one academy.

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4. Governance and Trustee Accountability

Inspectors evaluate how those responsible for governance perform their statutory duties, including safeguarding.

Trust inspections focus heavily on:

• How trustees hold school leaders to account
• Whether safeguarding appears in board minutes
• Whether trustees receive safeguarding training
• How risks are escalated

Trust leaders are always involved in strategic school leadership decisions, regardless of operating model.

Strong academy trusts demonstrate active governance rather than passive receipt of reports.

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5. Leadership and School Improvement

Trust inspections provide independent scrutiny of how effectively trusts improve schools and promote pupil wellbeing.

Inspectors evaluate:

• How safeguarding supports educational standards
• How trusts support improvement in weaker schools
• How strong schools working within the trust share safeguarding expertise
• How trust resources enable greater learning and well being

Trust leaders often highlight how:

• Experts employed by the trust support staff
• Behaviour systems are standardised
• Curriculum work supports children’s wellbeing
• Greater transparency improves safeguarding confidence

Safeguarding is not separate from improvement. It underpins it.

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The Role of Trust Leaders

Trust leaders are central during a multi academy trust safeguarding inspection.

Inspectors expect trust leaders to demonstrate:

• Clear strategic vision
• Defined safeguarding practices
• Active monitoring systems
• Oversight of school level safeguarding
• Supportive role in strengthening individual schools

Trust leaders must show how they:

• Ensure consistency
• Provide guidance
• Support staff
• Monitor risks
• Escalate concerns
• Engage with local services
• Work with the local authority

The role of the trust in safeguarding can sometimes be unclear during school inspections. Strong academy trusts remove that ambiguity through clear documentation and communication.

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Online Safety Across a Multi Academy Trust

Trusts must ensure filtering and monitoring systems are appropriate across all academies.

Inspectors may ask:

• How systems block illegal content
• How inappropriate online material is managed
• How online safety training is delivered
• How online safety policies are reviewed

Trust-wide oversight might include:

• Central dashboards
• Shared acceptable use policies
• Annual review of filtering effectiveness
• Networks for designated safeguarding leads

Online safety must be age appropriate across phases, including early years and special schools.

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Safeguarding Culture Across Multiple Schools

Safeguarding inspections in a multi academy trust verify a consistent culture of vigilance.

Inspectors assess:

• Whether pupils feel safe
• Whether parents know how to raise concerns
• Whether staff understand procedures
• Whether safeguarding practices are embedded

Safeguarding culture must extend beyond one school.

It must be visible across multiple schools, including one academy that may face particular challenges.

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Greater Transparency and Independent Scrutiny

The evolving inspection framework emphasises:

• Fair accountability
• Greater transparency
• Independent scrutiny of high quality trusts
• Recognition of excellence
• Support improvement

Trust leaders want clearer recognition of the impact that trusts have on school improvement journeys.

The new inspection framework aims to recognise excellence while introducing intervention powers where trusts fail to meet acceptable standards.

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How Schudio Supports Academy Trusts with Safeguarding Oversight

Managing safeguarding compliance across multiple schools is complex.

Consistency across academy trusts requires:

• Structured policy control
• Central visibility
• Version management
• Accessible safeguarding information
• Clear contact details
• Regular review processes

Schudio supports multi academy trusts through:

1. Compliance Support

Our compliance support services help trusts:

• Review safeguarding policies against statutory guidance
• Ensure safeguarding information is accessible within one click
• Audit consistency across academy websites
• Identify gaps before inspections
• Prepare for multi academy trust safeguarding inspection

We work with trust leaders and school leaders to ensure that safeguarding content reflects both statutory duties and inspection expectations.

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2. MAT Portal

Schudio’s MAT Portal provides centralised oversight across academy trusts.

It enables trusts to:

• Push updated child protection policies to all schools
• Maintain consistent safeguarding information
• Track version control
• Monitor compliance centrally
• Manage safeguarding dashboards
• Ensure consistency across multiple schools

Instead of relying on manual checks, trusts can implement structured systems that demonstrate oversight during inspection.

MAT Portal strengthens transparency, reduces risk, and supports improvement.

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3. Safeguarding Dashboards and Audit Readiness

Trusts can use RAG rating systems to track compliance against KCSIE requirements and prepare for audit readiness.

Schudio supports:

• Central safeguarding audits
• Website compliance tracking
• Documentation review cycles
• Structured reporting for trustees

When inspectors ask how trust leaders ensure safeguarding effectiveness across all academies, centralised systems provide a confident answer.

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Preparing for a Multi Academy Trust Safeguarding Inspection

Trust leaders should ask:

• Do we have full visibility of safeguarding across our schools?
• Are safeguarding policies consistent?
• Is our Single Central Record monitored centrally?
• Are trustees engaged in safeguarding review?
• Are safeguarding concerns tracked across academies?
• Are we meeting acceptable standards?
• Are we prepared for independent scrutiny under the evolving inspection system?

Multi academy trusts are responsible for the overall effectiveness of every school in the trust.

Safeguarding cannot be delegated and forgotten.

It must be governed.

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Final Thoughts

A multi academy trust safeguarding inspection assesses whether safeguarding is embedded across the organisation, not just in individual schools.

Inspectors evaluate leadership, governance, oversight, culture and systems.

With the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill introducing new powers and greater transparency, trust inspection will become more formal and more visible.

High quality trusts that demonstrate strong safeguarding governance will recognise excellence and promote pupil wellbeing.

Those that lack structured oversight may face increased scrutiny.

Strong academy trusts combine:

• Clear safeguarding practices
• Effective systems
• Transparent reporting
• Central support
• Consistent policies
• Active governance
• Ongoing review

Safeguarding is not simply about meeting acceptable standards.

It is about protecting children and enabling greater learning across every academy in the trust.