The range of sponsors has become increasingly diverse. In the early days of the programme, when sponsors were required to make a financial contribution, they were mainly business philanthropists or charitable educational organisations. This is no long the case and sponsorship has broadened to include universities, colleges, faith organisations and some independent schools.
More recently, outstanding schools and academies have themselves become sponsors, bringing other schools into a single multi-academy trust, deploying their expertise and resources to improve weaker schools.
Successful sponsors of groups of academies typically have an organisational structure for supporting the schools within their multi-academy trust. This is funded through a share of the additional resources provided to each academy in place of local authority funding.
New sponsors who need financial assistance in the early stages of academy sponsorship and to help build capacity in order to sponsor one or more underperforming schools can apply for funding. Schools and organisations interested in becoming sponsors should contact the Office of the Schools Commissioner for more information.
