One of England’s largest multi-academy trusts has reported a significant turnaround in its finances, moving from a £3 million deficit to a £3.4 million surplus in a year.

Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) recorded 41 schools and a revenue surplus of £6.4 million in 2024-25, its latest accounts state.

This reduced to an underlying surplus of £3.4 million once capital movements, pension adjustments and the use of £1.5 million of revenue funding on capital projects were excluded.

The comparable figure for the previous financial year was a £3 million underlying deficit, meaning there was a year-on-year turnaround of more than £6 million.

The trust, which was formerly led by Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver, has 12 primaries, 27 secondaries, one junior school and one alternative provision setting.

A spokesperson for the trust said that, in 2023-24, it made a “strategic decision” to run an in-year deficit to “support the transition from post-Covid recovery to the implementation of the trust’s new improvement strategy”. They said this included a new key stage 3 reading strategy.

The year-on-year change in the trust’s overall balance also reflects a “better than expected” net pay settlement when the core schools budget grant was confirmed in September 2024 and “a reduction in the amount transferred between revenue reserves and capital reserves”, the spokesperson added.

The trust used £1.5 million of revenue funding for capital projects, down from £3.3 million the previous year.

Reserves surpass £43m

OGAT reported total expenditure of £263.6 million during the 2024-25 financial year, of which £270.1 million was recurrent grant funding and other income.

The trust’s income increased by £16.8 million compared with the previous year. It said this was due to an increase in pupil numbers and a corresponding increase in funding per pupil. Its day-to-day expenditure increased by a smaller margin.

OGAT’s pupil numbers increased slightly during this period, from 30,727 to 30,793.

It also benefited from £1.86 million in interest from short-term bank deposits.

The trust’s unrestricted reserves as of August 2025 were £21 million, with combined restricted and unrestricted reserves of £43.7 million. This was up 9 per cent from £40.2 million in 2023-24.

Contingency pot lowered

The accounts show that the trust reduced the level of reserves it holds as contingency to release funding for capital investment.

OGAT said it had historically aimed to hold contingency reserves equivalent to four weeks of salary costs, which would have been £15.6 million in 2025-26, but reduced this to £13.3 million during the year.

It said the move was consistent with Department for Education guidance on academy trust reserves and allowed additional funds to be invested in capital projects.

The accounts show that no unallocated reserves remained at the end of the financial year, with funds either held as contingency or already committed to capital projects.

£30m for capital projects

The trust said it had committed £30.3 million to capital projects, of which £2.6 million was contractually committed by the end of the financial year.

OGAT also said it had approved an additional £13 million of capital expenditure for 2025-26 and beyond.

The projects are primarily intended to address “a legacy of underinvestment” prior to the trust taking on schools, and to ensure buildings are fit for purpose, it said.

Planned works include rewiring projects, condition improvements, roof replacements, energy efficiency measures and an IT replacement programme, the trust added.

Staff costs rise

Staffing remains the trust’s largest area of expenditure, with staff costs rising to £193.3 million, up from £180.9 million the previous year.

The trust said it continued to apply national pay and conditions frameworks for both teachers and support staff, and had “harmonised” the pay structure for support staff across the trust to ensure fair pay.

Under last year’s national deal, teachers received a 5.5 per cent uplift.

The trust employed an average of 4,689 staff during the year, including 2,105 teachers.

Lee Wilson, the trust’s CEO, earned a salary of £205,000 to £210,000, excluding taxable benefits and the trust’s employer pension contributions. 

His predecessor, Sir Martyn, had earned between £40,000 and £45,000 for his time at OGAT between September and 14 November 2023, before he left to lead Ofsted. His full-time salary the previous year had been from £190,000 to £195,000.

PFI and mental health flagged as risks

The trust highlighted funding, recruitment and retention, building condition and future private finance initiative (PFI) exit arrangements as key areas of risk.

It also pointed to community engagement, pupil attendance and young people’s social, emotional and mental health as ongoing issues for the trust.

The accounts said that the PFI exit arrangements for nine academies between 2031 and 2037 represent a longer-term financial consideration.

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