Advisory boards
Formerly known as headteacher boards, they are responsible for advising and challenging regional directors on academy-related decisions.
Advisory boards will end on 31 March 2026.
The final advisory board meetings will take place by the end of March 2026 in line with the published schedule. Draft agendas will be published ahead of the meetings, with 5 working days allowed for representations to be made as usual. The corresponding meeting notes will be published in May 2026.
We will publish the first information about decisions to be taken post advisory boards on 31 March 2026.
We remain committed to being transparent and accountable in our decision-making practice.
We will continue to provide the public with advance notification of decisions to be taken each month. The 5 working day period for receipt of representations remains fundamental to the process. All representations received will continue to be considered by decision makers before decisions are made.
We will also continue to notify the public of decisions made. The arrangements to complain about a regional director’s decision remain unchanged.
Changes to the advisory boards are being made because in Every child achieving and thriving, DfE sets out that it will renew its approach to decision making. This includes updating the trust quality descriptions to create new trust standards, updated commissioning guidance and collaborative work with local sector partners to shape a school system that reflects the needs of each area with all schools in high-quality trusts.
Until the detail of these commitments is announced, Regions Group will continue to apply DfE’s existing guidance, Commissioning high-quality trusts.
Advisory board members provide a source of challenge and insight to the Department for Education (DfE) on academy-related decisions. Advisory Board members are not decision makers.
Advisory board members help inform the decision making process by providing opportunities for DfE regional directors and the wider DfE regions group to draw on their sector experience.
They may also provide advice based on their particular areas of expertise, such as trust governance, school improvement and school budget management.
Membership, draft meeting agendas and meeting notes
The boards are made up of up to 8 members:
- 4 elected by local academy headteachers
- 2 appointed by regional directors
- 2 are co-opted with the agreement of DfE ministers
All advisory board members have equal status. Members of advisory boards tend to be education sector professionals.
Advisory boards:
- are not representative bodies
- do not include local authority maintained school representatives
They meet once a month. A schedule of advisory board meetings is available. The types of information and data that advisory boards consider before each meeting (such as school finance information, governance personnel and structures, performance data) can be viewed in the blank advisory board meeting preparation templates.
Meeting notes are published once key stakeholders (schools, trusts, individuals) have been informed of the regional director’s decisions and have had the opportunity to respond.
The following are published in relation to advisory boards:
- membership lists (available on individual advisory board pages)
- a register of advisory board members’ conflicts of interest, which is reviewed every quarter
- draft agendas (subject to change, available on individual advisory board pages)
- meeting notes that set out what was discussed at the advisory board meeting and why the regional director made the decisions that they did (available on individual advisory board pages).
Read the advisory board terms of reference to find out more about membership of the advisory boards.
Details on how to complain about a regional director’s decision are available.
Conflicts of interest
Information on the definition and management of conflicts of interest for advisory board members and DfE regional directors is available separately.
Advisory boards from 1 September 2022
These advisory boards are split by the 9 regional director regions. They contain membership structures, draft agendas and meeting notes from September 2022 onwards.
Advisory boards up until 31 August 2022
These advisory boards are split by the 8 regional schools commissioners regions. They contain membership structures, draft agendas and meeting notes up to August 2022.
Updates to this page
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Updated to state that advisory boards will end on 31 March 2026, and we will continue to publicise commissioning decisions both before and after they are made.
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Updated to reflect the introduction of the guidance 'Commissioning high-quality trusts'.
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Added 9 new pages, one for each of the new advisory board regions.
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Removed the mention of National Schools Commissioner as this role no longer exists.
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First published.