Multi-Academy Trusts: changing your governing documents

Balancing principal regulator requirements with charity law obligations.

On 25 June 2026, the Charity Commission updated its guidance ‘How to make changes to your charity’s governing document (CC36)’. The guidance is aimed at registered charities but provides a useful reminder for multi-academy trusts (MATs) considering changes to their governing documents.

Most MATs are exempt charities. This means that, whilst MATs are charities, they are not required to register with the Charity Commission, instead, generally, their principal regulator is the Department for Education (DfE). However, MATs are still for some purposes regulated by the Charity Commission for the purpose of certain Charities Act 2011 (as amended) provisions. The Charity Commission's guidance on exempt charities can be found here: Exempt charities (CC23) - GOV.UK and is useful reading for MATs seeking to understand the extent of their obligations under charity law.
MATs should not therefore assume that charity law considerations can be disregarded simply because they are exempt charities. One of the areas in which the Charity Commission retains some oversight is “regulated alterations” to the governing document of a MAT.

Why MATs amend their governing documents

There are several reasons why MATs may decide to amend their governing documents including:

• updating governance arrangements;
• reflecting changes following reorganisation;
• facilitating mergers or academy transfers;
• converting from a single academy trust to a MAT; and
• aligning existing governing documents with updated DfE model documents from time to time.

In many cases, amendments will be relatively straightforward and can be implemented by following appropriate processes for administrative amendments. Those amendments do not tend to need Charity Commission consent.

Regulated alterations and when consent may be required

When reviewing proposed amendments, trustees should consider whether any of the changes amount to a regulated alteration and require Charity Commission consent.

Regulated alterations include amendments affecting:

1. the charity's objects;
2. provisions authorising benefits to trustees (including indemnities or indemnity insurance); or
3. provisions governing the dissolution or winding up of the MAT.

Trustees should take care to consult the Guidance, identify whether any proposed changes affect these provisions, as they may need to seek Charity Commission consent. This can be particularly relevant where MATs are considering adopting updated DfE model documents.

Charity Commission guidance

The guidance is an indicative resource for MATs considering amending their governing documents. However, it is important to remember that the guidance is primarily written with registered charities in mind, and most MATs seeking Charity Commission consent for regulated alterations will require a bespoke approach.

Trustees should identify the appropriate route and build any required consents into their planning before implementing changes.

What happens when a MAT does want to change its governing document?

MATs considering amendments to their governing documents should:

• review DfE and Charity Commission guidance to identify at an early stage whether any proposed amendments affect charitable objects, trustee benefit provisions, or dissolution clauses;
• consider whether any external consent (i.e. Charity Commission and/or DfE) may be required before amendments are implemented;
• build any consent requirements into timeframes; and
• seek specialist advice where there is uncertainty about the correct process.

The full Guidance can be found here: How to make changes to your charity's governing document (CC36) - GOV.UK.

 If you would like to discuss any aspect of this article further, please contact our Education team on 0113 244 6100.

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The information in this article is necessarily of a general nature. The law stated is correct at the date (stated above) this article was first posted to our website.

Specific advice should be sought for specific situations. If you have any queries or need any legal advice, please feel free to contact Wrigleys Solicitors.