Trust mergers and transfers: lessons from leaders who have been through them
Trust mergers and transfers are becoming an increasingly common part of the academy trust landscape. In CJK’s 2026 Mergers and Transfers research, nearly half of respondents had been through a merger or transfer, compared with 35% in the previous year.
This growing level of activity means more boards and executive teams are having to make complex decisions around partnership, growth and integration. For trust leaders, the ability to plan and lead change effectively is becoming an increasingly important part of trust leadership.
One of the clearest messages from our 2026 Mergers and Transfers research is that trusts are often strongest at the strategic stages of merger, but find the practical integration harder. A successful merger needs just as much focus on implementation and bringing people with you as it does on getting the deal right in the first place.
Due diligence, leadership and choosing the right partner were rated most highly. Day One readiness, aligning systems and ways of working, and wider community consultation were more challenging.
Here are the key lessons learned, as shared with us by 245 school and trust leaders:
1. Look beyond values when choosing a partner
Successful mergers tended to begin with a shared educational purpose, trusted leadership relationships and honest conversations about culture.
One respondent described the ingredients simply as:
“Strong communication, trust, and a clear shared purpose from the outset.”
But the research also highlighted the limitations of relying on stated values alone. As one trust leader reflected:
“We looked at geographical alignment and values... we should have looked deeper and assessed the culture and approach to operating.”
Most trusts will describe themselves using broadly positive and similar values. But it's more important to understand how those values actually translate into everyday behaviour:
Questions to ask:
How are decisions actually made? How much autonomy do schools have? How does the central team work with Heads? How does each trust approach accountability, standardisation and support?
The key is not whether trusts say the same things, but whether they actually work in compatible ways.
2. Use due diligence to build confidence, not simply identify risk
Due diligence was the highest-rated of the eight stages assessed. Respondents particularly valued due diligence where it was thorough, transparent and extended beyond financial and legal checks.
One Principal described how:
“Due diligence was done carefully by a team of experts and time given over to getting it right.”
Another trust leader highlighted the value of using a common set of questions across both organisations. The strongest examples examined not only finance, estates, contracts and compliance, but also culture, operating models, organisational capacity and the assumptions underpinning the proposed merger.
Done well, due diligence therefore does more than produce a list of risks. It helps both organisations understand what they are joining, what will need to change and where the challenges may arise.
It is as much about building confidence as it is about compliance.
3. Bring people with you
Consultation was much more challenging. Staff consultation ranked fifth of the eight stages assessed, while consultation with the wider community received the lowest rating.
The issue was not simply the amount of communication, it was whether people felt genuinely part of the process.
One respondent described stakeholder engagement as:
“...felt ‘done to’ rather than consulted in any meaningful way.”
Another commented that information was sometimes shared late or after decisions had already been made, leaving staff uncertain and unable to prepare.
By contrast, positive experiences were characterised by early engagement, clear timelines and opportunities for staff input:
“The process was well managed through clear communication, timely updates, and opportunities for staff input. This helped build trust, reduced uncertainty, and ensured colleagues felt informed and supported throughout the transition.”
The research also gives a useful example of going beyond formal consultation. One respondent noted that:
“Some co-working in the run up to the official merger by central team helped with transition.”
This is important - bringing people together before Day One gives them an opportunity to understand each other’s organisations, start building relationships and solve practical problems together.
4. Treat Day One as the start, not the finish
The more practical elements of merger were amongst the harder stages to deliver. Readiness for Day One ranked sixth and alignment of organisational systems and ways of working seventh.
Where preparation had worked well, respondents talked about careful planning helping to maintain continuity for pupils and staff.
Where it had not, seemingly small operational issues could create disproportionate anxiety:
“There were still a number of unknowns on Day 1 which were sorted in due course, but not for Day 1 which caused anxiety.”
There was also a clear warning against simply combining two central teams and assuming integration will follow.
“Team was formed by just bringing both teams together and didn’t take into account team formation or mapping of systems or processes.”
The practical lesson is to begin integration before legal completion where possible: joint working, detailed onboarding, systems preparation, clarity about roles and continued programme management after Day One.
5. Keep leading until the benefits are visible
Respondents were generally positive about the benefits of mergers and transfers. The strongest areas included greater resilience, increased organisational capacity and collaboration.
For some, the benefits had exceeded expectations:
“Greater collaboration, stronger school improvement support, increased professional development opportunities for staff and improved financial resilience have all exceeded our expectations.”
Another Principal said:
“The merger has enabled us to access expertise that simply wasn't available previously. Schools are better supported, leaders work together more effectively and we are much more resilient as an organisation.”
But overall, the importance attached to anticipated benefits before merger tended to run ahead of the extent to which they had subsequently been achieved.
Some of the hardest benefits to realise were those that inevitably take time: creating a genuinely shared culture, establishing common ways of working and translating organisational change into educational improvement.
As one respondent put it:
“Shared vision has not been fully realised yet...”
Another reflected that aligning organisational cultures, systems and ways of working had taken longer than anticipated, and that greater attention to communication, change management and ongoing support after Day One would have made the transition easier.
This is perhaps unsurprising. Systems can be migrated and structures changed relatively quickly. Culture, relationships and shared ways of working take longer.
Five leadership disciplines for successful mergers
Taken together, the research points to five practical disciplines for trust leaders:
Assess culture and operating model, not simply values and geography.
Use due diligence to build confidence as well as assure compliance.
Bring people with you through early engagement and opportunities to work together.
Prepare thoroughly for Day One, while recognising it as the beginning of integration rather than the end.
Keep leading until the benefits of being one trust are visible in classrooms, teams and communities.
Merger success cannot be judged at the point the legal process is completed, the real trust dividend comes afterwards, through the sustained work of creating one organisation from two.
Continue the conversation
CJK delivers the CST Leading Trust Mergers and Transfers Masterclass, bringing together our research, practical tools and the first-hand experience of trust leaders who have been through the process.
Watch our CJK webinar The future of trust growth insights from the 2026 CJK merger survey here:
