Rates improved, but the gap for SEND pupils did not: a trust is told to show its working
What happened
On 21 October 2026 the Department for Education published a notice to improve issued to Athena Learning Trust. A notice to improve is a formal letter telling an academy trust that the department has concerns and setting out what it must do. This one is about trust board oversight. The department said it is concerned that governance has not provided effective oversight, challenge or assurance in relation to suspensions and permanent exclusions. The trust must now give the department regular analysis of its work to reduce suspensions and permanent exclusions. Schools Week reported that officials also identified significant disproportionality in the number of exclusions for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, usually shortened to SEND. The notice says rates have improved, but that significant disproportionality for pupils with SEND remains. The department also acknowledged progress the trust has made in recent months in strengthening its behaviour, inclusion and SEND arrangements. A spokesperson for Athena said the trust was complying with all the terms of the notice, with work under way to address the areas identified. According to Schools Week, the trust runs nine schools across Cornwall and Devon, and in July 2026 announced that it will dissolve and transfer its schools to other organisations.
Why this matters
The specific wording in this notice is the part worth paying attention to, because it is not the usual complaint. The department is not simply saying too many children were excluded. It is saying the trust board did not provide effective oversight, challenge or assurance. In other words, the governance layer was not asking hard enough questions about what was happening in its own schools. That distinction matters for every trust and governing body in the country. Suspension and exclusion decisions are taken by head teachers. Boards do not make them. But boards are supposed to see the pattern, ask why it looks the way it does, and keep asking. The SEND point is the sharpest version of that. A child with unmet special educational needs may behave in ways that look like defiance and are actually distress, or a communication difficulty, or sensory overload. If exclusions fall disproportionately on pupils with SEND, the honest question is whether the school is punishing a need it has not met. That is a question a board can only answer if it is looking at the numbers broken down, not just the total.
What the evidence actually says
A few careful distinctions, because this is a story about a named organisation and real children. The core facts come from the department's own published notice: the concern about governance oversight of suspensions and permanent exclusions, and the requirement to provide regular analysis. The additional detail about significant disproportionality for SEND pupils, the nine schools, and the planned dissolution comes from reporting by Schools Week and Education Uncovered. The notice recognises improvement as well as concern. Rates have improved. The department acknowledged progress in recent months on behaviour, inclusion and SEND arrangements. This is not a verdict that nothing has changed. It is also important not to read a notice to improve as a judgement on individual teachers or on the quality of teaching. It is a governance intervention. What the available reporting does not make clear is how the notice interacts with the timetable for the trust's dissolution and the transfer of its schools. That is a genuine gap, and it matters to families: it determines who is accountable for the improvement work as schools change hands. Suspension and permanent exclusion in England are governed by statutory guidance, and parents have rights at each stage, including the right to make representations and, for a permanent exclusion, to ask for an independent review. Those rights exist regardless of which trust runs a school.
Practical advice
**If your child is suspended or excluded,** ask for the reason in writing, and ask for the school's behaviour policy. You are entitled to both. **Ask whether special educational needs were considered.** If your child has SEND, whether or not they have an Education, Health and Care plan, the school should be able to explain what support was in place and what was tried. **Know the stages.** For a permanent exclusion, the governing board or trust must consider it, and you can make representations. If it is upheld, you can ask for an independent review panel. There are deadlines, so ask for them in writing early. **Get free help.** The charity sector offers free advice on exclusions and SEND, including Independent Provider of Special Education Advice, often called IPSEA, and Coram Child Law Advice. Your local authority also has a free, impartial SEND information and advice service, known as SENDIASS. **If you are a governor or trustee,** ask for your exclusion and suspension data broken down by SEND status, free school meal eligibility and ethnicity, and ask for it every term. The whole point of this notice is that totals alone are not oversight. **If you are a parent governor,** you are allowed to ask the obvious question twice. That is the job.
What to know
The Department for Education has issued Athena Learning Trust a notice to improve, published on 21 October 2026, over trust board oversight of suspensions and permanent exclusions. The trust must now supply regular analysis of its work to reduce them. The notice says rates have improved but that significant disproportionality for pupils with SEND remains, and it also recognises recent progress on behaviour, inclusion and SEND arrangements. The trust says it is complying. Schools Week reports the trust runs nine schools in Cornwall and Devon and announced in July 2026 that it will dissolve and transfer them. Parents have statutory rights at every stage of an exclusion, whoever runs the school. Sources: GOV.UK (Department for Education), "Notice to improve: Athena Learning Trust", 21 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-to-improve-athena-learning-trust; Schools Week, "SEND concerns prompt notice to improve for Athena", October 2026, https://schoolsweek.co.uk/send-concerns-prompt-notice-to-improve-for-athena/; GOV.UK, "School behaviour and attendance: exclusions", https://www.gov.uk/school-discipline-exclusions. This article is for general information only. It is not legal, financial or medical advice. For anything about your own health or medicines, speak to a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.
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