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There has been a sharp drop in the number of academy transfers that received grant funding, the latest Department for Education data shows.

In 2024-25, 16 per cent of school transfers between trusts received grant funding, but this year the figure has fallen to just 3 per cent.

The , published today, shows that there were 263 academies moved between trusts in 2025-26, down slightly from 280 in 2024-25.

In total, 2.2 per cent of academies moved between trusts in 2025-26, down from 2.5 per cent a year earlier.

Growth in academy moves

The data shows the number of academy moves has grown year-on-year from 2013-14, when 21 schools transferred between trusts, up to 2018-19, when 307 schools switched.

The figure then dropped during Covid-19, but has been broadly similar for each of the past four years.

Today’s data shows that, of the 263 academy transfers. just eight received grant funding support; in 2024-25, 44 of the 280 transfers received grant funding.

The DfE shows that £1,010,000 was spent on grant funding in 2025-26 for academy transfers compared with £3,714,400 a year before.

Spending on academy moves

Since 2013-14, the data shows that just under £50 million has been spent on grants supporting academy moves between trusts.

Academies can move between trusts as a result of mergers or trust closures, or because a school is rebrokered into a different trust in light of concerns about academic or financial performance.

In 2024, ����Vlog reported that funding for academy trusts to increase their capacity had been cut.

Trusts who submitted bids for the latest round of the Trust Capacity Fund (TCaF) were told that no money would be awarded.

There are “no plans to introduce” further rounds of TCaF, according to an email from the DfE to trusts that had applied.

The government also scrapped the academy conversion grant in January 2025; this was awarded for schools becoming academies rather than existing academies switching between trusts.