The MAT itself receives all the funding grant money (GAG) for its constituent academy schools. There are a variety of approaches for how this money is spent between them. The funds received may be paid directly into the individual academy schools bank accounts (if they have a seperate bank account).
The MAT may make available all of an academy’s individual grant money and then recharge it for it’s fair proportion of any central overhead costs. Alternatively, it may “top slice” the academy’s grant, retaining a percentage of the money for central overheads and some limited shared funds. The way such central overheads are split between academies in a MAT does vary, with some using a fixed percentage and others employing more complex models that try to reflect the benefit the school receives from the MAT and its financial situation.
An alternative option is the formal pooling of GAG income across a MAT, which was recently permitted by the latest ESFA funding agreement. Pooling means that all GAG income from schools in the MAT is held centrally and can be applied across any academy within the MAT. The advantage of pooling is that it can help to alleviate financial pressures in an individual academy, ironing out between periods of fluctuating income and expenditure. Ensuring that the allocation of pooled funds is made fairly can be difficult and an appeals mechanism must be put in place, with the Secretary of State being the ultimate escalation if a grievance cannot be resolved amicably.