What the changes in the Academies Accounts Direction 25-26 mean for Academy Trusts

11 June 2026

The Department for Education (DfE) has published the revised Academies Accounts Direction (AAD) for accounting periods ending 31 August 2026, setting out the reporting requirements Academy Trusts will need to follow when preparing their annual accounts.

The good news for finance teams and Trustees is that this year’s changes are relatively modest. Most of the changes focus on enhancing transparency through additional or refined narrative disclosures.

For many Trusts, this means the impact will be felt less in the numbers and more in the storytelling that sits around them. Trustees’ reports, governance statements and notes to the accounts will require careful review to ensure that they reflect the revised expectations. That said, there are a handful of areas that will require closer attention, most notably in relation to remuneration disclosures.

Alongside the main AAD updates, the DfE has also introduced a new Annex B, which highlights the wider changes expected under the Charities SORP 2026. These are not mandatory for Academy Trusts until financial periods ending 31 August 2027, giving Trusts time to prepare. We’ve covered those upcoming SORP changes in a separate blog, which you may find helpful as part of your longer-term planning.

In this article, we’ll focus on the significant changes that do apply for 2025/26 reporting, highlighting the key updates Academy Trusts should be aware of ahead of their next year-end accounts preparation process.

Changes to the Trustees’ report

The requirement within the Structure, governance and management section to report trade union facility time has been removed.
The Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) section has been revised to clarify the thresholds for organisations in scope. This reflects the fact that the updated UK company size thresholds (effective from 6 April 2025) no longer align with SECR, which continues to apply the original large company criteria.

Updates to the model accounts

The Governance Statement for Trusts with income exceeding £50 million has been clarified to explicitly include in-house internal audit functions.
Additional categories of special payments and significant transactions must now be disclosed, including:
- Compensation and ex-gratia payments;
- Debt write-offs;
- Guarantees, letters of comfort, and indemnities;
- Acquisition or disposal of freehold land and buildings;
- Disposal of heritage assets;
- Leases of land and buildings; and
- Gifts made by the Trust.
Staff restructuring costs must now cover all payments in lieu of notice, whether contractual or not.
The £60,000 banded salary disclosure must include narrative explanations for:
- Part-time staff whose full-time equivalent salary exceeds £60,000 (showing the relevant £10,000 salary band); and
- Staff employed for only part of the year whose annualised pay and benefits would exceed £60,000.
The Key Management Personnel remuneration note must now:
- Disclose accrued remuneration separately;
- Include a separate figure for accrued remuneration relating to the accounting officer;
- Report any off-payroll arrangements (e.g. where an accounting officer or CFO has DfE approval); and
- Include consultancy payments made to former key management personnel.
Related party disclosures must include salary and benefits paid to the principal or chief executive where they also serve as a Trustee.

Changes to the external auditors’ framework and guidance

Guidance on limitations of scope has been expanded to cover situations where management representations requested by auditors are not provided promptly.
A new subsection has been added to Annex C, requiring auditors to:
- Confirm that all key management personnel are paid through the Trust’s payroll;
- Verify that any off-payroll arrangements have been approved by the Department for Education (DfE); and
- Check that approval has been obtained for any accrued but unpaid remuneration.

For further advice or guidance on how the changes outlined in the AAD affect your Academy Trust, please contact your local Moore education sector specialist.