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Archdiocese of Liverpool strategy to develop Catholic multi academy trusts.
In April 2026, Archbishop John Sherrington launched his vision for Catholic Education for all schools across the Archdiocese of Liverpool.
The new academisation strategy, under the strapline: “A Family in Christ: Our Future Together”, set out plans to develop families of schools that will work collaboratively to secure and enhance future Catholic education in the archdiocese.
Schools in the archdiocese will be invited to join three Catholic Multi Academy Trusts (CMATs):
Schools belonging to a religious order will make their own decision about joining a CMAT.
The education model will reflect the emerging structures of parish life, after families of parishes were introduced across the archdiocese and are now flourishing.
The strategy is inspired by Pope Leo XIV’s words in his drawing new maps of hope Apostolic Letter.
“In every renewal of educational structures, the Church is called not to preserve buildings but to animate hearts; not to defend systems but to open paths where communion, formation, and mission meet. The school, in all its forms, must remain a living sign of the Church’s maternal wisdom- able to reform itself so that the Gospel may reach every generation.”
Details of the roll out can be found in the resources section below, please note, these are subject to change following consultations with schools.
For further questions, please complete our form below.
Being part of a larger Catholic multi-academy trust (CMAT) will allow schools to work collaboratively to secure and enhance future Catholic education in the archdiocese. It is a means of protecting our schools for the future to ensure that we can continue to offer excellent Catholic education to the future generations.
We don’t expect that you or your child will see any visible changes day to day, the identity of the school will very much remain the same.
As the strategy is for 217 schools across the archdiocese, the process will happen in waves. The suggested waves (which is subject to change if schools want to change waves) can be found here.
It is predicted that each wave will take around 12-18 months, however, these timeframes are subject to change.
The Our Lady of Lourdes North West CMAT is set to launch in September 2027. Schools joining this academy, will be subject to waves and again, it is predicted that each wave will take around 12-18 months, but this is subject to change.
Parents will be consulted about the process in a timeframe that fits with their school’s wave.
Schools belonging to a religious order will make their own decision about joining a CMAT.
The archdiocese launched its academisation strategy a few years ago but the strategy was impacted by the government withdrawing funding.
Since then, we have taken time to observe other Catholic diocese across England and Wales to see what works well, what didn’t work well and we developed a strategy that was the right fit for the archdiocese.
We hope not. Joining academies will enhance career opportunities for staff and we hope that staff see this as a positive transition.
All staff will be TUPE’d over and will receive the same salary and terms and conditions as they have now.
No, every school will keep their current uniform and identity.
No, there are no plans to change school times.
Please complete the form here and we will regularly update our website with any questions asked. If you would like more information, please contact us by email.
